Hi PS Folks, I wanted to get your take on a Macro lens or getting extension tubes for my current lens? One side wants to save $$ but the other side is telling me be careful and get what I truly need. My objective is to have the ability to take professional photos of coins. Thanks. Tom

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From del/Administrator (0) on May 14, 2012 11:19:23 AM CDT Hard to tell without knowing the lens. I can say that my experience with extension tubes and a mid-range zoom have been very good for getting close. Not a true macro, but then few 'macro' photos are true macro. If you mean close focus on small things, extension tubes and a zoom work well, extension tubes and a prime also work well in a different way. Neither of these options gives you the thing that truly distinguishes macro lenses, an extremely flat plane of focus. Del Reply

From ssal/Alex (27,397) on May 14, 2012 12:02:08 PM CDT The advantage of a built-in macro function in your lens is that you can switch back and forth without changing lens/adapter. So your macro lens should have a normal lens range that you use for your regular walk around (24-70, 24-105. etc/). The built-in macro on those type of lenses is good enough 70% of the time. But it is still not good enough for extreme close-up. That's where the extension tube comes in. The disadvantage of the extension tube is that, once you put it on, the lens becomes a dedicated macro lens which would not allow you to shoot at other normal range. I think the newer extension tubes (Kenco) is auto focus and auto exposure compatible. The older ones, like the old Nikon PK?, didn't have auto focus, and you can only use aperture priority in auto exposure. But it is really not as bad as you may think. In macro mode, you probably be a lot better off in manual focus (unless you're visual impaired). And you probably want to control the depth of field with setting your own f/stop. I have the 35-70mm f/2.8D that has a macro function. I also have two Nikon PK rings. That's my must-have arsenal for close up shots. Reply

From del/Administrator (0) on May 14, 2012 12:09:24 PM CDT Do you use your tubes in combination with the zoom? Reply

From ssal/Alex (27,397) on May 14, 2012 12:15:21 PM CDT I use the PK-12 or PK-11A with the 35-70mm f/2.8D. After putting it on, I zoom in and out normally, and sometimes put it in the lens' macro mode. It works just fine for me. Reply

From ssal/Alex (27,397) on May 14, 2012 12:20:33 PM CDT Just want to add, if you decide to use the Nikon PK series, make sure you understand that it would not work with the G series lenses because you can't adjust the aperture manually with G series lenses. I think that put Kenco DG system ahead of the Nikon PK series. Reply

From del/Administrator (0) on May 14, 2012 1:02:17 PM CDT I don't use a Nikon anything except for lens cleaning, all my gear is Olympus. It is important with modern lenses with electronics to use an extension tube that is compatible with the lens. Reply

From stmv/Sebastian (59,814) on May 14, 2012 12:56:11 PM CDT really depends on what you are trying to accomplish, you can find used bellows out there, and they will mount on the SLRs, some have to be twisted at an angle to get to mate up, another option is the reversion ring, really low cost method, coupled with a 35mm prime or old 50 mm prime can be fun with coins. A low cost macro is the old 55 micro which can be found with the supplied extension tube for a 1:1 ratio. course the real challenge is how are you going to make the coins interesting from a composition point of view? Reply

From tab62/Thomas (4,337) on May 14, 2012 2:48:41 PM CDT these are great comments- I have a regular 50mm prime but now I wonder if the 50mm prime would be the ticket? Reply

From stmv/Sebastian (59,814) on May 14, 2012 8:18:19 PM CDT I have used the 50 mm prime on the reversing ring and the bellow, both worked great. The bellow is extreme closeness, and very careful focus. Reply

From robertwallis/Robert (12,875) on May 14, 2012 11:07:00 PM CDT The 50mm prime should work fairly well with a set of extension tubes. A 50mm extension will get you 1:1 (life size) reproduction and a 25mm extension will get you half life size reproduction. Those figures are when the lens is set for infinity focus and you can get closer by adjusting the lens focus. A good idea is to profile the lens by shooting a sheet of graph paper with the camera mounted on a copy stand. PS can be used to adjust out most any aberration and a lens profile can be set up. A bellows extension may be more adjustable and achieve higher magnifications, but is much trickier to use appropriately, not to mention seldom having all the electronic control functions. Reply

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