Had to do it ...

[SmartWombat]

Went out to Jessops and bought a set of thier cheap (really bad build) extension tubes.
Cheaper than one Canon extension tube with shipping on the www.
Would you believe Jessops had never heard of an L flash bracket ?
They said it was a professional accessory and they don't sell those !

This morning we had Red Admiral, Tortoiseshell, Comma, and Large White in the garden.
But then I was fitting the new brakes on my car.
In the afternoon thwy all went away as the breeze strengthened

So I hope to post some tomorrow.

30 years ago I was using a Zenit-EM, 135mm Tamron, 42mm screw extension tubes and two flashes, one on the body and one on the bracket.
No power adjustment, no diffusers, but one was a higher GN than the other so I got some fill in the artificial shadows.

[Knight]

Cant wait to C your Photos SW

[Loupey]

Alright, Paul! Look forward to seeing your results. What lens are you going to use it with?

[SmartWombat]

What lens are you going to use it with?

70-200 f2.8 L IS
I need the IS if I'm hand holding.

[SmartWombat]

Cant wait to C your Photos SW

You'll have to wait for some good ones
It was a little too windy, and the butterflies weren't cooperating.

In about an hour: Hedge Brown (missed it), Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Comma, Large White, flying Ants, Bees, probably common field grasshopper.

I've deliberately let the brambles and stinging nettles grow, as they are foodplants for the caterpillars of quite a few species. Plus we get nice blackberries later in the year

Since I left it so late in the day, I had to use ISO800 so it's not as good as I'd like.
I have to make some flash brackets...

[SmartWombat]

800 ISO, f4, 1/320 is not a recipe for success on a windy day
I also have to get over my nerves and take the lens hood off to get close with all 3 tubes.

You will spot the 1:1 crops instead of the full frame views I'm sure...

[SmartWombat]

Ah, yes, I did catch the hover fly - I thought he flew off.
This is one of many insects that have colour marking s that looks like a "wasp waist" and attempt to cash in on the reputation of the inedible, stinging species.
Not-a-bee, definitely

[Peter_AUS]

Paul what is the brand name of the Tubes you bought at Jessops. I am trying to get some feedback on the quality of the Kenko Tubes that seem to be used by a few people as they are certainly better priced than the high priced Canon Tubes which you have to purchase separately and only have two of, where the Kenko has 3 tubes. Also looking for a good price somewhere, cheapest I have found is around $190Aus ($140US or 76 Pounds) on Ebay with postage and insurance.

[SmartWombat]

better priced than the high priced Canon Tubes which you have to purchase separately and only have two of, where the Kenko has 3 tubes.

If you use them with zoom lenses then the lack of the small tube isn't a big deal.

I may end up buying Canon anyway (don't tell my wife!) and use the Jessops as donors to various projects. At least I get front and rear mounts from them I can use for other things...

[SmartWombat]

These are Jessops own brand.
They are cheaply built, poor mounting, poor electrical connection.
Come with no front cap and a flexible plastic rear cap that doesn't use the bayonet fit like the Canon caps do.

There's a reason that Canon lens connectors are gold plated.
These are just plain metal rods connecting straight through.
So the rear contacts on each one are not flat immovable pads, but the rounded ends of rods that slide back and forth.
Get three sets of those between the body and the lens and your chances of an aperture of 00 and a lockup of the camera body is pretty high.

But cheap which is their only redeeming feature.

Since there are no optical elements, there's no image quality issue.
But with the 70-200 I can twist the lens and the slop in all the bayonet mounts is amazing.
It is one way to clean the contacts I suppose

I wouldn't recommend them if you had the money for something else.

[julsoph]

Cool! I like the grasshopper a lot...the antennae are amazing.

Emily

[Kokopeli]

Awesome shots Paul. I like the spider on the flowers.