More Tubes

[Ironworker02]

Just got the tubes and thought I'd give one a try. 1st shot 18-55 @55 #2 w/21mm tube #3 croped for detail.Bogen tripod..as much as we all dislike them,I think it's needed for sharp images.

[Copy_Kot]

I like them but they look very soft, just wondering what your aperture was at? I'm trying learn, which is the reason I asked.

[Ironworker02]

I'm not sure of the setting,I was shooting the petal to see how the edges would look,I think with some work I'll be able to get some nice shots.I lived around Coring,are you near there. Thanks Walt

[Copy_Kot]

I lived around Coring,are you near there.

Do you mean Corning, NY? I live up near Lake Ontario... walking distance

[Ironworker02]

Yes that's it.Nice country,worked in Rochester on the airport..mighty cold

[Jaedon]

I drove through corning on the way back to the hotel after the NASCAR race at Watkin's Glen last August. Nice little town and the scenery in the area was phenomenal. I so wanted to take pictures along the edge of Seneca lake as we drove north alone the western shore but my baby had thrown up on my CF card the night before. I now carry 3 cards just so that never happens again.

And nice shots BTW. I have been wondering about getting a macro tube for my camera.

Does anyone know anything about the macro lenses that looke like filters which screw on the threads on teh lens?

[Ironworker02]

I think I know that you mean,the set I have comes in +1,+2 and +3 if this is what you mean they magnify where a extension tube changes where the lens focuses.I did'nt get a chance to compare the two,Loupey would know.did you read his post on tubes.Walt

[Loupey]

Nice job on your tube work, Walt. Your crop shows that you did achieve high sharpness - just very shallow DOF. This shallowness may give the perception that the wider image is soft - especially with such a curved (3D) subject.

If you still have the original file, you should be able to get the shooting parameters from the EXIF data.

With macro/closeups, keep in mind that you will need to use apertures much smaller than what you're used to. For something like this, I would start at f/8 and go smaller from that.

[Loupey]

Does anyone know anything about the macro lenses that looke like filters which screw on the threads on teh lens?

These are called closeup lenses or diopters. Tubes and closeup lenses both have their pros and cons. With tubes, the cons are generally just construction related since they are hollow and, thus, do not theoretically degrade the imaging resolution of the main lens.

On the otherhand, closeup lenses (like all filters) interfere with the path of the image and will always exhibit deterioration of the image quality. What you pay will greatly affect what you get (and some of these are pretty pricey at that!). The pros are that you can quickly screw them on and off (but really how much harder is it to put on a tube?) and that they do not reduce the amount of light so no adjusting of the aperture is required. Then again, you're going to have to stop down anyway to get sufficient DOF...

Trade-offs are the name of the game in photography. Every choice is a compromise between something and something.

[Ironworker02]

Thanks Loupey, I did that you said, shot at f 8 and like how it turned out,added a remote switch.Shot first photos in Portrait zone (f 5.6).It's great to have someone to help,Thank you,Walt

[Sushigaijin]

since my camera has a fixed lens, tubes are out of the question - I use a 3.3+ close-up lens (sony vcl-m3358) for my macro shots, many of which I have posted on the forum. Some of the close-up lenses are very good quality and have great resolving power, the canon 250d and 500d are both high quality also.

[Loupey]

Walt: way to go! Glad to be able to help. Your using good technique (tripod and remote release). Do you have mirror lock-up option on your camera (don't remember/know which you have)?

The forth technique to maximize your image resolution is to NOT use the "forbidden" shutter speeds (1/2 to 1/60). Go higher or lower at any cost. These are the absolute worst speeds no matter what make/model tripod you use. Any amount of vibration (and, lets face it, ALL tripods vibrate) will be most evident at these forbidden speeds.

[Loupey]

since my camera has a fixed lens, tubes are out of the question - I use a 3.3+ close-up lens (sony vcl-m3358) for my macro shots, many of which I have posted on the forum. Some of the close-up lenses are very good quality and have great resolving power, the canon 250d and 500d are both high quality also.

I don't disagree with you there. Those are the high quality ones to which I was inferring.

I've used close up lenses extensively early on (had a set of 3 with my first telephoto at age 18). But the price-to-quality ratio is very high. And you can only use them on specific thread diameters. Or a small range of thread diameters if you use a step-up or step-down threads.

[Ironworker02]

Walt: way to go! Glad to be able to help. Your using good technique (tripod and remote release). Do you have mirror lock-up option on your camera (don't remember/know which you have)?

The forth technique to maximize your image resolution is to NOT use the "forbidden" shutter speeds (1/2 to 1/60). Go higher or lower at any cost. These are the absolute worst speeds no matter what make/model tripod you use. Any amount of vibration (and, lets face it, ALL tripods vibrate) will be most evident at these forbidden speeds.

Shot with the Rebel 300D no lock up but the older D30 does.Think I'll start using it more often.

[Copy_Kot]

That fourth one looks great! Great DOF! :thumbsup: What 'zone' did you use for that one? I've been shooting everything in the 'landscape zone,' it seems to give the sharpest images.

[Ironworker02]

Used AV,Aperture-Priority.I'm trying to break out of zone shooting and use the creative modes,it seams like the pros use these settings.Think it will take some time before I get the hang it..you have to crawl before you can run

[Copy_Kot]

Oops, I meant style, not zone. With my Canon 30D I'm able to chose a style such as landscape, portrait, or other. I'm able to use a creative zone and a particular image style together.