Toronto Photography Meetup Group

I'm looking at moving into some macro realms.. but purely on a hobby level and I'm trying to evaluate some options to keep the price under control.

While I'd love the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS It's just not in the cards for some time..

has anyone used bellows like these on a dslr
http://www.fotodiox.com/product_info.ph ... cts_id=501

Or is it better to go with extension tubes? close up filters?
Is a actual macro lens really the best way?

Just looking for peoples experiences with the various products (the bellows particularly intrigue me I must admit)..

You have some options: 50mm macro, 60mm macro, 100mm macro, extension tubes with your current telephoto, 500D closeup lens, Raynox closeup lenses. Lenses cost more, but are worth it. There are Sigma macro lenses as well to save some money

I have only used real macro lenses and extension tubes on them

Depends on what you are trying to take pictures of...sometimes the equipment can get in the way; for instance by the time you've adjusted the bellows for an insect and fine adjust the focus on the lens, it has flown away.

Personally I use telephoto lenses to get close, and use the autofocus to quickly get in the range, and fine tune if I have to.

To get a taste on the macro stuff, I'd just suggest you to get some extension tubes (I'd recommend Kenko ones). Inexpensive way to get good macro pics IMO. Just don't use it on your very long telephoto lens (your magnification won't increase much).

I never used the macro bellows, so I can't comment on that.

But once you get into macro photography, then you will eventually get a macro lens. There's no replacement for it really. But I'd suggest you not to buy one just yet.

ps. What are you gonna photograph? Flowers? Insects? Product photo? For flowers, you don't need a high magnification, so the extension tubes will do a good job. For insects, however, it might be a little bit hard (but it's possible). You can't go near them (so you need 100+ mm), and you still need a quite fast acquisition with small aperture (f/11 etc).

pps. I have experience with both 100mm macro non-USM (the very very old one that extends towards the sample) and 100mm macro IS. In terms of image quality, they are all about the same (both produce excellent pictures). So if you don't need IS, then don't go for the L lens (unless the weather seal is a big factor for you).

Sigma 105 macros can be found used pretty cheaply. They don't have the performance of the 100L by any means but they're less than half the cost.

Thanks for the responses
The macro work I have in mind is mainly studio stuff. I'm not the bug hunter type.

I've shot with the 100mm L and It's a dream. the IS is more important than the sealing for me, since it would double for me as a portrait lens in the field. I had a hard time sending it back after my rental of it

I've really heard a lot of less than promising comments about the Sigma 105, so I'd ruled that out more or less.. (I especially hate the front extension on it) the 150mm from sigma on the other had sounds like a stronger contender. (pending actually snapping some shots with it.)

In the end though, I'm probably gonna go with the Kenko tubes unless I hear anything about the bellows. The fact that no one anywhere seems to have actually used the bellows is a little suspicious

The lens will come.. but the math isn't there yet..

I have used bellows and they are very good for tripod/studio work. The advantage is variable magnification and usually will give greater magnification than 1 set of tubes. The disadvantage is they are delicate compared to tube and don't stand up to being carried around in a camera bag without careful protection. the other con is no electrical contacts so the camera cannot communicate to the lens to control aperture. The bellows I have are nikon mount so I can use nikon lenes that have an aperture ring and I just use an adapter to mount the bellows to my Canon.
When out in the field I use the Kenko Auto tubes with my Canon lenses.

Tim

The Sigma 150/180 macro lenses (I have the 180mm Nikon mount (for the aperture ring)) are great for in the field. They can be a bit unwieldy in the studio if you are considering portraits as well. Also, extension tubes are less effective with the long FL.

I also have a Sigma 105 -- no justification for the extra cost and the lens extension doesn't bother me. A good tripod beats any artificial stabilization.

You can have plenty of fun indoors with a tripod, short lens, and some extension tubes while you save up for a proper ~100mm macro lens. Cheapo focusing rails can help too.

get yourself some $8 extension tubes and be prepared to do some manual focusing with an existing lens. A live view camera is very helpful here too.

would they keep the lens aperture control on? Or you'll be stuck with manual aperture ring lenses?

the cheap ones do not allow control of the aperture - so, manual aperture ring lenses are best for this. You can use any lens, but you'll get one heck of a thin DOF if you don't have the aperture control - which in some cases is cool.

sample with cheap tubes and a lens with no aperture control:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sushv/4289253718/" title="Untitled by -sushant, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4289253718_3afe76a728.jpg" width="401" height="500" alt=""></a>

start cheap and see if it still intrigues you a month from now

lenses are designed to work in a specific range (so you may be losing image quality fast with some lenses mounted on tubes) and the best close-up attachments are optimized for specific lenses (ditto, if you mismatch)

i'd get a cheap old tube system first (short-mid-long) and see what happens. additional benefit of the tubes: being a simple mount extension they will fit any lens, regardless of front thread diameter. they're also great all-around close-range devices for all kinds of non-macro situations (see below)

if you decide on a close-up lens, the two-element achromatic ones should give you more "quality" room to maneuvre:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/erker/closeups.html

as to the bellows, you will quickly discover that the bellows requires much more than... the bellows

Thanks guys lots of great info and suggestions..
I'm tempted by the cheapo tubes, since I already have several manual lenses with aperture rings, but I've learned my lessons about buying things multiple times, so I'll probably just go with a Kenko set and then save for the real glass.

@ ~$240 it's not such an investment that I'll have serious regret even if (worst case) they only act as a fun way to shoot out of the box once in a while when I'm feeling creatively stunted.
And best case they get me exactly what I need..

what's $240? three kenko tubes?? wow, i got my PK-13 for twenty bucks, even that a bit on the high end for a sawed-off chunk of plumbing pipe...

I feel like making something with duct tape and a paper towel roll now.

B&H lists a pk-13 @ $94
Which is why I plan on going Kenko (and yes for set of three) vs the canon name brand sawed off tube (with electrical contacts)

Personally I would go for the old Canon 100 macro or the Sigma/Tamron equivalent and forgot about all these mini-steps.

sigh... if i only kept my eBay invoices i could prove now that i paid twenty bucks...

The kenko tubes are 160 max. HK available. I'd get the old gold 100 macro if you're with Canon. You can find a used one in 450-500 range. Then again, we all judge by our own experiences

Geez... ~$240 is half the way to a Sigma lens.

I thought the OP called for price conscious:

http://www.linkdelight.com/vmchk/Photog ... ducts.html

*thumbs up* and good link

Nice link, definitely checking that out..
I'm always hesitant when the price is that cheap compared to even the off brand guys.. reviews are so so on the quality.. but for the price..

What lenses do you have already? One option no one mentioned is lens reversal, of which there are two methods. If you've got only one lens you can get an adapter to mount it backwards onto your body for cheap. Not sure if this works with Nikon though (as I recall if you unmount a lens it automatically stops down to smallest aperture??), but for Canon you have no aperture control on the lens so you have to hit DOF preview and then unlock the lens.

Another type of reversal is putting one lens backwards in front of another lens, I believe it was the longer focal length lens mounted on the body and the shorter focal length one reversed and mounted onto the front of the longer focal length lens.

I once attended a lecture by Timras where he gave a good tip for macro work: get to the minimum focus distance of the lens and then move your body back and forth to get the subject in focus. I mention this because with the first cheapo option I've mentioned you're working in manual focus mode and it's easier to move yourself slightly forward and backward than trying to turn the lens to focus. And depending on the weight of the second lens in option 2 I mentioned, you might not want to engage AF in case it messes up the longer focal length lens' AF motor/gears.

I'm not sure what kind of magnification you'd be able to get with your existing lenses with these methods, but in either case they are cheap metal adapters with no electrical contacts so you should be able to get them cheap from eBay or something like that.

For me, it comes back to the same rule in photography: spend your money on glass. The Sigma 105 and 180mm lenses provide all of the flexibility I want out in the field. Accessories like tubes and bellows are fiddly and I have the time (and not the money) to spend fiddling at home.

AF tubes are nice, but if you're using AF combined with the amount of light loss you are going to get -- that's not worth the $$$ to me. Instead, I have the 180mm macro with HSM.

it sure works with nikon (and no, it doesn't automatically stop down to smallest aperture)

Cool, so then you can use that type of adapter if you have Nikon as well! It screws onto the front of the lens' filter threads, and then mounts the front of the lens onto the body. I've done it handheld just to try it, and it works pretty well. I could focus much closer than the lens originally allowed. If I remember correctly on the zoom lens I was trying at the time it would magnify more if I was on the wide range of the lens (?). Anyways you can google about this option..

I've bought lots of stuff from link-delight. no issues whatsoever.

In fact, I bought two copies of this manual extension tube: one in canon and one in Nikon, as I just take the last element from the nikon version and screw it on my canon tubes to allow me to use either lens
http://www.linkdelight.com/vmchk/L9O-Ex ... -Lens.html

For $7, it's a great way to get into Macro photography and who cares if it's throw-away in the future.

(I HAVE since upgraded to the Kenko tubes with contacts though which can be purchased from B&H photo for $179 USD)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/3 ... e_Set.html

Well.. discount tubes ordered, thanks for all the links and advice..

ofermod: If you're going with tubes anyways, I like having the AF versions not for the macro work, but for the ability to throw one on with a long lens and cut down my close focusing distance for sports/wildlife as well.

Just got my extension tubes from linkdelight I opted for the "Automatic" version for Canon EOS so I keep TTL and Aperture control (I get AF, but as one would expect it's pointless)

Really happy with the build quality, even stacking all three with a old all metal/glass 135mm f/1.8 (briefly) didn't cause any obvious worrisome flexing.

Thanks for all your words of advice.. (Rails are soon to be purchased I think now that I'm playing...)

Consider the Nikon 55mm f2.8 AIS and Vivitar 135mm f2.8 CF in Nikon or Olympus OM mounts, both are superb macro lenses that can be had for $100 to $150.

Couple taken with a EOS 20D body:

Nikon 55mm f2.8 AIS


Vivitar 135mm f2.8 Close Focus