Macro photography and extension tubes
Macro photography is a really easy and fun way to do photography around the house. This is especially relevant during this COVID-19 outbreak where not everyone is allowed to leave their home. Just in case you don’t know what macro photography is, it refers to photographing really small things where you can get the camera nice and close to your subject. When you see photographs of flowers or insects, this is referred to as macro photography. Now, you may already know that if you try to get your camera really close to your subject, you may not be able to focus. This is because most lenses have a minimum focus distance Which is typically too far to be able to photograph things such as insects small products or flowers. In fact, you’ll find that most lenses regardless of the brand, won’t be able to focus on anything closer than about 30 to 40 centimetres.
This just is not close enough to be able to photograph really small subjects such as insects for example. In order to get your camera nice and close to your subject, you’re going to need a macro lens. Macro lenses are designed to be able to photograph small things that are only a few inches away from your lens. Macro lenses are not just for photographing insects and flowers. Most product photographers will own a macro lens of some kind for photographing small products such as watches. Macro lenses are considered a specialty lens and so they can be expensive. Because of this, most people will shoot with a normal lens and then just crop the image during their post-processing. This can work but most often than not, the resolution of the camera just won’t let you enlarge the image large enough to really make it pop. There is an alternative to macro lenses available to those who do not want to invest in such a specialty lens and that is by using an extension tube.
An extension tube is an adapter that fits between the camera and the lens. The extension tube changes the characteristics of the lens so that it can focus much closer than a regular lens. The extension tube has no optics it is simply an adapter that pushes the lens out further away from the camera. This is what allows it to focus on items that are much closer to it. The advantage of using an extension tube is the price. They are generally very inexpensive and readily available. The disadvantage is that you generally lose all the electronic features of your lens which include the automatic focus. Essentially you end up with a manual focus lens. This is generally OK because you are typically photographing subjects that don’t move much. The other disadvantage is that you normally have to have your camera mounted on a tripod. The reason for this is, the depth of field when shooting something so close to your camera is so small that even the slightest movement will cause your photo to be out of focus. This is not really a problem because most of the time when doing this type of photography it is just too cumbersome to be photographing without a tripod. In fact, I’ll go as far to say but even if you were using a dedicated macro lens you would still be shooting with a tripod.
Extension tubes are very inexpensive and can be bought from places such as Amazon or eBay for not a lot of money. The extension tubes come in different sizes. To be more precise they come in different lengths. The different lengths allow you to get closer or further away from the object that you’re trying to photograph. Because they’re so inexpensive, I would recommend getting a set. Often, extension tubes are sold in sets of three. The other added benefit from using extension tubes is that they can actually be assembled together so even though you only may get three extension tubes you could get two of those tubes and join them together to make a longer extension tube combination.
Because extension tubes are so inexpensive, I recommend everyone to buy a set and keep them handy. It’s going to allow you to get photographs that you otherwise would not be able to get. Of course, if you do a lot of macro photography for things such as product, and your budget allows you to be able to invest in a dedicated macro lens, then this would be the way to go. You won’t have to modify your lens and you’ll be able to retain automatic focus. But, if you only need it every once in a while and you want to buy something that’s going to allow you to get a very different looking shot without having to invest a lot of money, then the extension tubes a definitely the way to go. Below you will find some links to the extension chips that I use if you’re interested and you want to cheque them out. It is the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to discover a whole new world to photograph.
One last thing to keep in mind if you are considering getting yourself some extension tubes is to get the extension tubes that match your camera lens type. I’m a Canon shooter and so my extension tubes are EF Mount so when ordering your extension tubes make sure you order the correct Mount that matches your camera.
CLICK HERE for information on the tubes I use.