Ebay lens extensions

quicklickpaddy

I'm just getting into photography (getting my first dSLR today) and I was just wondering if these ridiculously cheap lens extensions from ebay are any use at all? Or even to find out anything about them?

Because they're so cheap I'm expecting people to tell me to run away from them...

Effects

Only idiots buy them.

zerohamster

They are attractive to beginners because they seem like they are such a good deal to get such a useful item. In reality the optical quality is really very bad and will reduce the quality of images to a near unusable blurred state.

Even low quality UV filters can reduce the image quality of a lens noticeably and they are only about 0.7mm thick, Imagine what about 8mm of low quality glass can do.

Base line: with optics, you pay for what you get.

gbee

For what they are, they are grand.

If you've a spare €20 it can add to your creativity, getting the best image quality is difficult and restricting.

Kintarō Hattori

Effects wrote: »

Only idiots buy them.

A little harsh perhaps but I would be inclinded to agree. You're best really to save and buy a lens for the camera. If you don't want to/can't afford to splash megabucks on a new lens you can probably buy an older manual focus lens for your camera for relatively little money which would be infinitely better.

dakar

Effects wrote: »

Only idiots who haven't the sense to check with their friendly local internet forum before wasting their money, buy them.

Fixed your post

peckerhead

Effects wrote: »

Only idiots buy them.

Jaysus, he'll think twice about posting what dSLR he bought... :rolleyes:

Effects

I was little harsh. I guess it's easy to think they might be worth buying as they are so cheap. I got two free when I bought my first digital camera but never used them. I'd never slag anyone's choice of camera, not everyone has loads of cash to spend.

Thecageyone

OP, did you want to buy it just for extra width? And why? Or just because it's so cheap? Your kit lens should be wide enough even for landscapes. I can get people wondering about screw on macro lenses but these wide things? Save the money as suggested, towards a proper lens, you'll be glad you did

quicklickpaddy

I was just looking up lenses anyways and thought I should ask around about them. I kind of assumed as much because they're stupidly cheap. I'm getting a D40 so choice of lenses are fairly limited for the Nikkor lenses because of the lack of auto focus motor... The only macro lense I've seen was $900. Although I'm not sure how up to date that info is...

Actually saying that... Anyone know what my cheapest option would be if I'm ever getting a macro lens for it? I'm assuming it would be Sigma or Tamron or something but it'd be nice to find out from anyone who knows!

Thecageyone

Looking at macro lenses myself at present [see topic on this page]

Most reasonable ones I've looked up were the Tamron 90mm, which gets raved about around other forums online, and the Sigma 105mm. The cheapest Nikon 'micro' [they're way of saying macro] I can see is the 60mm f/2.8.

To get you by until you can save for one of those babies, you could try something like macro extension rings. You can get them for about a tenner on ebay. Much better than what you linked first. Since macro is best done in manual mode, it doesn't matter that these rings do not AF, no matter the camera. You can get much more expensive ones that do, but no real need.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/UK-3-Steps-Macro-Extension-Ring-Tube-all-Nikon-DSLR-/130481496913?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item1e614da351#ht_2637wt_905

Stick a 50mm [or any prime with a manual aperture ring] on those and voila, good quality macro! You'll need a flash unless you're doing it in excellent lighting though.

DaireQuinlan

quicklickpaddy wrote: »

Actually saying that... Anyone know what my cheapest option would be if I'm ever getting a macro lens for it? I'm assuming it would be Sigma or Tamron or something but it'd be nice to find out from anyone who knows!

Cheapest quality option would probably be an old AIS or AI 55mm micro-nikkor. There were a few different iterations over the years. Another option would be to grab a cheap extension tube or set of extension tubes on EBay, and get a cheap 50mm AIS/AI to mount on them. One problem with both of these options is that you lose AF and metering. AF is no real biggie with macro, you're better off choosing a mag ratio and then focusing by rocking the camera back and forth. No metering might be a problem for you but you can pretty quickly hit the right ev w/ trial and error.

Thecageyone

As I already said above ...

quicklickpaddy

Thecageyone wrote: »

Looking at macro lenses myself at present [see topic on this page]

Most reasonable ones I've looked up were the Tamron 90mm, which gets raved about around other forums online, and the Sigma 105mm. The cheapest Nikon 'micro' [they're way of saying macro] I can see is the 60mm f/2.8.

To get you by until you can save for one of those babies, you could try something like macro extension rings. You can get them for about a tenner on ebay. Much better than what you linked first. Since macro is best done in manual mode, it doesn't matter that these rings do not AF, no matter the camera. You can get much more expensive ones that do, but no real need.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/UK-3-Steps-Macro-Extension-Ring-Tube-all-Nikon-DSLR-/130481496913?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item1e614da351#ht_2637wt_905

Stick a 50mm [or any prime with a manual aperture ring] on those and voila, good quality macro! You'll need a flash unless you're doing it in excellent lighting though.

Ah now this sounds perfect if its even any way decent! So, is it literally just a tube of empty space to take the optics further away from the camera?

Thecageyone

Pretty much, and it works! I admit, I haven't tried it enough, and I am craving a good macro lens. But I have the extension tubes and have tried them, and you will be surprised. It just takes that little bit more of an effort to get results. You literally become the controls, you have to move in and out to focus and it can get very hit and miss, but it's damn cheap and as good as any 1:1 lens when you get it right.

First example I could find on my stream using the rings:




Make sure you have a lens with an aperture control ring first off: the 50mm f/1.8 is perfect and cheap.

And if you click on the image above and view it on Flickr you'll see my half-arsed explanation of how I shot it, and also that I used off-cam flash. I used a cheap Yongnuo-460 unit, got it for €37 on ebay [though I did end up paying another €13 on top to customs, no big deal, massively cheaper than a nikon unit]

DaireQuinlan

quicklickpaddy wrote: »

Ah now this sounds perfect if its even any way decent! So, is it literally just a tube of empty space to take the optics further away from the camera?

Yep. If you're trawling through EBay you can pick up the cheapo new ones, or some probably better made 2nd hand Nikon one. But don't buy K extension tubes, there's a chance they'll damage the AF contacts on the camera (or lens depending on the tube, I forget the details). If you get the more expensive ones with contacts I'm guessing the D40 should meter properly with any AF/AFD/AFS lens, and probably AF with an AFS lens for what it's worth.

You can always go completely nuts and get a PB4 http://blackburnimagery.com/wp/nikon-bellows-pb-4/ Macro bellows with tilt and shift on the front standards to allow you to align the (typically narrow) DOF while taking the shot. OTOH, I've never really used mine. I used to cart it around with a flash but it's pretty cumbersome :-)