Someone recently asked whether extension tubes are worth the expense. My short answer is YES.

For around $100, you can get “several’ lenses in one set. The Kenko extension tube set comes in 12, 20, and 36mm tubes. All of which can be interlocked and create a full 70mm. You can put any two, all three, or each one between your camera and the lens that you choose.  Although these are sold as autofocus, it is near useless as your camera will probably “hunt” when trying to gain focus.  It has been my experience that using manual focus is the only reliable way to achieve satisfactory results.

Macro photography inherently has a very narrow depth of field.  Extension tubes add to the light “fall off” as well and unless you are using additional lighting, such as a macro flash ring, or other lighting device, the exposures will be rather long.

The photo above illustrates how narrow the depth of field can be.  On the other hand, the photo above almost has that “Lensbaby” look to it.

The fun part, in my opinion, it that you can use it with any lens in your toolkit.  There are Kenko extension tubes for Nikon and Canon mounts.  This is a great way to get into macro (or actually close up) photography for much less than the cost of a true macro lens.   Along with the extension tubes, you’ll need a tripod and a remote shutter release mechanism (or the internal time) because the exposures can be quite long. With the extreme narrow depth of field, even the slightest movement can render an image highly blurred.  On top of that, you will have to be very patient as it takes a lot of setup to get good images.

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