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Cheap Macro, D7000 Blog, D7000 HDR, D7000 Macro, D7000 Macro HDR, Digital Camera, Digital Photography, DSLR Modes, Extension tubes, Flower Macro, focusing, HDR Daisies, HDR Flowers, HDR Macro, Macro, Macro extension tubes, Nikon extension tubes, Photography, Using a Nikon D7000, Zeikos extension tube review, Zeikos Extension tubes
So I went on a little accessory spending spree last week and ended up buying a few things to outfit and expand my D7000 a little. Now the best accessory to any camera is a new lens and I did that already with the addition of a 50mm f/1.8 I’ll talk more about that later, but today I wanted to share with you the cheapest way to get into Macro and still get some good results all without having to shell out mega $$ for a dedicated Macro lens.
Like many photographers I spend way too much time trying to learn everything possible about this crazy addictive hobby/obsession and at some point I stumbled upon the term “extension tubes”, (I’ve used these in my astrophotography although they’re configured a bit differently) these are basically rings you add between the camera and the lens to adjust the focal distance of a lens to make it focus at much closer distances. Most normal range lenses focus around 1-2 feet, and even farther out for the larger tele-zooms. Using an extension tube or set of tubes you can shrink this down to mere inches. Here’s the best part – they work on most lenses, and they’re cheap!
While cruising through Amazon on this buying spree I was exposed to the “you might like this” scrolling bar and noticed a set of Kenko Extension tubes they looked great and cost $170, I did a little research into the brand and found good reviews but I also found an alternative set of Macro extension tubes from Zeikos that only cost $79!
Add to cart!! They arrived a few days ago and I’ve been taking pictures of my wife’s wilting Mothers Day flowers, and I have to say I am really impressed by how close I can focus with these tubes on. The set is comprised of three tubes (rings) of different lengths 12mm, 20mm, and 36mm that can be used alone or in any combination. The great thing about these are that they contain the electrical contacts necessary to enable the use of autofocus and metering. My 50mm f/1.8 will even autofocus through the tubes which requires the cameras autofoucs motor to work, don’t ask me how it works through three extension tubes, that’s voodoo magic to me but it works.
Here are a few shots showing the flowers using various tube combinations and some wide scene shots to give you some perspective.
Here you see the three extension tubes next to my D7000
All three tubes and my 50mm f/1.8 as I shoot the Daisy
Here's the result of all 3 tubes on a 50mm @ f/22
How about some HDR shots?!
A purple Daisy backlit with the 12mm tube on a 50mm @f/5.6
Backlit petals of a Yellow/Green daisy 20mm extension tube with a 50mm @f22
The same Daisy from the front
Here’s a regular shot of the smallest flower with all 3 tubes shot @f/22
The smallest flower in the arrangement, shot with all 3 tubes @ f/22
The set up for the small flower shot with all 3 tubes
As you can see you can get very close using these extension tubes. They’re made of plastic but have metal components including the mounting rings, one thing to note is that you must mount the tubes onto the camera before mounting the lens onto the tubes (per instructions). They started out pretty stiff but have loosened up just a little so it doesn’t feel like I’m going to squeeze my lens into an oval getting it on, they mount onto the camera and each other very easily, only the lens takes some effort.
I look forward to using these often, especially with my 18-200mm which I just haven’t had the time to try out yet.
Happy CHEAP Macro shooting!
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I did some research on tubes as well…not being a dedicated macro shooter, I decided to wait on purchasing them until the itch got so bad I had to scratch it. So far, I’m not quite there, but I have a feeling I’ll be adding these to my bag in the next year. I will have to look a little harder since I need the Pentax K mount.
Are these shots on a tripod, or hand held?
Hi Jim, thanks for looking. Yes these were all taken on a tripod, it was inside and a bit too dark for a fast enough shutter speed to do handheld.
Hi! I also have the Zeikos tubes, and I am trying to use them with a D7000 and the 18-200mm lens. Have you had a chance to try this combination out? I would be very interested in hearing about this set-up. Thanks!
Hi Gizella! Thanks so much for looking at my blog and for your question. I have used the extension tubes with my 18-200mm and while it did increase the close focus of the lens I didn’t feel like it was something I would use in the future, the images seemed a bit too soft for me and with the slower f-stop of the lens the exposures were quite long and I’ve found that most of the time the things I want to close focus on can be shot using the 50mm f/1.8. I have a 70-300mm that I haven’t tried it on yet but that lens already focuses pretty close.
Are you trying to do macro of insects or something like that where you need to be farther away? I’d love to see some examples of yours do you have a website or gallery?
Good Luck!
Howard
Hi Howard, Thanks for your answer. The reason for using the 18-200mm with the tubes is simple: I only have this lens right now. When I started using the tubes with this lens and the pics didn’t turn out too well I suspected, that I might need a prime lens for this purpose. Would you agree with me?
I mostly would like to shoot flowers, possibly bugs using the tubes. I am rebuilding my photo gallery right now, so unfortunately I cannot show you examples. Thanks again for taking your time to answer my question.
Gizella
I know how you feel, Photography has a way of sucking all the money from you! My first lens purchase was the 50mm f/1.8 as it’s the cheapest Nikon lens out there and well worth the money. And yes extension tubes work much better on primes so I would highly suggest the 50mm as a first choice if you wanted to do flowers and such also the 50mm focuses quite close on its own and you’ll love the shallow depth of field that the f/1.8 gives you.
When you get your website up please drop me a line so I can take a look!
Hello guys, I to have recently upgraded to the D7000 with 18-105 kit lens.. also now have the 50mm 1:1.8 which is an exceptional lens and want to get these macro rings. I used to have an entry level sony with similar rings and used a 300mm lens on it too. You can purchase a relatively cheap light tent or box with lights for next to no money and these really help with life in miniature. If it helps. great blog by the way. Thanks
Hi Malcolm, and Welcome!
Thanks for stopping by and congratulations on the camera, I hope you’ll share some shots when you get your extension tubes.
Nice detailed writeup… However I wondered if u clicked any bugs etc… coz they tend to fly away when moved so close… also need to see some pics on your 18-200mm as I also have 18-200mm…!!
Also, ur Yellow daisy Ultra macro f22 pic is very good, but seems a little soft to me, guess a Macro lens is anytime better..!!
P.S: Do post some bug pics if you clicked any, please !
Avinash, Thank you so much for the comments! I’ve used the tubes on the 18-200mm but I don’t like them they’re not as sharp as I would like even when I use a tripod. I would highly recommend using extension tubes with prime lenses only! That means for insect/bug macro I would suggest a 85mm, or obviously if you can afford it the 105mm f/2.8 Micro. Any image at f/22 will be less sharp than at say f/11 due to diffraction of light through such a small opening, add to that the close focus and any vibration at all including the mirror slap of the camera itself and you get what I show, also notice that despite being at f/22 the depth of field is still incredibly shallow at these magnifications and focus has to be spot on, I wasn’t…
This is where image stacking comes in to use but I have not tried it yet.
Thanks again!
Howard
Avinash and Howard,
I did buy the 50mm lens just recently, and it works great with the tubes. There is a learning curve, but I like the pictures so far. My gallery is still completely finished, but when I have it done, I will show you some of my macros Howard.
Gizella
Gizella, thanks for visiting, I can’t wait to see the pictures!
I too want to get into macro work again after getting the bug some years ago with my Nikon D5700. Now I have a u-bueat D7000, I aim to get a set of tubes. One question, what is the depth of field like when using the two non-extreme units please?
Leon Oberg (Australia)
Leon thanks for your question. As you can imagine anytime you are working with extreme closeup focusing the depth of field becomes very shallow even with the 12mm and 20mm tubes you will start to get a very limited depth of field to work with however on my 50mm f/1.8 at f/22 the depth of field with the 12mm tube is fairly deep, enough at least that I’ve never felt a need to use focus sacking. The other two tubes however will require focus stacking if you want more than a few inches of focus plane even using f/22.
Good luck and enjoy!
I also got the macro tubes but didn’t have any luck on getting them to work correctly when i placed them on my lens I got a reading that the lens wasn’t attached,(when clearly it was attached to the body of the camera) can these tubes not be used for any all purpose lens?, is their something else I need to have in order to use these tubes?
Pam,
Thanks for the question, in order to help though I’ll need more information about your lens and camera, ie: which lens and which camera are you trying these on? Are you using these specific extension tubes? And are you turning the camera off before attaching them? (Forgive me for asking, but I need to have a good base to troubleshoot from) When I use these with my 10-20mm lens I cannot get a sharp focus the wide angle lenses don’t work well with tubes, however any general focal length lens “should” work fine.
I use Nikon D5000 camera and the lens that came with the camera, I also turned off the camera and I did purchase the Zeikos Macro Extension tubes
OK so two things to try, I searched a bit to learn about the D5000 and this seems to usually be the solution to a “lens not found” type of error message. First you need to put the camera into Manual mode including manual focus! These extension tubes are Auto Focus capable and their electronic connectors might not be relaying the lenses signal properly so the camera thinks that you don’t have a lens connected. (This doesn’t mean you have faulty tubes, it’s just the way the D5000 sees AF lenses, it’s the same problem with non “G” lenses)
Second when you attach the extension tubes make sure that the camera is off,(sorry about beating that dead horse so much) and that you first attached the tube(s) alone! Now make sure that they click into place, these are much more stiff than your lens is when you attach it so it might feel wrong pushing so hard to lock them in but it’s OK they won’t damage anything. I like that they lock on so solidly, after you are sure that they’re locked in then attach you lens and turn on the camera and see what happens. I’m thinking they’ll work in manual just fine you can then experiment with turning on the AF or switching into Aperture priority mode and see if it returns an error again, if it does then you’ll know it needs to be in manual only.
Good luck, please let me know what happens.
Thank YOU so much for your help I couldn’t find this info on YOUTUBE you have been a jewel, I will let you know what happens I bet your way is going to work I can feel it LOL how do you like the D7000 I’m thinking about an upgrade.
Hi, how’s the AF speed when using the individual extension tubes and how is it when they’re stacked. Is it really hard to achieve focus? Thanks
Hi Luis,
Thanks for the question! The auto focus speed with my D7000 and the 50mm f/1.8 seems to be about the same either way as long as you have good contrast (just like for a normal lens) the challenge of course is that the image through the viewfinder is dimmer due to the extension so the contrast isn’t always apparent enough for a good focus lock. Sometimes I’ll let the AF get it close then switch to manual for a final tweak, which at the very shallow depth of field you get with these tubes is probably the best way to go anyways.
Thanks for the swift reply. I’m having a fight with myself over these tubes and the Nikon 40mm Macro for wedding details but budget is a primary concern for me. I might go with these tubes because I need other stuff too. Thanks again.
fantastic article. I stumbled upon your blog whilst searching for info about NIKON K 5 PIECE EXTENSION TUBE SET from the 1970′s which i have seen for sale on ebay. however I did think they were a bit pricey and was looking for an alternative. as I am not a dedicated macro shooter, I do like to play around with the format on wet winter days. you have helped me enormously. thank you for sharing your work.
Thanks Frank,
I’m glad that it was able to help, I look forward to seeing your shots!
I loved the article and it encouraged me to make the leap into macro photography. I just need a bit of help from the group. I have a Nikon D7000 body with an interesting assortment of lenses. I have the following lenses: Nikkor 18-55mm DX VR AF-S kit lens, Nikkor 55-200mm DX VR AF-S kit lens, Nikkor 35mm DX AF-S prime lens, and the gigantic Nikkor 80mm-400mm AF VR telephoto lens. I just purchased the Zeikos kit reviewed here and I need a spot of help. I attempting to stage my photographs, correct lighting, tripod, and all the essentials; however, I cannot seem to get my D7000 to focus through any of the lenses except the 80mm-400mm lens. I’m a complete newbie to macro photography and I am assuming that my f-stop is not set correctly, my focal length/distance from target is incorrect, or possibly that I cannot comprehend how my macro tubes are supposed to work. So, if anybody has a comment on what I am doing wrong, please chime in.
hi Shailoche,
I had similar problems with my lens’s on the d7000. in the end I found the 50mm prime lens worked best. use your 35mm prime a it is effectively a 42mm on your cropped d7000 sensor. start by using the smaller tube and and manually focus to infinity on your lens. then, hand held, move as close to your subject as possible, then slowly move out until you see the subjest come into focus. the larger the tube the closer you’ll get to the subject before it focus’s. this worked for me. hope it helps.
best of luck,
Frank
Frank,
Thanks for your response. I found that starting small and moving to big changed everything. I started using my 35mm prime lens added to the 20mm tube. Just like you pointed out, I found that I just wasn’t close enough to my subject. I now know I have to move myself around a lot more than when shooting with my telephoto lenses. That wasn’t something for which I was not fully prepared. With your response and a some time with the smallest tube on my smallest lens, I finally got some photos out of the macro-tubes. They aren’t brilliant, but they have paved a new road to full emersion into macro shooting…on the cheap.
I’m glad to be of help Shailoche. thank you for your response. I would love to see some examples of your work in the future. happy snapping.
frank