This was taken with my new Ef 50mm f/1.8 II lens and a Kenko 25mm extension tube, which I bought used. What I didn't know before the purchase is that a 25mm extension tube, combined with a 50mm lens, produces such a tiny depth of field that it can be quite challenging to get something into focus and capture it if you're not, for example, leaning against something, or if there's a bit of wind, as even the slightest movement results in an out of focus shot. (Also, the thing you're photographing has to be really small and really close.) I'm not sorry I bought it, though, it will be useful until I can afford a proper macro lens...
This snail, btw, is perhaps 4 milimetres across – it's really tiny. In fact, it's so tiny, and so well blended with the surroundings, that I didn't even notice it until I attached the extension tube to take a close up photo of this plant. :)
6 comments
Beautiful! A good experiment with Kenko 25mm extension tube)
Absolutely lovely! Very sharp and nice light too :))
In response to your comment on my blog - I got the 10-22mm prior to buying the Tamron 17-50mm. I definitely prefer the Tamron, although it’s not as fast focusing, the aperture is wider and it’s so much more versatile. The only time I take it off my body is when I’m in super low light and then the 50mm comes in handy (although it’s annoyingly cropped on my 60d). I’ve been looking into a macro lens (maybe the Canon 60mm Macro) and I’ve contemplated selling my 10-22 because I hardly ever use it. The wide angle is nice, but a lot of the time it can distort your images and the aperture only opens to 3.5 which I find is useless unless it’s middle of the day or I’ve got my tripod and can actually be bothered setting it up haha.
Have you thought about hiring the lenses you’re looking into? You could do this and then test them out for yourself and see how you like them. I find trying them in the store doesn’t really give you an accurate idea of whether they will give you the results you’re looking for.
LENS BUYING IS SO HARD!! Haha, I feel for you ;)
Tell me more about this extension tube? It looks really interesting and gives very cool results. I'd be tempted to buy one myself if they're not too expensive. I don't think I can afford to go and buy a macro right now. Not with living in Vancouver and earning horrible money haha!
I'm quite enamoured with the idea of a wide angle lens, although the truth is I probably wouldn't use it that much, and if I move to the big city next year I won't have many opportunities for landscape shots, so I'd use it even less... But I'm still attracted to it... :)
As for hiring lenses, unfortunately that's not a service that is offered around here so it's not an option, sadly. It would be great if that were possible.
When it comes to extension tubes, the Kenko ones are not expensive (I bought a used one so it was even cheaper), but they really are very limiting: you have to get your lens to about 6-7 inches from what you're photographing, and the depth of field is really tiny (like, a centimetre or two), so whatever you're photographing will have to be very small otherwise you won't be able to get it all into focus. And, like I said, it has to be very close to the lens, the range within which the camera will focus is also very limited. I was taking a photo of a dandelion, and I couldn't even get all of it into the shot (it's ever so slightly cropped on the top and bottom), but if i moved it even just a bit further away it was too far and the camera couldn't focus – here's the shot in question.
Also, while the exension tube increases the maximum magnification of a lens, it doesn't increase it so much as to make it a true 1:1 macro lens. So, it's a rather limiting replacement for a macro lens, but then again, it is much cheaper than a macro lens...
I also thought about buying the 60mm macro, instead of this 50mm lens, but in the end I decided I'd rather buy the much cheaper lens now as I need to save up for a good zoom lens. I'm afraid the macro lens will have to wait...
Beautiful - love the subtle, subdued colours. I've used these extension tubes before, and hitting the focus seems to the a matter of trial and error, especially if you are outside.
beautiful image, love the tones here
thank you for taking the time to comment.