Extensions on wide-angle lenses

[tatu_laitinen]

Im currently photographing mushrooms with a 28mm lens extended with a 7mm tube. This way i can get individual mushrooms to fill up the frame and at same time I get a recognizable background. Has anybody used wider (16-24mm) lenses with thin extensions? If so, does the subject come too close to the front element? I have noticed that the extension must be under 10mm, are there any custom made tubes in 2-6mm range for Olympus Zuiko lenses????

[anjum_jaleel]

I have tried this technique with a 20mm and a small extension and, although the subject is very close, but the background is in fact recognizable.

 

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George Lepp, who writes for Outdoor Photographer and has his own magezine, 'The Natural Image' (http://www.leppphoto.com) has recently talked about this technique. As a matter of fact I first heard this technique from him and applied it successfully. It does create some very interesting images.

 

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As for the extension, you're right in that this technique works much better with a small extension and will either not work properly, or not work at all, as you increase the extension.

 

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An addition to this technique is to use fill-flash, but the flash will have to be off camera. There are special brackets you can buy to incorporate this technique, e.g., Lepp II bracket which Lepp and Associates used to sell and have now passed it onto some other company whose name escapes my mind at the moment.

 

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Anjum Jalee

[gregory_rogalsky1]

Several years ago I photographed a small mushroom with a Nikkor 24 f 2 with a exstention tube. The photo came out really wild .The small mushroom was really close to the lens. With this set up I was able to shoot underneith the mushroom at f 22 at about 8 seconds with tech pan, to cool. Im into a Canon FD system right now, with several wide angles and a fisheye. 20 f2.8 24f1.4, 15f2.8 . Im looking for some thin exstention tubes so I can play with exstention tubes and wide angles some more . When I get it together I will let you know. I will tell you one thing , you dont need a very big exstention tube to get close focusing of an inch or two.

[erick_lamontagne]

I used a 12mm tube on a 20-35. I love the effect but 12mm is too long. Photographing insects on a flower, sometimes the petals would be touching the lens. Another problem is lighting. I couldn't shoot at some angles because of the lens' shadow and often I had to take the hood off the lens, again because of its shadow. Haven't tried with flash yet. Does anybody know what is the shortest tube available in Nikon mount?

[Albins images]

About three years ago I started experimenting with extensions on short lenses and by now over 50% of my nature photography is done with a 24/2.8 and 8mm extension-ring! (See http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0004WU&topic_id=34&topic=Nature%20Photography as well..).

 

I am still very enthousiastic and will continue to explore the possibilities. Not because it is a neat 'trick' that gets me 'different' pictures, but because these are the pictures that I always wanted to take! Now I can make close-up images of small plants and animals that give the suggestion of space, of being part of their environment. It works well with plants, amphibians and insects ..with a little patience.

 

There are some technical aspects that need attention. I use an old Nikon-A lens that performs extremely good in the centre, but less near the corners. Corner sharpness and distortion is very bad with the lens set at infinity, so I usually work at minimum focussing distance. That is somewhat limiting, but the optical performance is certainly acceptable (and the centre-sharpness remains excellent!). The distance to the subject is then about 6cm (?), which can be done with aforementioned patience...

 

While the background remains largely recognizable, contrary to close-up work with longer lenses, the DOF is still very limited with these enlargements. Unless you are able to carefully place the field of focus on the subject, an aperture of at least f/11 is reccommended. I often use this combination with an off-camera TTL-flash. A 24mm setting on the flash and/or a large diffusor will help to get the light properly on the (very large!) background.

 

With 24mm and 8mm extension I seem to have reached a practical limit, in terms of optical performance and comfortable working in the field. But the pictures that I took so far are that much inspiring, that shorter lenses and/or longer extension will probably find their good use as well, in the near future.

[bjørn rørslett]

In the Nikon line, the gadget to search for is the ultra-thin K1 ring. It is only 4.5 mm thick if memory serves me right, and added to a short lens such as 16 mm f/2.8, 20 mm f/3.5 or 24/2.8 you can get tremendous close-ups. Being without aperture control, the K1 originates from the 1960's and is easily found as part of a 5-piece "K" ring set. You will have to shoot directly at the taking aperture, but I for one never found this to be a problem.

 

On a final note, I just verified that the K1 will fit the new AF Nikkor 14 mm f/2.8 ED-IF to give stunningly steep perspectives in close-ups. I'll rush out tomorrow to try this in actual field work.

[Albins images]

I saw them -a "K-ring set"- for sale some months ago and I will have a serious look again! They probably don't sell that fast. Thanks, good luck,

 

Albin

[sam_mahmoud]

Does anyone know if there is an ultra-thin extension tube

available for the Canon EF mount, say 7mm or 8mm?

 

My apologies for saying something off-thread and equipment-

oriented there. I'll get back on track now by answering

the question that was asked.

 

I use a 20mm lens with a 12mm extension tube sometimes.

The effect sure is cool. It seems like just about the

only way to capture a macro-sized subject with some of

its environment.

 

Using this configuration is very frustrating. Working

distance is practically nil and I'm always afraid of

damaging or getting plant material on the lens. I

usually end up giving up on it as impractical and

inconvenient. I think this is because of my setup:

12mm is just too much extension for a 20mm lens, and

I don't have a macro-slider to achieve really precise

positioning on the tripod.

[lan_tu]

Actually, Bjorn, the K2 is the shortest Nikon extension ring at 5mm. The K1 is next at 5.8mm. And you are right, the entire set of five K rings is fairly easy to obtain. Just got one on eBay last week for $11!