p.1 #2 · Extension Tube, diopter lens, for d300s and 300f/4
How much magnification do you want and what sort of working distance can you live with? Many people will say tubes are better optically because they contain no glass. Thats not necessarily true. Moving a lens further away from the image plane than it was designed for can reduce image quality as well. The Nikon tubes do not contain any electronics, so they will only meter with cameras that can meter with manual focus lenses and you will need to use a lens that has an aperture ring, they wont work with G lenses. Kenko makes extension tubes that have the necessary electronics to work with any Nikon and with G lenses. Your D300s and 300 f4 will work fine with the Nikon tubes. Also, when we are talking about diopters I assume we are only talking about the two element ones. Don’t bother with the cheap, single element ones. I’ll try to post some pictures comparing a Kenko 36mm extension tube and a Pentax T132 (.7 diopters) diopter on a Nikon 300mm f4 AFS later if I get a chance.
p.1 #3 · Extension Tube, diopter lens, for d300s and 300f/4
bgorum wrote:
How much magnification do you want and what sort of working distance can you live with? Many people will say tubes are better optically because they contain no glass. Thats not necessarily true. Moving a lens further away from the image plane than it was designed for can reduce image quality as well. The Nikon tubes do not contain any electronics, so they will only meter with cameras that can meter with manual focus lenses and you will need to use a lens that has an aperture ring, they wont work with G lenses. Kenko makes extension tubes that have the necessary electronics to work with any Nikon and with G lenses. Your D300s and 300 f4 will work fine with the Nikon tubes. Also, when we are talking about diopters I assume we are only talking about the two element ones. Don’t bother with the cheap, single element ones. I’ll try to post some pictures comparing a Kenko 36mm extension tube and a Pentax T132 (.7 diopters) diopter on a Nikon 300mm f4 AFS later if I get a chance. ...Show more →
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question!
What I usually find that I need is something shy of 1:1, in fact in most cases the naked 300 f/4 will be fine for my close-up photographic needs, however there are times when I would like to fill the frame a little more.
Sorry I am not being more scientific about this, but I don't know how to quantify the actual magnification that I would like to have. I guess I just want a bit more then what the 300 f/4 can provide in certain situations.
It seems as if the Kenko tubes are cheaply made and I would be worried about them falling apart when affixed to the camera and lens in the field. They also are a bit more then I can afford (almost $200 ouch) right now and for a while. So if I can I think I might try to get a hold of either the diopter you mention or a PN-11.
My only concern with the PN-11 is that it will still be able to meter correctly when attached to the d300s and the 300 f/4. That is a deal breaker if it can't. I don't mind having to use the manual aperture control (had to do that for years with an old nikkor 55mm macro lens).
p.1 #4 · Extension Tube, diopter lens, for d300s and 300f/4
I'd look into a single Kenko tube before the PN-11. Their quality isn't bad for occasional use you just have to be sure to support the lens and the body. I'd go that route over a diopter any day. For years I did macro with a 70-200 VR and the short Kenko tube and have been pleased with the results. I did some tests with a borrowed Canon 500D diopter and preferred the tube. A cheaper diopter would give unacceptable results, IMHO.
As an alternative, I've heard of people buying broken tc-14eII's and removing the glass, thus leaving an ext tube with full electrical contacts.
p.1 #5 · Extension Tube, diopter lens, for d300s and 300f/4
Baywing wrote:
I'd look into a single Kenko tube before the PN-11. Their quality isn't bad for occasional use you just have to be sure to support the lens and the body. I'd go that route over a diopter any day. For years I did macro with a 70-200 VR and the short Kenko tube and have been pleased with the results. I did some tests with a borrowed Canon 500D diopter and preferred the tube. A cheaper diopter would give unacceptable results, IMHO.
As an alternative, I've heard of people buying broken tc-14eII's and removing the glass, thus leaving an ext tube with full electrical contacts....Show more →
What did you use to support your camera and your lens when you used your kenko tubes?
I have had the kenko tubes, when I owned a Canon setup and I must say they are pretty cheap, I was always worried about them breaking lose.
p.1 #6 · Extension Tube, diopter lens, for d300s and 300f/4
O.k., what you want to do is exactly what I sometimes need to do with my 300, get just a little closer than the lens focuses on its own. The problem you are going to have with diopters is that most of the high quality ones, (like the Canon 500D), are too powerful for what you want. You will need a low power diopter and the only ones I’m aware of are the Pentax T132 (.7 diopters) and T226 (.4 diopters) and they are both long discontinued and very hard to find. As far as the choice between the Kenko and Nikon tubes goes, either will work fine. The Nikon’s are better made, but a single Kenko tube can support the weight of your camera hanging off the back of the lens just fine. Below are some comparisons of the Kenko 36mm tube and the T132 diopter.
This is the full frame of a prairie rattlesnake shot with the 300 f4 AFS and T132 diopter at just under the minimum focusing distance of the lens alone. The picture was taken with a tripod at f8.
I then removed the diopter and put on the extension tube without moving the tripod and shot the same scene from the same spot at the same f stop. You’ll notice the snake is larger in the frame with the extension tube. This is because diopters work by shortening the focal length of the lens you put on them.
The next two pictures are unsharpened 100% crops from the above frames (taken with a D200).
diopter
extension tube
I dont see a lot of difference between the two images as far as sharpness goes at f8, but I’ll let you be the judge. Things are a little different if you want to shoot wide open. Same snake, slightly different angle and this time I’m only putting up the unsharpened crops.
diopter @ f4
tube@f4
The diopter at f4 is much softer than the tube and there is a lot of color fringing going on. I get color fringing with the diopter at f5.6 too. So I have to give the nod for optical quality to the tube in this case, although at f8 or f11 I have no reservations about using the diopter. The diopter is more convenient because you can just screw it on and off of the front of the lens without removing the lens. Autofocus also works better with the diopter than with the Kenko tube, of course autofocus wont work at all with the Nikon tubes. That may or may not be an issue for you. By the way, I paid $60 for my Kenko tube on ebay, which was less than PN-11s were going for. You don’t need the whole set of Kenko tubes and they do offer a 25mm tube by itself.
p.1 #7 · Extension Tube, diopter lens, for d300s and 300f/4
bgorum wrote:
O.k., what you want to do is exactly what I sometimes need to do with my 300, get just a little closer than the lens focuses on its own. The problem you are going to have with diopters is that most of the high quality ones, (like the Canon 500D), are too powerful for what you want. You will need a low power diopter and the only ones I’m aware of are the Pentax T132 (.7 diopters) and T226 (.4 diopters) and they are both long discontinued and very hard to find. As far as the choice between the Kenko and Nikon tubes goes, either will work fine. The Nikon’s are better made, but a single Kenko tube can support the weight of your camera hanging off the back of the lens just fine. Below are some comparisons of the Kenko 36mm tube and the T132 diopter.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/bgorum/t132fullframe.jpg
This is the full frame of a prairie rattlesnake shot with the 300 f4 AFS and T132 diopter at just under the minimum focusing distance of the lens alone. The picture was taken with a tripod at f8.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/bgorum/kenkofullframe.jpg
I then removed the diopter and put on the extension tube without moving the tripod and shot the same scene from the same spot at the same f stop. You’ll notice the snake is larger in the frame with the extension tube. This is because diopters work by shortening the focal length of the lens you put on them.
The next two pictures are unsharpened 100% crops from the above frames (taken with a D200).
I dont see a lot of difference between the two images as far as sharpness goes at f8, but I’ll let you be the judge. Things are a little different if you want to shoot wide open. Same snake, slightly different angle and this time I’m only putting up the unsharpened crops.
The diopter at f4 is much softer than the tube and there is a lot of color fringing going on. I get color fringing with the diopter at f5.6 too. So I have to give the nod for optical quality to the tube in this case, although at f8 or f11 I have no reservations about using the diopter. The diopter is more convenient because you can just screw it on and off of the front of the lens without removing the lens. Autofocus also works better with the diopter than with the Kenko tube, of course autofocus wont work at all with the Nikon tubes. That may or may not be an issue for you. By the way, I paid $60 for my Kenko tube on ebay, which was less than PN-11s were going for. You don’t need the whole set of Kenko tubes and they do offer a 25mm tube by itself....Show more →
OMG, thanks for doing that! Huge props to you sir for going to such great lengths! Very appreciated! Maybe the single 25mm kenko is the way to go.
That way the camera is not too far from the lens and not hanging too far off the lens and less chance for them to fall apart hopefully.
So $60 is the going rate for one tube that is cheaper then the pn-11.
p.1 #8 · Extension Tube, diopter lens, for d300s and 300f/4
chupacabra31 wrote:
OMG, thanks for doing that! Huge props to you sir for going to such great lengths! Very appreciated! Maybe the single 25mm kenko is the way to go.
That way the camera is not too far from the lens and not hanging too far off the lens and less chance for them to fall apart hopefully.
So $60 is the going rate for one tube that is cheaper then the pn-11.
No problem. I actually took those pictures for a review of the 300 f4 AFS I wrote for a different group, but I ended up never using them in the review. Here is a link to the review- http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10960. I discussed working distances and magnifications with the diopter and extension tube there. I don’t know what the going rate for Kenko extension tubes on ebay is. I was looking for a PN-11 at the time, which always seem to sell for over $100 when I found the single 36mm tube for sale used. It seemed like a good deal to me so I snatched it up!
p.1 #9 · Extension Tube, diopter lens, for d300s and 300f/4
bgorum wrote:
No problem. I actually took those pictures for a review of the 300 f4 AFS I wrote for a different group, but I ended up never using them in the review. Here is a link to the review- http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10960. I discussed working distances and magnifications with the diopter and extension tube there. I don’t know what the going rate for Kenko extension tubes on ebay is. I was looking for a PN-11 at the time, which always seem to sell for over $100 when I found the single 36mm tube for sale used. It seemed like a good deal to me so I snatched it up! ...Show more →
Funny I found that thread while doing a search earlier! Great pics! Did you get a deal on that Kirk NC-300? I really need one of those, although I am thinking of getting the manfrotto 293 since it is quite a bit more affordable and I think would do the same job.
