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Product Description
Extension tubes are designed to enable a lens to focus closer than its normal set minimum focusing distance. Getting closer has the effect of magnifying your subject (making it appear larger in the viewfinder and in your pictures). They are exceptionally useful for macro photography, enabling you to convert almost any lens into a macro lens at a fraction of the cost while maintaining its original optical quality. The extension tubes have no optics. They are mounted in between the camera body and lens to create more distance between the lens and film plane. By moving the lens father away from the film or CCD sensor in the camera, the lens is forced to focus much closer than normal. The greater the length of the extension tube, the closer the lens can focus. The KENKO AUTO EXTENSION TUBE SET contains three tubes of different length, a 12 mm, 20 mm, and 36 mm, which can be used individually or in any combination to obtain the desired magnification. Kenko also makes a UNITUBE 12 mm or 25 mm which can be purchased individually. Kenko's Auto Focus extension tubes are designed with all the circuitry and mechanical coupling to maintain auto focus and TTL auto exposure with most Canon lenses given there is enough light to activate the cameras AF system properly. Please Note; 1. When using extension tubes the lens will not focus to infinity. The focus range will be greatly limited to a very close focusing distance. 2. There is light fall of
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
625 of 628 people found the following review helpful
I've had these for a few years now. They're built really well, and in all this time they have developed absolutely no signs of wear.
Tubes are really pretty basic in construction. There are no glass elements, just mounts on each end and a pass-through for the lens data terminals. These are well-built, and as such they fulfill their intended purpose - that being that you now have an easy, less messy alternative to taping a cardboard toilet paper tube between your lens and camera body (and yes, you can do that if you want to go the low-tech route. Just make sure you seal the light leaks!) Any other issues are likely to be caused by a misunderstanding of the tube's purpose, not by the tube itself.
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding extension tubes, based on some of the reviews I've read. While it would be difficult, without diagrams, to explain exactly how an extension tube works and the effect it has on focus distance and magnification, I can at least try to help with some of the problems people seem to be experiencing in these reviews.
1) There are two distinct versions of these tubes. On the 36mm tube, you will see either "for C/AF" or "for C/AFs". The ones that say "for C/AF" do not support the Canon EF-S mount. They support only the EF mount. If any of your lenses are EF-S, then you will need the ones that say "for C/AFs". Functionally, they are equivalent, but the "C/AFs" models can mount both types of lenses. As of now, it is impossible for me to tell which version is being sold here. I have to assume that they are selling the "C/AFs" model.
*** UPDATE 08/03/2012 *** After looking back on this listing, the photos have been updated, it's obvious through this and review comments that the tubes WILL now definitely fit EF-s lenses. So you can safely ignore #1. :-)
2) Extension tubes do not "magnify", technically. They increase the distance between the lens and the sensor. Imagine a projector sitting a foot from the wall, projecting an image on that wall. Using a pen, you outline the outer edge of that projected image on the wall. That's the outline of your "sensor". The image fills the "sensor". Now add more distance between the projector and the wall (that's what an extension tube does). It's the same image, but now it's projected onto a larger surface, flowing over the boundaries of the "sensor". So now the "sensor" only records the part of the image in the very center, just enlarged due to the added distance from the projector.
3) Moving the lens farther away from the sensor alters the usable focus distance for that lens. Don't take these numbers as truth (it's just an example), but a lens that normally focuses from 3ft to infinity might focus from 6 inches to 2 feet, once the extension tube is put on. How drastic the change is depends on the length of the tube and the focal length of the lens (See the next point).
4) The lens focal length has a huge impact on the focus range, but not necessarily in the direction you'd think. Longer lenses (like 200mm or 300mm) won't see as much difference in focal range with the smaller tubes. While there is a difference, you still won't be able to get close enough to really improve the magnification significantly. Wider lenses show a more drastic change. I have used my shortest tube (least "magnification") on my 17-40mm f/4L. Even though it's the shortest tube, when zoomed out to 17mm, the camera will actually only focus INSIDE THE LENS. Meaning even if I lay a dime on the glass of my lens, it's still not close enough to be in focus. That's why so many people like to use their tubes with a 50mm f/1.8. It's a nice medium-length lens that can allow really close focus while still being usable.
5) There's no such thing as a free lunch! Remember the projector reference in #2? Well, just like the tubes, the farther that projector gets from the wall, the darker the projection will be due to light falloff. Meaning you will lose light when you use tubes. The amount you lose increases exponentially with the added distance from the sensor. So in many cases you will need to mount on a tripod or use external lighting. Also, any imperfections in the lens (aberrations, fringing, etc) will be effectively "magnified" just as much as the image itself. And the lens resolution limits will also be made much more obvious since the sensor will be recording a smaller section of the overall image circle provided by the lens. However, it's important to note that the benefits usually will outweigh the drawbacks, especially when the tubes are used within reason (i.e. I wouldn't do resolution-critical photos with all three tubes stacked together).
Hopefully this information is useful to someone. If I said anything confusing or if you see any mistakes, please let me know and I'll be happy to make adjustments/corrections/clarifications as necessary. But as far as the product itself goes, these are excellent, solid extension tubes with a great fit, no light leaks, and a nice light weight.
*** Update 08/03/2012 *** It's been... oh I don't know, probably at least 6 years since I bought these extension tubes (the earliest photos I've been able to track down that I used the tubes for were from 2006). I figured it's time for another quick update. They're still going strong! They're putting up with quite a bit of abuse, knocking around in my camera bag, but no worse for wear. The only thing you can see is that the 36mm tube's rubber grip has started to fade ever so slightly, so that it's not quite black anymore. Yeah, no big deal. Functionally, they're still perfect.
Tubes are really pretty basic in construction. There are no glass elements, just mounts on each end and a pass-through for the lens data terminals. These are well-built, and as such they fulfill their intended purpose - that being that you now have an easy, less messy alternative to taping a cardboard toilet paper tube between your lens and camera body (and yes, you can do that if you want to go the low-tech route. Just make sure you seal the light leaks!) Any other issues are likely to be caused by a misunderstanding of the tube's purpose, not by the tube itself.
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding extension tubes, based on some of the reviews I've read. While it would be difficult, without diagrams, to explain exactly how an extension tube works and the effect it has on focus distance and magnification, I can at least try to help with some of the problems people seem to be experiencing in these reviews.
1) There are two distinct versions of these tubes. On the 36mm tube, you will see either "for C/AF" or "for C/AFs". The ones that say "for C/AF" do not support the Canon EF-S mount. They support only the EF mount. If any of your lenses are EF-S, then you will need the ones that say "for C/AFs". Functionally, they are equivalent, but the "C/AFs" models can mount both types of lenses. As of now, it is impossible for me to tell which version is being sold here. I have to assume that they are selling the "C/AFs" model.
*** UPDATE 08/03/2012 *** After looking back on this listing, the photos have been updated, it's obvious through this and review comments that the tubes WILL now definitely fit EF-s lenses. So you can safely ignore #1. :-)
2) Extension tubes do not "magnify", technically. They increase the distance between the lens and the sensor. Imagine a projector sitting a foot from the wall, projecting an image on that wall. Using a pen, you outline the outer edge of that projected image on the wall. That's the outline of your "sensor". The image fills the "sensor". Now add more distance between the projector and the wall (that's what an extension tube does). It's the same image, but now it's projected onto a larger surface, flowing over the boundaries of the "sensor". So now the "sensor" only records the part of the image in the very center, just enlarged due to the added distance from the projector.
3) Moving the lens farther away from the sensor alters the usable focus distance for that lens. Don't take these numbers as truth (it's just an example), but a lens that normally focuses from 3ft to infinity might focus from 6 inches to 2 feet, once the extension tube is put on. How drastic the change is depends on the length of the tube and the focal length of the lens (See the next point).
4) The lens focal length has a huge impact on the focus range, but not necessarily in the direction you'd think. Longer lenses (like 200mm or 300mm) won't see as much difference in focal range with the smaller tubes. While there is a difference, you still won't be able to get close enough to really improve the magnification significantly. Wider lenses show a more drastic change. I have used my shortest tube (least "magnification") on my 17-40mm f/4L. Even though it's the shortest tube, when zoomed out to 17mm, the camera will actually only focus INSIDE THE LENS. Meaning even if I lay a dime on the glass of my lens, it's still not close enough to be in focus. That's why so many people like to use their tubes with a 50mm f/1.8. It's a nice medium-length lens that can allow really close focus while still being usable.
5) There's no such thing as a free lunch! Remember the projector reference in #2? Well, just like the tubes, the farther that projector gets from the wall, the darker the projection will be due to light falloff. Meaning you will lose light when you use tubes. The amount you lose increases exponentially with the added distance from the sensor. So in many cases you will need to mount on a tripod or use external lighting. Also, any imperfections in the lens (aberrations, fringing, etc) will be effectively "magnified" just as much as the image itself. And the lens resolution limits will also be made much more obvious since the sensor will be recording a smaller section of the overall image circle provided by the lens. However, it's important to note that the benefits usually will outweigh the drawbacks, especially when the tubes are used within reason (i.e. I wouldn't do resolution-critical photos with all three tubes stacked together).
Hopefully this information is useful to someone. If I said anything confusing or if you see any mistakes, please let me know and I'll be happy to make adjustments/corrections/clarifications as necessary. But as far as the product itself goes, these are excellent, solid extension tubes with a great fit, no light leaks, and a nice light weight.
*** Update 08/03/2012 *** It's been... oh I don't know, probably at least 6 years since I bought these extension tubes (the earliest photos I've been able to track down that I used the tubes for were from 2006). I figured it's time for another quick update. They're still going strong! They're putting up with quite a bit of abuse, knocking around in my camera bag, but no worse for wear. The only thing you can see is that the 36mm tube's rubber grip has started to fade ever so slightly, so that it's not quite black anymore. Yeah, no big deal. Functionally, they're still perfect.
73 of 74 people found the following review helpful
By SEN
Amazon Verified Purchase
Got this yesterday, tried it with a Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras and Canon EOS 30D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)... With the first two extension tubes, the results are amazing; with that setup you need to be about 4 cm (1.6" for you non metric people) from the subject; we're talking iris closeups here.
I thought about this for a long time because of the price, but it's well made, sturdy, lets you use autofocus if the lens allows it: I was unable to focus with a wide angle Canon 10-22, but that's just 'em laws of optical nature, and I need to fiddle a lot more with it.
Highly recommended if you feel drawn towards macro but don't feel like forking over lots of $$ for a macro lens; lighting is certainly an issue as you're very close to the subject, but may not warrant a macro flash like Canon MR-14EX Macro Ring Lite for 5D, 1Ds, 20D, 30D, G2, G3, G5, G6, Pro 1 & Rebel XT or Sigma Flash Macro Ring EM-140 DG for Canon SLR Cameras... And you will need to use a tripod.
Why not 5 stars? It's still a lot of money.
Update
These tubes have yet to let me down. I am now using them with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras and no longer need to be as close to subjects as with the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras, which makes it much easier to get some light on the subject and even allows you to take macro shots hand held. The autofocus seems to work just as fast with these tubes as without.
I thought about this for a long time because of the price, but it's well made, sturdy, lets you use autofocus if the lens allows it: I was unable to focus with a wide angle Canon 10-22, but that's just 'em laws of optical nature, and I need to fiddle a lot more with it.
Highly recommended if you feel drawn towards macro but don't feel like forking over lots of $$ for a macro lens; lighting is certainly an issue as you're very close to the subject, but may not warrant a macro flash like Canon MR-14EX Macro Ring Lite for 5D, 1Ds, 20D, 30D, G2, G3, G5, G6, Pro 1 & Rebel XT or Sigma Flash Macro Ring EM-140 DG for Canon SLR Cameras... And you will need to use a tripod.
Why not 5 stars? It's still a lot of money.
Update
These tubes have yet to let me down. I am now using them with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras and no longer need to be as close to subjects as with the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras, which makes it much easier to get some light on the subject and even allows you to take macro shots hand held. The autofocus seems to work just as fast with these tubes as without.
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By Brandon
Amazon Verified Purchase
I was initially hesitant to purchase this simply because I had already made my own extension tube out of PVC pipe, a body cap, and a lens rear cap. Obviously, the one I made has some drawbacks (No autofocus, had to reset the aperture manually before attaching everything) but the question that kept occurring to me was whether or not these Kenko tubes were really worth the price, considering what a simple thing they are doing. The truth is, I'm still very glad I bought them. As simple as they are, you just aren't going to be able to reproduce the same functionality and build quality yourself for less money, and if you can then stop reading this and go do that. For the other 99% of us, these tubes are wonderful.
-Turn any lens into a macro lens. Get as close or as far away as you want, using the 7 effectively different combinations of the three tubes.
-Change aperture settings on the fly as you normally would do!
-Maintains the ability to autofocus in all but the most extreme macro situations.
-Great build quality! Even with all three tubes in use, the mount is very stable and holds very firm. I anticipated some play in them but cannot feel any wobble at all.
A great investment to make, since you will be able to use them in combination with ANY EF lens you have or will have in the future.
Check the image section for a couple images I took with my these tubes and my Canon 50mm EF prime 1.4f lens.
-Turn any lens into a macro lens. Get as close or as far away as you want, using the 7 effectively different combinations of the three tubes.
-Change aperture settings on the fly as you normally would do!
-Maintains the ability to autofocus in all but the most extreme macro situations.
-Great build quality! Even with all three tubes in use, the mount is very stable and holds very firm. I anticipated some play in them but cannot feel any wobble at all.
A great investment to make, since you will be able to use them in combination with ANY EF lens you have or will have in the future.
Check the image section for a couple images I took with my these tubes and my Canon 50mm EF prime 1.4f lens.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Useless electric contacts, tends to unlock when taken out of bag.
The problem is, after using it for a while,i realize the $190 price premium I paid for electronic contacts was useless for two reasons:
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1- At such close magnification,... Read more
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Published 1 month ago by John Fleming
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Outstanding
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Published 2 months ago by G. Bryant
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Amazing
I use this with my canon 100mm f2.8L macro and it is amazing. It is Worth every penny. A must have for macro photography.
Published 2 months ago by chuck
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good quality. Snaps together tightly.
Autofocus works well through these extensions on the 5D Mk3. Make sure you have lots of light though, as the depth of field is extremely shallow - like, less than 1mm.
Published 3 months ago by defect
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great way to get macro capabilities
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Published 3 months ago by DVAB
5.0 out of 5 stars
How to turn an 18-135mm Canon (for T3i) lens into a macro lens
Love my Canon lens but did not want to pay for a macro lens, this can do the job. Lots less expensive than a new lens.
Published 3 months ago by Rick A. Coscarelli
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solid, high quality Extension tubes.
I elected to buy these and avoid all the cheaper options out there, and they came recommended by several macro photographers. Read more
Published 4 months ago by James Cormack
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good product
I purchased this item after buying a very cheap product to see how it worked, I didn't care for it as it was completely manual. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Brian J. Hein
