renting extension tubes and flash, guidance??

Rhuarc

So I'm headed up to Canada tomorrow to visit family, and I'm going to have the opportunity to spend some time playing around with my macro lens. I have the Canon 100mm f2.8.

I am looking at renting a few things to play with while I am there. I'm looking at maybe some Canon extension tubes, and possibly the 580EX. I'm just looking for some guidance regarding the extension tubes (how they work, magnification, use with extenders, etc...) and how I could use either my 420EX (limiting, I know) or the 580EX II for macro work.

Thanks everyone!!

mehampson

I haven't used extension tubes, so I don't have too much to say about those, other than I believe I have read that the 100mm Macro is only compatible with teleconverters when you use them with extension tubes. Never tried it myself.

If you don't have one, I'd rent a TTL off-camera cord with the flash. Whichever flash you end up using, getting it off-axis and close to the subject (so the light is relatively soft and you can dial down the power level) is magic with macro. I rigged up a super-simple bracket to hold my rig, but honestly I get better results with a camera in one hand and a flash in the other than I do with a camera in two hands and no flash at all.

Or heck, if you can, rent the MT-24EX.

Rhuarc

mehampson wrote:

I haven't used extension tubes, so I don't have too much to say about those, other than I believe I have read that the 100mm Macro is only compatible with teleconverters when you use them with extension tubes. Never tried it myself.

If you don't have one, I'd rent a TTL off-camera cord with the flash. Whichever flash you end up using, getting it off-axis and close to the subject (so the light is relatively soft and you can dial down the power level) is magic with macro. I rigged up a super-simple bracket to hold my rig, but honestly I get better results with a camera in one hand and a flash in the other than I do with a camera in two hands and no flash at all.

Or heck, if you can, rent the MT-24EX.

Thanks for the suggestions! I actually do have an off camera cord, plus I use a big homeade foam bounce that really helps to soften things. I think that is where I am really limited by my 420EX is the lack of manual control for macro shots.

Anyone have any reccomendations on extension tubes, which ones, and whether I should add either the 1.4 or 2.0 converters as well?

Thanks!

Cygnus Studios

Extension tubes are fantastic and work with a wide range of lenses. Most of the time you will have to use manual focus as you are eliminating the amount of light getting into the lens.
Getting your flash off of the camera will help immensely.

Be forewarned, once you use the tubes, you will love them. So start thinking about how you will budget for them.

Rhuarc

Has anyone tried to do Macro work using a flash like the 420EX that does not have a manual mode? Is it a futile effort? I know it probably is, but if someone has some tips on how to do it I would appreciate it. (specifically camera mode and settings to use, and FEC) I may try the 580 this weekend, but purchasing one isn't in the stars right now!

Thanks everyone!

mehampson

I think you could make the 420EX work easily enough. It's not manual but it still is the same E-TTL that the 580 uses, and it'll adjust its light output for what it thinks is a good exposure -- it's not one of those $12 ebay flashes that are stuck on full power. And frankly, I'd personally be happy to let my camera figure out the exact flash exposure -- I'm sure it'd be better at it than I am

I would shoot on manual at its max x-sync speed (does it have high speed sync? If it does, I'd avoid that), and then shoot in the f11-f/14 range. That will give you good depth of field and control over the ambient, and lets the flash figure out how much light to add to give you that. I usually shoot ISO 200 with the 40D since it's not significantly noisier than ISO 100 and that speeds up the flash by a stop; plus, I like the highlight tone priority setting. You can probably use FEC as a pseudo-manual control with the camera in manual mode, depending on what you're shooting.

Rhuarc

mehampson wrote:

I think you could make the 420EX work easily enough. It's not manual but it still is the same E-TTL that the 580 uses, and it'll adjust its light output for what it thinks is a good exposure -- it's not one of those $12 ebay flashes that are stuck on full power. And frankly, I'd personally be happy to let my camera figure out the exact flash exposure -- I'm sure it'd be better at it than I am

I would shoot on manual at its max x-sync speed (does it have high speed sync? If it does, I'd avoid that), and then shoot in the f11-f/14 range. That will give you good depth of field and control over the ambient, and lets the flash figure out how much light to add to give you that. I usually shoot ISO 200 with the 40D since it's not significantly noisier than ISO 100 and that speeds up the flash by a stop; plus, I like the highlight tone priority setting. You can probably use FEC as a pseudo-manual control with the camera in manual mode, depending on what you're shooting.

Thanks for the suggestions! That gives me some good places to start this weekend instead of just shooting in the dark, so to speak.

mehampson

Great! Have fun with it, and let us know how it goes

roygrady

Cygnus Studios wrote:

Extension tubes are fantastic and work with a wide range of lenses. Most of the time you will have to use manual focus as you are eliminating the amount of light getting into the lens.
Getting your flash off of the camera will help immensely.

Be forewarned, once you use the tubes, you will love them. So start thinking about how you will budget for them. <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="0" height="0">

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I definitely agree about extension tubes, once you get into them you will never go back!.