What a mystery how this one-inch-small wonder remained unknown to me for so long. I finally figured it out when — lamenting my fate at having to spend over two thousand dollars on a Canon tilt-shift macro — a colleague suggested trying an extension.
A small gift of savings from the camera gods themselves. In case you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting it either: let me introduce you to my new favorite device, Canon EF 25II . Extension Tube.
In my commercial work, I take a lot of macro photography. The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro is my favorite lens in my bag. It always provided what I needed like sharpness, image stabilization etc. It was the perfect lens… until this. one contract. I was hired to film monthly for the largest CBD producer in the United States. Every month, I shoot new hairs and I find myself wanting to get closer, closer and closer. Each strand has a unique leaf shape, and the factor that really attracted me was these microscopic sections called trichomes, which are translucent, crystal-like dots on plants. My 100mm just didn’t cut it. I was about to pull the trigger when shifting the macro tilt when I caught sight of Canon EF 25II . Extension Tube.
At $144.95, I think it’s worth trying it out before investing over $2k in new glasses. Wow, I was so impressed!
What is an expansion tube?
An extension tube is a ring that is attached between your camera and lens. This extends the physical distance between the two, allowing the camera to focus closer to the minimum focusing distance of the lens. In simpler terms: it allows you to zoom in closer.
My experience shooting with it
When attaching the tube for testing, I was concerned about two things: image stabilization and sharpness. I generally prefer to use the device the way it was designed to be used. I was pleased to find that adding this tube did not reduce sharpness or reduce image stabilization in any way that I could notice in my photos.
Here are some pictures I took with the 100mm lens with and without the extension.
Here are some more photos I took with the extension tube.
On an unofficial Instagram survey, I asked the photographers if they knew what this was.
Nearly 60% responded that they were unfamiliar with the little black wonder.
Another convenient perk
While researching some of the macro lens options, I learned that many of these lenses have a very shallow depth of field and require shooting with centralized railway.
Since these macro lenses require you to get very close to your subject, it limits you to a very shallow depth of focus. If you want to focus on more than a small part of the image, you will probably have to use the focus bar. The focus rail is a system that allows you to move the camera forward and backward in small increments. With the camera attached to the rail, you can take a picture of your subject, then refocus at a slightly longer distance, click again, and repeat the process until you have captured the entire subject with the different focal lengths. Then you will need to use image stacking to combine all the photos to create a complete image.
Shooting with the extension tube still allows me to get closer to the subject without restricting the depth of field in the way that I had to use this involved process.
If you’re interested in diving deeper into the world of macro photography, this can be a great starting point. It keeps the process simple and it’s a much more economical option.
Have you used them yet? The best part of the conversation is sharing your experience in the comments section below.
