Pro Optic Budget Auto Extention Tube Set for Canon EOS SLR Cameras Review

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 - August 24th, 2010 @


Months ago I sold my awesome EF 100mm F/2.8 Macro thinking that I wasn’t really into macro photography, but guess what, it’s been three months and I’m still shooting macro and close up photos here and there. A month after I sold my 100mm macro I bought an extension tube from Adorama, just for the sake of trying it out and see how it compares to the real macro lens I had. A Macro Lens is a Macro Lens, but I found out that with the help of an extension tube I can fully utilize the usefulness of the lenses that I have.

This is a mini review of the Pro Optic Budget Auto Extention Tube Set for Canon EOS SLR Cameras which was long overdue. First of what is an extension tube and why do we need this? An extension tube is an object, a photographic accessory that is connected between the Camera Body and the Lens. Photographers use it to move the lens farther away from the image sensor to decrease the minimum focusing distance of a lens(the farther the lens is, the closer the focus). In short with an extension tube you can basically use an ordinary lens for macro photography. This is exactly what the Pro Optic Budget Auto Extention Tube Set for Canon EOS SLR Cameras does.

What I like about the Pro Optic Budget Auto Extention Tube Set for Canon EOS SLR Cameras

  • Great Value for the Money
  • Easy to Use
  • Lightweight
  • Made of Plastic but strong enough to use all three tubes all at once on the following canon lenses: Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF 70-210mm F/4 Macro and Canon EF 70-200mm F/4 IS USM.
  • TTL metering compatibility
  • Autofocus functions provided there is enough light available.

Cons :
So far I can’t find any, that’s because I wasn’t expecting name brand quality and macro quality photos when I bought it. For the price it does what it’s design to do and it does it really good.

I have use it on the following lenses:

  • EF 50mm F/1.8
  • EF 85mm F/1.8
  • EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6
  • EF 70-210mm F/4 Macro
  • EF 70-200mm F/4 IS USM.

The first set of sample photos were taken using the EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 at 135mm:

Test Result 1This is the closest I can get at 135mm Focal length at 135mm
Test Result 2This second test shows how close I was able to get with the extension tube attached. In here I use the 31mm Extension Tube.

I did not actually measure the distance between the lens and the object, but it looks like, it’s less than 2 inches. Below you can see two more photos taken with the EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 and Pro Optic Budget Auto Extension Tube.

Ready to Fly

Dwellers Beneath Bushes

You can buy the Pro Optic Budget Auto Extention Tube Set for Canon EOS SLR Cameras from the following reputable stores:

Things to consider before buying an extension tube:

  • For true macro capability, get a macro lens. A true macro lens can give you more like better image quality, ease of use and versatility.
  • A basic rule in macro photography, “Get a Tripod” or at least a “Monopod”. Everything tends to get heavy especially when using long lenses like the 28-135 or 70-200mm
  • You need a lot of patience in your arsenal. If you plan on taking photos of bugs or insects that are really fast, it will be really hard(not impossible but hard), I would suggest getting a true macro lens like the EF 100mm f/2.8, but for still objects, an extension tube is a great solution.

In Part II, I will post sample photos taken with the 85mm F/1.8 and the Pro Optic Budget Auto Extension Tube.

Continue to Part II here.

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