View Full Version : Would a Macro Extension Tube work?


Mark Sudfeldt
May 11th, 2009, 03:12 PM
I have the Mike Tapa Nikon lens adapter for my Sony Z7 and a Nikon 70 to 210 lens which is working great. I was wondering if anybody with the adapter has tried fitting a Macro Extension Tube between adapter and lens and if it works. The ability to get real close shots of insects and such would be great.

Mark

Zach Love
May 11th, 2009, 05:09 PM
I don't see why it wouldn't work. Just remember that you have a VERY differnt field of view on the Z7's 1/3" chips than you do with the same lens on a 35mm SLR.

One big plus though is that the chips are so small that you can probably move the lens farther away from the camera & still not see the edge of the lens than when the lens is attached to a SLR.

Only down side to using an adapter on an adapter is the extra weight. If you're using a heavy lens, just use a rail / rod system to make sure you don't damage the camera or anything else.

Gary Nattrass
May 12th, 2009, 03:58 AM
Dont know about the ext tube idea but you can certainly put a nikor macro (micro) lens on the Mike Tappa mount.
Here are some shots I did last year:Watch this Space on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/1672101)

Mark Sudfeldt
May 13th, 2009, 05:09 AM
Thanks Zach and Gary for your replies. Took a look at Garys impressive clip and think I will get a Nikor macro (micro) lens instead. One question Gary: how close did you have to get to the watch to get those shots as I was just wondering how big an issue light source shading will be if the lens is really close to the object?

Luc De Wandel
May 13th, 2009, 11:52 AM
Thanks for the music of Lucy Slater on that clip, Gary! What a voice.

Gary Nattrass
May 14th, 2009, 12:30 PM
I think I was about 6 inches from the watch on the last shot, thanks for the comment on Lucy's voice she certainly has the talent for a 17 year old.

Mike Tapa
May 28th, 2009, 04:42 AM
Gary.
That's a great clip, very well lit too.

Mark.
It seems using a macro lens is the way to go, however, using Nikon ext tubes should work too.
Just remember you will lose ability to focus much farther away.
However you do it though, please let us know if you put any clips of insects online.

Cheers

Walter Uhrik
May 30th, 2009, 09:14 AM
I have the Mike Tapa Nikon lens adapter for my Sony Z7 and a Nikon 70 to 210 lens which is working great. I was wondering if anybody with the adapter has tried fitting a Macro Extension Tube between adapter and lens and if it works. The ability to get real close shots of insects and such would be great.

Mark
Hi Mark,
I am using my Sony Z7 with Sony adapter for Alpha lenses and I am mostly working with 70-300 mm/5,6 lens when shooting insects on flowers. I can say that I don't need an extension tube to get really macro of an insect appr. 5 mm big. The focusing distance is shortened from 3 m to appr. 1.1 m thanks to the adapter. I will post some screenshots soon.

Walter Uhrik
May 30th, 2009, 01:36 PM
Here are some of my shots. I was doing them with Z7 and Sony Alpha 70-300/f5,6 lens, most of the time fully zoomed-in. All shots were taken from appr. 1,5 m. Insects pictured are barely bigger than 1 cm, some of them are less than 5 mm (black on yellow flower). The eye of the butterfly is about 2 mm in diameter.