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Macro Testing - Alternatives Neewer Extension Tubes & Polaroid Macro Filters


mttdxb
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I am not really into macro photography but at some point last year decided to buy the Neewer 10mm & 16mm Extension Tubes as well as a set of Polaroid 67mm Macro Filters (+2/+4/+10) as a cheap alternative to an expensive dedicated macro lens.

 

Finally did some testing with a few watches with the Neewer 10+16mm attached to the Sony 28mm F2, the Zeiss Batis 85mm F1.8 and the Sony GM70-200 F2.8+2xTeleconverter (@400mm). In addition I took a couple of shots with the Zeiss Batis in a combination of the

Neewer Tubes + the Polaroid Macro Filters. All pictures are taken with the closest possible distance between lens and subject. Manual focus, aperture and exposure. ISO has been set to Auto.

 

Will post multiple pics (full = crop) in a couple of posts ... lets start with the Sony 28mm below:

 

Picture 1 is taken at F8 with 0.5s exposure and ISO3200

Picture 2 is taken at F8 with 1s exposure and ISO400

 

 

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GM 70-200 + 2x Tele is next ...

 

Picture 3 is taken at F13 with 1s exposure and ISO1000

Picture 4 is taken at F13 with 1s exposure and ISO500

 

 

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Zeiss Batis 85mm is next...

 

Picture 5 is taken at F4 with 0.5s exposure and ISO100 (extension tubes 10+16mm only)

Picture 6 is taken at F7.1 with 0.5s exposure and ISO1250 (extension tubes + Polaroid +2 Macro Filter)

 

 

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Zeiss Batis with Extension Tubes and Macro Filter +4 ...

 

Picture 7 is taken at F4 with 1s exposure and ISO100

Picture 8 is taken at F7.1 with 1s exposure and ISO320

 

 

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Last one  ... Zeiss Batis 85mm with Extension Tubes and Polaroid Macro Filter +10 ...

 

Picture 9 is taken at F7.1 with 1s exposure @ ISO640

Picture 10 is taken at F4 with 0.5s exposure @ ISO160

 

 

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I was really surprised when you named your lenses! You had just said: "a cheap alternative to an expensive dedicated macro lens" .

Wow! You have the most expensive Sony E mount lens, plus a Batis 85, and now you want to save money to start exploring new possibilities in the macro world?

The fact is that those extension tubes will make your expensive lenses behave like cheap ones. And it is not because of the price of the accessories, but their nature.

Lenses are projected for specific reproduction factors. Best result (mostly focus) is attained at a certain reproduction factor, where field flatness reaches its maximum. By moving the lens back and forth, to have focus before or beyond that point, the plane of focus get curved back and forth, so that when the center is in focus a subject in the corner is blured. There is a limit where this compromise is tolerated, when blur size is smaller than one can perceive in a regular enlargement. That usually determines the minimum focus of a lens. Lenses that use internal focus (like your Batis 85 and GM Zoom) can be projected to correct this behavior, since the focus group is itself a floating element group. So image quality is improved throughout the focus range. 

All-around lenses (let's name it so) are projected for 1:40 or more, so that you get good results from infinite to about 1:8, which is the average limitation of common lenses. Beyond that, field curvature gets so great that you loose focus on the edges, no matter how closed the diafragm is. Using extension tube with these lenses may provide nice images like yours, with an ethereal mood, but you will not be able to get edge to edge crisp focus for a change. The close-up lenses won't do any better. I just mentioned field flatness, but there are other optical problems (like CA which is clear in your images) that may appear when using lenses off its best range.

The following could be a nice test. You may try your Batis with a flat subject (positioned paralel to sensor plane!), like a book page, at the closer focus without extension tubes and f/4. Then use it with the 10mm tube and try to cover the same field. Use same fstop and compare the images. Although they have same reproduction factor, I expect quite a difference on the borders, bacause when you use the tube the internal focus elements are positioned for best focus at a distant subject. Even the "expensive" Sony G 90mm f/2.8 Macro won't pass this test, using a longer tube to reach 1:1, as its floating elements will be positioned for a capture of  distant subjects.

Macros are usually designed to work better at 1:4 (repro factor), which means that they will cover from 1:1 to 1:16 with few compromises. To cover the full focus scale from infinite to 1:1 the new macro lens designs use floating elements, which move differently than the main groups to correct the image. That way, even for expensive top quality macro lens, there is no way to get flat field when they are attached to extension tubes, so edge sharpness will degrade as well. In the past some macro lenses had macro adapters that were not merely empty tubes, but had correcting lenses to keep quality at that extra macro range. That was mostly when macros reached just 1:2 and then the adapter would provide the extra kink to reach 1:1. Lens design has evolved so that the internal floating elements are enough to reach that range. As there is a tiny market for lenses that go beyond 1:1 (and because professional that work on this range choose other kind of equipment) the industry has 1:1 as the limit for macro lenses. Now we see some new attempts to sell lenses that go 2:1 and even 4.5:1, which is better described as microphotography.

I wish you a nice use of your lens+tubes combinations. The fact is that when you realize that macro is a kind of photography that you want to invest more time and equipment, and then you decide for a true macro lens, you may get disappointed for the lack of mood on its crisply sharp images.

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I checked again your images. They give a good idea of what you may expect from each optical combination. However it is difficult to draw a comparison between them, because they are cropped images where subject, magnification, lighting and shot angle change. I don't mean that you should do one of those boring tests nor repeat the same conditions with all options that you have. Your test is a good example on how beautiful (or powerful) images are not strictly dependent on optical perfection.

To complement what I've said in the post above, I just realized that number 3 and 4 where taken with the zoom+converter and no extra macro accessory. And as far (or deep) as I can see, they are the more natural looking photos in your set, with less optical artifacts (this doesn't mean that they are my favorites), although I can notice some softness. If I am right, then this comes according to theory (and all my explanation): a matched converter is a much better optical accessory for close-ups than bare extension tubes or front accessory lenses, despite the limited enlarging power you get with it. But still, it was not designed for that.

Let's see: you have the 28, the Batis 85 and the GM 70-200 plus converter. I guess that the Sony FE 50mm f/2.8 can be a nice complement for your gear.

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