A couple of weeks back I bought a set of macro tubes for my 60D from Amazon at a ridiculously low price. Paying so little I really didn't expect much but I've fallen in love with this cheap and simple addition to my kit. The general principle behind macro tubes is, by moving the lens further away from the camera's sensor you can greatly reduce the minimum focal distance capable by that lens. The tubes fit to my camera easily and support both my kit lenses with no problems, it goes with out saying just be careful with heavier lenses. When shooting with tubes you need quite a lot of light to work with but handheld shots are attainable outside on a sunny day or with the help of additional lights when shooting indoors. For interior shots though I would certainly recommend a tripod and a shutter release button (also available for a few quid on Amazon) for best results.
The biggest challenge when using macro tubes is getting your point of interest in focus as your depth of field range is reduced to literally a centimetre of miniature sharpness. I know what you're thinking to increase the depth of field can you not just simply close the aperture on the lens? Yeah it does help but unless you have aperture controls on your lens we run into another problem as the macro tube is separating the lens from the camera and every time you disconnect your lens it resets to a wide setting. Through some online research I did discover a way to stop this lens resetting on the 60D by disconnecting the lens whilst holding down the unmarked button (actually Depth Of Field preview button) found just below and to the left of your lens mount. Obviously closing the aperture will mean you need even more light and this is when a tripod becomes a necessity.
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| Hand held Wasp in the Garden |
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| Hand held Spider in the garden |
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| Hand held Ladybird in the Garden |
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| Tripod and additional light, Shelley's Eye |
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| Tripod and natural light from window, Scratch Card |
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| Tripod and natural light from window, Charm (for Ebay) |
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