Macro Extension Tubes

I find that my old Kenko tubes do well, just make sure you get the fully compatible ones with 8 pins and screw drive to get 100% functionality.

Read some horror stories of bricked camera's over at DP Review lately from people buying cheap tubes from Amazon. Turns out the springs for the contacts were free to flex side to side inside the tubes and if you were unlucky adjacent springs flexed into each other and caused a short = instant fried camera.

Macro lens designs have a very flat field of focus and are optimized for maximum resolution on short subject distances. This makes them superior for reproduction work. For other purposes extension tubes and a 50mm may be satisfactory, depending an your demands.

A 25mm tube will give you a 1:1.5 reproduction ratio with the 50mm f1.7 (A 35mm subject will fill the APS-C frame width.) Kenko tubes are very well made, like the 25mm Mx-AF Uniplus 25.

For true macro work, 50mm normal lenses may perform a little bit better optically if the are mounted reversed using a cheap reverse ring. But then even the aperture gets fully manual - like this
http://www.pbase.com/pganzel/image/105670408

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated and food for thought.

Sounds like a reversing ring may be a good option and I should only consider something like Kenko or Meike extension tubes. I have been offered a 2nd hand set of tubes for around GBP58, but I didn't like the look of them. Other than that I cannot find any A mount extension tubes anywhere in this country. I have also been offered a Sigma 105 macro for GBP129, but I am not crazy about the Sigma macro.

There is zero support for Sony A mount here in South Africa, and very few Sony accessories in general, so unless I import direct from overseas I am not going to find a reversing ring here. The last time I had a wireless shutter release posted to me from overseas it took 3 months to get to me, thanks to a Postal Service that is beyond useless.

I may have to wait till a relative visits from the UK.

Yes, close up filters are an option, but only the not so cheap ones (like Raynox DCR-250) doesn't visibly degrade the image.

I think it's important to realize that a true macro lens with autofocus is much more flexible and easy to work with for various macro work than any other option. So if you are looking for some kind of general macro solution it will probably be worth it to pay quite a bit more to save you from hassles.

But there are many different kinds of specialized macro work. If you want a high reproduction ratio like 2:1 a reversed 28mm lens can be a very cheap solution. The old Minolta 28mm lenses made before A-mount was invented can be had for cheap and they do have a manual aperture ring.
(Therefore, tinkering is not needed like it is for reversed a-mount lenses
https://pbase.com/pganzel/reverse_mount_aperture_control_maxxum_lenses

owenn01 wrote: ABDurbs wrote: I have also been offered a Sigma 105 macro for GBP129, but I am not crazy about the Sigma macro. Alan - I have the Sigma 105/2.8 macro and it works beautifully; it's sharp even wide open and seems to have a very fine bokeh to go with that. If you've ever seen any of my flower images (and the Tulip ones especially) then those would most likely have been taken with that lens (I don't have any other true Macro options in my 'bag'). The only slight issue (and this goes for many macro lenses anyway) is the front extension of the lens when getting down really close to a subject - though you quickly factor that in when using it. It also doubles up as a very useful and high performing non-macro lens as well; I've used it over the years for landscapes and it delivers crisp, clean images. So - I wouldn't discount it as an option and that price does look quite competitive from what I've seen for these. Good luck and best regards, Neil.

Good to know Neil, thanks. Perhaps I should ask the seller if I could spend some time with the lens. Fortunately he lives just round the corner so hopefully it shouldn't be an issue.

Hi Allan
I also use a sigma 105 28 macro.
It is great!
There are several versions. The current one with the HSM motor is the one I have. It even auto focus's almost like a normal prime lens. I haven't tried the others.
Regards Ross

Thanks Phil, Ross and Aavo. I have decided to wait till I can find a reasonably priced, V Good condition macro lens - either Sony or Sigma.