Macro Photography + Lens Review

| Allison

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Hello, dears!

Well that was a rather unanticipated mini-hiatus, huh? I think this is the longest break from blogging I’ve taken in… I don’t know, a very long time. 😛 As usual, it was because of our agonizingly slow internet and hectic moving schedule. *sigh* Anyway, I won’t elaborate on my excuses anymore – must make the most of fast Wi-Fi while I have it! XD

Today I am excited to present a review of this Fotodiox Macro Extension Tube Kit, plus some close up pictures I got with it!

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I got the kit for Christmas but have only lately really learned how to use it. It definitely has its quirks and difficulties, but overall I LOVE it and I’ve had so much fun playing with it.

The kit comes with five pieces…

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only three of which are the actual extensions (the other two attach the extensions to the lens and camera body).

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The extensions are 28mm, 14 mm, and 7 mm: the higher the number, the more macro the photo will be. You can screw them on and off individually and in any combination. The pieces all seem very sturdy. It IS a little hard to screw the normal camera lens onto the respective attachment, but it works okay.

Here are some variations of… um macro-ness? XD

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The amazing thing about this kit is that it’s only $12.59 on Amazon! Isn’t that incredible? Considering how high lenses – or really anything DSLR related – usually cost, I think it’s a huge bargain.

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Now granted, it isn’t the easiest to use at first, as aforementioned, but once you get the hang of it it’s pretty fun.

For one thing, you have to use manual mode. This isn’t a problem for me because I always do anyway, but it’s something to consider.

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You also have to manually focus the lens, by which I mean move your camera back and forth until you get just the right distance away from it that the subject is (mostly) in focus. This makes it practically impossible to get a clear picture of a moving subject or an object that’s spiky or generally not very flat, like these:

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Not surprisingly, the longer your lens extends, the closer up it gets. Also basically the closer up you get, the harder it is to take pictures. Because besides the things I just said, one, it will require pretty bright light (or high ISO/low shutter speed) to compensate for the zoom; and two, it will have a TINY f-stop/aperture, which means the portion of the picture in sharp focus is very small, like the first picture below.

(By the way, this EXTREMELY WEIRD thing is called a cedar apple – and no, it’s not edible. XD You should look them up – they’re so strange!)

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You can see how much more subject area is in focus when you use a 14mm versus a 28mm:

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And I believe this is just with the 7mm, although I’m not entirely sure what extensions I used for any of these pictures because it’s rather hard to keep track of. XD

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I prefer to use something like the 7mm + 14 mm instead of all three together. Even the 7 mm by itself is a lot of fun, though it isn’t super macro. However, you can still get some super neat photos with the full extension, it’s just a bit harder to work with:

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One thing I love about these extensions is how soft and dreamy they make the lighting. ❤ They’re also super good for bokeh, although this specific picture isn’t a great example of that…

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The colors are also usually quite vibrant, as you can see here. I didn’t edit this at all!

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And there you have it! I hope you guys found the review helpful and interesting. 🙂 Before I go I wanted to show you a few more macro photos I’ve taken recently. Enjoy!

Weeds are great for macro photography because they look a lot prettier closer up. 😉

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I also love how the extensions work with water drops! (Well let’s be honest – I just love water drop photography in general. XD)

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Another photography subject I love is eyes. ❤ I tried to get some shots of my own eyes, but it was pretty hard to do as a selfie. :[] Oh well, I think the blurry ones still actually look pretty!

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Ahh, I really like this last one! Se the reflection of me holding the camera? It looks like my pupil is the lens. 😀

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OKAY OKAY I LOVE THESE NEXT ONES TOO EEP. I’ve always wanted to get a good picture of a cat’s eye, and I finally did! Ahh, the color and texture is just gorgeous. ❤

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Good thing Tom was sleepy or he would have moved around way too much. XD

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Hee hee, isn’t his nose cute?

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This is an ear, in case you were wondering. XD I actually like the softness of this picture too.

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I could go on, but this is a long post already, so we’ll stop here. XD *sigh* That was fun.

So tell me. Would you consider buying this extension kit? What was your favorite photo? Do you like taking close-ups, or do you prefer a different genre?

Thanks for reading, dears, and have a wonderful day! ❤

***Allison***

P. S. I was going to do photography tips in this post, but then I was like, “Clara has done such a good job saying what I would just repeat, so…” XD Click here to read a super helpful and beautiful post with lots of great photography tips! And follow her blog while you’re at it – IT’S ABSOLUTELY WONDERMOUS. ❤ 😉

If you DO happen to have any photography questions left over afterwards, by all means please let me know in the comments and I will do my best to answer them, perhaps in a later post. 🙂

92 thoughts on “Macro Photography + Lens Review”

  1. That is so cool! ❤ Great job!!! I have a Nikon camera with a "28x Optical Zoom Wide," )that is what it says on the lens.) 🙂 That kit is super cool, I will have to look into it, thanks for sharing! Great job! ❤

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    1. Thank youuu! Ooh really? I think my old camera was something similar to that – maybe 30-something? I’m not sure. XD Anyway, yes, it sure is! And my pleasure! Thanks for the comment, dear. ❤

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  3. Your photography is AWESOME!!! Does this macro set work for all cameras? I think my mom was going to buy this, but she wasn’t sure it would work with her camera since it is a different brand. Great post!

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    1. AHH THANK YOU. Well it doesn’t work for quite all the kinds, but you can get one for Nikon DSLRs and a different (but practically the same) kit for Canons. Do you know what kind of camera she has? And thank you again! 😀

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      1. My pleasure! OK, thank you for telling me. I don’t quite know. Let me go look… She has a Sony. I don’t know if it’ll work for that. You’re welcome! Have a great day!
        ~Kaylyn

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              1. OK. My mom already said that it wouldn’t work, so I guess the mystery is solved! XD No problem, thanks!

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  4. Welcome back!!!!
    Also: WOW! Those are some detailed pictures. That kit’s pretty neat, especially for that price.
    Anyway, Welcome baaack!!

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  7. Ooh, lovely photos dear! I shall have to decide if I need that extension tube or not…I don’t do much macro as you know. Also that one of Toms’ eye is SO. GOOD. but I think I already told you that 😉

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    1. Thanks, Aria! Yeah, I know… Well I’m sure you don’t need it but YOU STILL SHOULD GET IT because it’s just so fun! And you could take macro pictures of your white flowers. 😀 Also thank thee again! I don’t mind if you tell me twice, heh heh. XD

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      1. Yeah, well…when I have money, dear. $12 doesn’t come that easily. Ha ha, I’m sure you don’t. 😛

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  12. Whoa. Those pictures are…are…are…surreal! They DO look very soft and dreamy – it’s so beautiful! The picture of the cat’s ear is um…well…it doesn’t look like a cat’s ear. XD Goodness, that cedar apple is STRANGE.

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    1. THANK YOU THANK YOU. I knooow, right? I love how it makes photos look. ❤
      Ha ha, right? XD It was his, um, ear hair. XD
      I KNOW AGAIN! Soooo strange.

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  15. Wow! This looks awesome! (too bad I don’t have a Nikon camera) I love shooting up close and getting the details! Beautiful pictures! 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Hannah! Well good news – you can actually get this for Canons too! It’s maybe two dollars more expensive for some reason, but otherwise I think it’s the same. Yesss, me too! Thanks again, dear. ❤

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  16. AWWW ALLISON THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SWEET SHOUTOUT. 😀 That made me smile so big!!! ❤
    All of these pictures are just incredible, and I REALLY want that set now. XD My favorite photos were the ones of the water drops on the roses and the cat eyes, though I loved every single photo! 😀
    Happy Easter! ❤

    -Clara ❤

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  18. Wow! These photos are soooo amazing and beautiful!
    I’ve never heard of or seen cedar apples before – they’re very interesting 😛
    I’m not much of a photographer, but I loved looking at these pictures 😀
    Lydia ❤

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  20. Wow, those photos were so beautiful! *makes mental note for next CLM* I love up close photography and though I won’t be purchasing the kit, it looks really neat!!! 😀 I LOVED the photo of your eye and the pupil looked exactly like it was the lens, did you edit that at all? It was amazing!!! 😀

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    1. Ha ha AWW THANK YOU! ❤ Yes, it sure is! And thank you so much! Well I did edit the eye picture but I didn't change the content of it to make the pupil look that way. I guess I was focusing my lens right on the middle of my eye so the reflection happened to coincide with my pupil! I was surprised too! O.o 😀

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  21. I love the pictures you took with your macro extension lens, Allison! I agree, the lighting is super soft and nice. I especially like the pink flower picture (the featured image one), the rose pictures, and the eye pictures.
    I really like macro photography, but I don’t have much experience with it, because I don’t have the right type of lens. I would like to have something like a macro extension lens, but right now I’m really looking at a 35 mm or 50 mm prime lens.
    Happy Easter Monday!

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    1. I’m so glad you like them! Yesss, I love it. ❤ And thanks! I like those too. 🙂 Yeah, it's super fun! And OOH I highly recommend the 50 mm lens because I have it and it's my favorite lens. It really makes the pictures look more DSLR-ish, if you know what I mean. The blurred background and everything. 😉
      Happy Easter Monday to you too, Sassafrass, and thanks for the comment!

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      1. You’re welcome! Oh, you have the 50 mm lens? That’s cool, and I’ll definitely take your recommendation into account when I’m thinking about buying a new lens. Have you found that the 50 mm takes much better quality pictures than your kit lens (or do you have a kit lens)?

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        1. Yes, I do! And I definitely think it’s better than the kit lens. The pictures aren’t necessarily better quality, they’re just prettier because the lower aperture option gives the pictures a lovely DSLR-ish blurred background, which I love. 🙂

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  27. Amazing! I especially love the eyes. I tried photographing my eyes with my camera (no macro lens) because I thought macro photography of eyes was a hoax. Silly me.

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  31. Macro photography is my favourite. I have a Nikon camera but I can’t change my lens. It has a built in zoom though and I have captured some good photos with it (well I think so anyway 😉)
    I have enjoyed looking at your photos. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. I love it too! I used to have a camera like that and it was great. 🙂 That’s so neat! It was my pleasure – thank you for visiting and commenting!

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  33. Great job. Keep up the good work. I just recently got a macro lens for a dslr. However, I have been impressed with the macro lens that I use for my mobile phone camera.

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