Ebay Extension Tubes - Worth it?

I was browsing eBay for extension tubes and found some from HK for under $10. They are manual focus. Are these any good or a total waste? What do I lose besides autofocus?

On amazon UK there are some horror stories about these.

Out of all the reviews, I only found one guy complain that he couldn't set aperture, and another couldn't remove it from his 50D. So really only 1 of 27 bad reviews.

You can't set aperture (forced to shoot wide open) due to the lack of electrical contact.
But there is a trick where I believe you hold down the shutter with the aperture you want then take off your lens, and then mount the tubes and lens, which makes your camera retain the aperture you specified, and repeat everytime you wish to change it again.

Inconvenient yes, so better off with the Kenko / Prooptic ones that let you set aperture, but hey, for $3 why not give it a try?

To change the aperture you connect the lens to the body,set the aperture,remove the lens while
holding the depth of field button then put the tube back on the body with the lens.I own both styles
and will probably never use the manual ones again.

If they physicaly fail, you could lose your lens or your camera body.

Do you really want to trust a 10 buck POS to support your $1000 lens or camera?

At least look at the Kenko tube set if you think Canon gear is too costly for your pocket.

I just rented a set of the kenko tubes for my first experiment in macro. I found manual focus to be no big deal and preferable. If I'd had to do all that with the aperture setting though I would've thrown them out the window. The depth of field is SO shallow using the tubes I was fiddling with aperture a lot. It's enough effort using the kenko, I can't imagine the $10 ones people describe.

Can anyone offer comprehensive information on Extension tubes, (or a link), providing the different versions of them. The only Kenko's I've seen are auto focus ones (i think, they cost about $130), but I've read some posts that elude to kenkos that are manual focus but allow other controls (never seen them). And I think the $5 ebay are just plastic tubes that have no controls (contacts) at all. While there are some no-name ebays that sell for about $35, and say 'AF Confirm' and then in small print somewhere Not Auto focus, I don't even really understand what these are.

Anyone give me some information. Thanks

You can set aperture... you just need to...

1. Attach lens to camera and set the aperture
2. Press and hold the DOF preview button
3. Remove lens when the DOF Preview button is pressed
4. attach extension tubes to camera
5. Attach lens to extension tubes

Problem solved.

Extension tubes are just tubes... nothing else. Kenkos have electronic contacts that allow for aperture changing and af confirm.

Well they can't be a total waste for under $10, I expect you'll get what you paid for.

Your best bet is to get extension tubes manufactured by the camera co or reputable third party provider (i.e., Kenko). In the end, as stated by others, you get what you paid for!

I bought a set of the import cheapies to modify for a 'scope eyepiece mount:

http://forum.manualfoc​us.org/viewtopic.php?i​d=11503

As it worked out, I didn't have to modify the tubes at all, so they are still functional. I have only one issue CONSIDERING THE PRICE and that is they screw together and if you aren't VERY careful you can bind them up too tight, and they can be a beauotch to unscrew. They do work, you have to set the aperture manually, and they were CHEAP.

themadman wrote in post #9849262
Extension tubes are just tubes... nothing else. Kenkos have electronic contacts that allow for aperture changing and af confirm.

What exactly is 'AF confirm'? I would have thought auto focus... But then I saw an ET thats af confirm and not auto focus on ebay. View ebay listing referred to here.
Read last line.

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mjHession wrote in post #9849781
What exactly is 'AF confirm'?

AF Confirm is a buzzword that has sprung up with aftermarket "focus chips." These are a chip designed to glue to the rear of a lens adapter, engage the electrical lens contacts of the Canon body, and activate the focus lights and beeper as you manually focus a (non AF) lens. Some of these work pretty good, some don't. Lately, there has been more and more of them become "programmable" which is an outgrowth of the original programmable chip known as the "Dandelion." I have no idea how the name came to be

http://photography.sho​p.ebay.com …onfirm%2C+chip&​_sacat=625

I got some cheap ones. I liked them just fine and had no trouble releasing them from my camera or lens.


the connector got bent tho so now I can't use it, it's pretty cheaply made. I have no problem getting a new connector or just a whole new set for such a low price.