I worked hard to get this picture of a red headed cardinal in the Pantanal region of Brazil. Even though I shot this at a feeder set up at the hotel where my photo tour group and I were staying, it wasn't easy. This picture is not cropped at all. I used a 500mm lens plus a 1.4x teleconverter giving me 700mm of focal length. I positioned my camera and tripod only about eight feet away from the branch above the feeder. The Canon 500mm f/4 telephoto has a minimum focusing distance of about 15 feet, and that meant that there was no way I could focus on the branch unless I used an extension tube. Most photographers think to use these tubes when shooting macro subjects as they increase the magnification when shooting tiny subjects, but they are also invaluable in reducing the minimum focusing distance between camera and subject. My settings for this shot were 1/200, f/5.6, 1000 ISO, and I used a tripod with a Wimberly head.
3 Comments
Sep 11, 2015, 6:46:29 AM
Jim Zuckerman - Hi Bob, Extension tubes come as a set of three -- at least, the Kenko tubes come that way. Which tube you use depends on which lens you're using and the focusing distance. If you have room in your photo backpack, bring all three. They are very, very light. Or, if space is at a premium, bring just the two smaller tubes -- such as 12mm and 24mm.
Sep 11, 2015, 12:20:11 AM
Bob Vestal - Jim, if I understand correctly, you used the 500 mm with 1.4x teleconverter plus an extension tube. That is a very valuable technical recommendation. Can you comment on what size extension tube(s) to bring along?
Sep 11, 2015, 12:19:54 AM
Bob Vestal - Jim, if I understand correctly, you used the 500 mm with 1.4x teleconverter plus an extension tube. That is a very valuable technical recommendation. Can you comment on what size extension tube(s) to bring along?