3dees

for insects I would get a used macro of at least 90mm so you can shoot at a distance. I use a Sigma 105mm for most but my Tamron 180mm comes out for insects.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Simple and user friendly, Canon 500D and 250D close up lenses ......use them on 100-200mm lenses.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

I agree with this. Good close-up filters can be pretty expensive ( >$100) while decent extension tubes are quite inexpensive.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

There are tradeoffs no matter what you go with. The close-up lenses don't lose light like tubes will but cost more for the better types
.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Actually, good AF tubes from Kenko cost about the same as good close up lenses. Inexpensive tubes may only be MF versions. I have both but use neither. I should get rid of them. My suggestion, short of getting a true macro lens, would be to get a Raynox macro converter...

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I tend to agree. I have a full set of Kenko AF tubes. They are kind of a pain to put on and I rarely take anything that requires magnification beyond 1:1. The other thing is that the newer cameras have such good resolution that cropping is an option more than it used to be. Not the same as it was with film....

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

You can purchase a set of automatic tubes for less than $50. I did and they work great. I also have a two element Canon filter that cost me over $100 but I never use it any more.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Plastic or metal bodied?

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Extension tubes, live view, focus magnifier if your camera has it. Buy the set of tubes with 3 tubes. Much more versatile than a 2 tube set.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

They look and feel like metal.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

What brand ?

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

I bought them 4-5 years ago from, I think, B&H. Each is labeled "XIT Extension Tube for Canon". There are three of them, 13mm, 21mm, and 31mm. They are fully automatic and work fine. They look nearly identical to the ones pictured in B&H's ad for "Vello Auto Extension Tube Set for Canon EOS" for $60. I'm thinking I paid around $40-50 for them. They are so similar that I wonder if they are actually Vellos sold under a different name.

It's possible the barrels could be plastic but, if so, it's a darn hard plastic. The mounts are definitely metal.

I recently used them on my 70-200 Canon lens to shoot some fungi at a distance when I couldn't get close enough for my 90mm macro.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Extension tube would be my choice. It can almost always be used with any lense and doesn't break easily. I feel the result in the corners is better than with close-up lenses.

Quincykitty

I use Raynox 150 macro lens:

https://www.amazon.com/Raynox-DCR-150-Snap-On-Macro-Lens/dp/B0007KS7D0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512010885&sr=8-1&keywords=raynox+150

with Canon Sx60. Very versatile and easy to use set up. I just need to buy stocking program ... may be Santa...

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

When you ask questions like this, it would be very helpful to know what camera and lens(es) you have to work with.

Looking back at some of your previous posts, it appears you have some Nikon D5000-series DSLR.

I assume you a;sp have lenses like the 18-55mm and/or 70-300mm or the 18-140mm that are offered in kit with most of those cameras...

In that case I'd recommend macro extension tubes...

$120 for the Kenko set of three (12mm, 20mm & 36mm)....These are the best quality for the money and support all types of autofocus and all methods of aperture control with Nikon cameras and lenses.

$60 to $80 for Opteka set of three (12mm, 20mm & 36mm).... More plasticky, but also support all AF and aperture control. These sell relabeled under some other brand names, including Vello.

$45 to $60 for Zeikos set of three (13mm, 21mm, 31mm).... Even more plasticky, but still support AF and aperture control. These sell under a whole bunch of different brand names incl. Fotodiox. There's a cheaper "economy" version that uses plastic bayonet mounts or a more expensive one with metal bayonet mounts.

Nikon themselves only offer individually sold tubes: PK-11 (8mm), PK-12 (14mm) and PK-13 (27.5mm). These are fine, but expensive ($89 to $99 each) and they DO NOT support autofocus or aperture control with all lenses.

$10 to $20 will get you a set of plain metal tubes in a whole bunch of different brand names... These have no electronics at all and DO NOT support autofocus on ANY lenses and (much worse) provide no means of setting the aperture on G-type (gelded) or any other lens which doesn't have a built-in aperture control ring. These are usable with vintage, manual focus lenses, but NOT RECOMMENDED for most modern lenses that rely upon electronic contacts for AF or aperture control.

The great thing about macro extension tubes is that they can be used with virtually any lens. The longer the lens focal length, the more extension you need behind it, to make a significant increase in magnification. Extension tubes will probably be most practical with lenses in the range of 50mm to 100mm. Longer than that, the increase in magnification won't be great, but extension can be useful to make a telephoto a bit closer focusing. I use a 36mm tube behind 300mm and 500mm lenses at times, which on their own can only focus to something like 6 or 8 feet, but can manage 4.5 or 6.5 feet when the extension is added. Shorter focal lengths simply put you too close to many subjects.

Here I used a 12mm extension tube on a 20mm lens...

This was shot with a 50mm lens and a 20mm extension tube...

And this was done with a 20mm tube on an 85mm lens...

For this I used a 25mm extension tube on a 70-200mm zoom...

Here I used a 36mm extension on a 300mm lens...

And for this I added a 36mm tube to a 500mm lens...

There's usually very little loss of image quality with extension tubes. There are no optics in them to "mess with" images. But if you use a lot of extension there can be "light fall off" within the tube, though your camera's through the lens metering will read properly anyway (and can be used with either auto or manual exposure, so long as you buy the more expensive tubes listed above, with the electronic contacts). Some lenses tend to vignette a bit when used with extension tubes. And, you're forcing a non-macro type of lens to focus closer than intended. True macro lenses are often "flat field" designs, which give an image sharp from edge to edge and corner to corner at very close focusing distances. Non-macro lenses usually are not flat field, so may get a bit soft in the corners of images, especially when used at larger apertures. Both the vignetting and corner softness can be useful, though. And stopping down the aperture should minimize them.

High quality add-on magnifying "diopters" also can work pretty well... But the good ones ain't cheap. For example, Canon 250D (stronger) and 500D (weaker) diopters in 58mm diameter cost about $90 each. They also come in limited sizes. And, diopters aren't nearly as versatile as extension tubes. If you use various lenses with different size filter threads you may need to purchase several different diameter diopters.

Forget the cheap ($15 to $30) "close up filters". Those often come in sets of three or four different strengths, but all the same diameter. They're basically junk that will make lousy images.

With any of the above you can pretty easily do 1:2 or half life size magnification... though it somewhat depends upon the lens you use the tubes or diopters on. For full 1:1 or higher magnification, a true macro lens is a lot easier to shoot with.

Keep an eye out for a deal on a used, vintage, manual focus macro lens.... There are a lot of great ones still able to make excellent images. And a lot of macro work is more easily done with manual focus anyway. The images below were shot with an old Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 lens that uses interchangeable Adaptall mounting system, so can be fitted to virtually any SLR or DSLR system. I paid all of $20 for the lens at a local second-hand store (with caps, hood and matched 2X teleconverter). I then spent another $40 to get a new mount to use it on my modern Canon DSLRs (it had a Nikon mount on it, and I have other Adaptall to fit Pentax P/K, Konica K/AR, Canon FD mount cameras.) This older macro lens can only do 1:2 on it's own, but gets pretty close to full 1:1 when I add a 36mm extension to it. These were done with a 20mm or 25mm extension on it...

The only problem using that old Tamron lens is the manual aperture.... stopping down to f/11 (as was done for the above shots), makes for a very dim viewfinder, which is more difficult to focus. That's not a problem with stationary subjects... but chasing a bee from flower to flower can be challenging!