Last Updated on April 28, 2021
Considering getting a Kenko Entension tube for your Nikon? This review will help you decide if these extension tubes are worth investing your hard earned money on.
What Are Kenko Extension Tubes?
What’s inside the package? The kit contains three extension tubes of different length. 1, 2, and 3. The longer your subject is from you the more extension tube will be needed. This means that if your subject is 10 ft away but you have a 50mm lens then you’ll only need an 1mm tube to properly focus on it.
How Do Kenko Extension Tubes Fit?
Kenko Extension tubes are attached to the front of your lens. They screw onto your lens at one end and then you place a tube between your lens and camera body.
Who Are They For
TThey are compatible with the following Nikon lenses: AF-S DX and FX lenses, AF-S NIKKOR and other manual focus lens. Photographers who shoot close up or macro such as nature, flowers and weddings will love Kenko extension tubes.
What We Love About Them
Kenko extension tubes don’t substitute a lens, they work with your current one. But, they do it in a different way to give you an extreme close up. They are perfect for those who like taking close up shots of flowers, insects, and wildlife.
What We Don’t Like About Them
With any lens, there is always the chance of getting flare. The same goes with Kenko extension tubes. It is possible for light to bounce off the front of your lens and onto your sensor. This will lead to a bad photo and should be avoided at all costs.
How They Performed In Our Tests
Our first round of tests was to take a photo of a subject that was 10 feet from the lens. The test was to then use different amounts of extension tubes on the lens. We then repeated this test with different levels of magnification and discovered that 10 feet is the minimum level we recommend at using. In fact, you need to be 20 feet away for just 0.5mm of tube and those are our recommendations for best quality results from your photos.
Kenko Extension Tube Pros and Cons
PROS
It’s inexpensive.
The tubes are very well made.
They are compatible with a wide range of Nikon lenses.
CONS
You need to be further from your subject than if you’re using lens alone. This means that it’s not possible to use Kenko extension tubes in all situations. You will not, for example, be able to focus on a flower if you’re macro lens is 50mm but the flower is only 8 feet away from you and 10 feet away from your camera body.
Bottom Line
We recommend Kenko extension tubes for nature, flower, and wildlife photographers. They are not for more general use unless you’re after a special effect that will only be seen as an extreme close up.