Few days ago finally my package of Macro Extension Tubes arrived. Maybe you seen some of my macro shots where i did some crazy things like reversing the lens and holding it to the mount without mounting it to the camera. It is the lowest and cheapest way of doing macro shots :D
I was browsing through aliexpress randomly and stumbleupon Macro extension tubes. As it was 14$ i decided to order 1, as macro could be fun and i never got into it as it was a hustle without a macro lens.

Andoer Colorful Metal Macro Extension Tube Ring was the thing i ended up ordering. It is a mix of plastic tubes and metal mounts, it has contacts for the lens, and it contains 3 rings of different lengths.

selfie, not an easy one :D

The pros and cons

The pros:

• Well it costs 14$ (not really sure what is the price of the cheapest macro lens, but i had an opportunity to buy used 100mm canon for around 400$)
• You get 3 rings of different sizes that you can combine to get different magnifications.
• It has contacts for the lens so you can control the aperture (f-stop) with your camera, and it works :)
• It can be used on all of the lenses (on my 10-18 i can't get close enough to the subject to get it in focus)
• it has a metal mount (not the greatest, but you don't have to worry that it will brake)

The cons:

• Autofocus is not working (it says that it should but i did not manage to autofocus on anything, so more tests are needed :) )
• When using the tubes you "lose light". (in my not scientific experiment it is 3 stops when all the tubes are used. So if you photographed something with just the lens at ISO 100, when using all 3 tubes you will need to use ISO 800)
  

Final thoughts:

I had 2 problems with it. And booth effects how you will be able to use the macro tubes. Problem with light lose would not maybe be that big if it is not macro photography. But in macro photography the depth of field is really small (only few, or even 1 millimeter is in focus when using f/2) and that means that you have to close the aperture to get more in focus. But closing the aperture you get less light to the sensor and with loss of light of macro tubes it gets dark really quick. So you end up using High ISO really quick if you are photographing hand held or something that moves.
Lack of usable autofocus (maybe it is just my mistake) with the combination of losing light limites the use for only subjects that are not moving.
So if you want to photograph stationery subjects and use a tripod (where you can get really low shutter speeds and not use high ISO) this is a product for you. If you want to photograph ants and bugs you better start training them so they will pose and not run around.

A short video made with the macro tubes, and not so great review https://d.tube/v/bil.prag/nqjobuqw