Macro photography with Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, 1.4x extender and extension tube

Recently I did a lot of close-up photography with my Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x extender and a 25mm extension tube from Canon.
That’s not the most usual combination for close-up photography, but has several advantages:

1. Long working distance:
Due to the long focal length (420mm) I can work at a longer distance from your subject than with a macro lens like my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro or my Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro. This is very useful when working with shy insects or when working from a trail and I don’t want to leave the trail when photographing subjects that are a short distance away from the trail (I might want to do this in order not to destroy any flowers that are between me and the subject or because in some national parks and other protected areas it may be forbidden to leave the trail).

2. It’s easier to get a calm background:
Due to the narrower angle of view of the long focal length, it’s easier to isolate the subject against a calm background. Distracting subjects in the background (like other flowers, stems of plants or human made subjects) can often ruin an otherwise very good shot. See my articel Choosing a macro lens for a more detailed explanation of why a longer focal length is helpful when you want a clean and calm background.

Here is an image taken with the Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x extender and a 25mm extension tube:

The image was taken before sunset. The butterfly was still a little active and about 1.5 meters away from the trail. This was the perfect situation for the 4/300 + 1.4x + extension tube. I didn’t want to move closer to the butterfly in order not to disturb it and also not to trample down the vegetation that was close to the butterfly. There where a lot of stems behind the butterfly which could have ruined the background, but the narrow angle of view helped me to isolate the butterfly against a clean background. The background is still not perfect here, but had I taken the shot with a 2.8/100, it would have been much worse.

How to best use this combation?
If you put the extension tube between the extender and the lens, you can get a little closer than with the extension tube on the camera and the extender between the extension tube and the lens. The difference is not much but noticeable.
On my Canon EOS 40D, autofocus does not work with that combination. But when I switch autofocus off and focus manually, the red light around the focus point where the subject is sharp appears. That is, the cameras confirms my manual focusing, but is not able to find the focus itself when in AF mode.

I highly recommend using a tripod with this combination and to use mirror lock-up and a cable release if you are using a long shutter speed.

Get it from amazon.com