This is a guest post by photographer Lora Phillips of Love the Light Photography. All Photos Courtesy of Lora Phillips.

When someone mentions Savage, most photographers automatically think of seamless background paper, but they have much more to offer photographers than just backgrounds!

Savage recently introduced the New Macro ART Variable Auto-Extension Tube & Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light, which is fresh duo of macro art fun!

What is An Extension Tube?

An extension tube is a convenient attachment that fits between your camera body and your lens, with its purpose to move the lens further away from the focal plane so that you can get closer to your subject, filling the frame with more of it and still achieve correct focus. Extension tubes will allow you to use your current lens and do macro photography, if you aren’t able to make the full investment in a macro lens. They look like empty rings because they do not have optics. You do lose some light using extension tubes, which is why you will want to use an additional light source, like the Dual Arm LED Light accessory. This allows you to close down your aperture to gain depth of field. You get the best macro results when using extension tubes with a 50mm or larger lens. Most extension tubes are a three ring set that you can use separately or stack.

What’s Unique about Savage’s Macro ART Auto-Extension Tube?

However, unlike most other extension tubes, the Savage Macro ART Variable Auto-Extension “Tube” is one piece, instead of 3 rings that can be used separately or paired up. This is a one-piece tube that has a variable auto-extension feature that cuts out that changing of the rings dance that you have to do with the other similar products.

For Canon 40-56mm

For Nikon 55-71mm

Two versions are offered to give the best macro effect for your camera system, due to the different crop factors and sensor sizes between Canon and Nikon.

Features & Specs

• Gold plated contacts & pure copper bayonet
• Oxidized surface with internal matting
• All-metal construction
• Compatible with Canon EF/EF-S Series Lenses and Nikon AF Series Lenses
• Canon Variable Extension Adjustment: 40-56mm
• Nikon Variable Extension Adjustment: 55-71mm

Why Do I Need the Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light Accessory?

The Savage Macro ART Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light is an ideal accessory for the extension tube. It mounts onto the hot shoe of your camera, and the two adjustable arms make it very easy to get the light just where you need it, even in tight angles. A great advantage of this light accessory is that it offers constant LED as well as flash.

The controls are easy to understand and it takes 4 AA batteries. The battery level is displayed on the screen as a convenient indicator. After shooting with it for hours, it can go through your batteries but knowing the level that you have left is very helpful.

Putting the Macro ART Auto-Extension Tube to Use

If you’re curious to see some photo evidence of the capabilities of this variable extension tube, following are a few examples:

This is using a Macro lens.

This is using the Savage Macro ART Variable Auto-Extension Tube with the Macro lens and the Savage Macro ART Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light.

This is taken with a regular lens.

This is using the Savage Macro ART Variable Auto-Extension Tube at 55 with the 17-55 F2.8 lens and the Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light.

This is using the Savage Macro ART Variable Auto-Extension Tube at 65 with the Macro lens and the Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light.

This is using the Savage Macro ART Variable Auto-Extension Tube fully extended at 70 with the Macro lens and the Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light.

The Savage Macro ART Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light works great with any macro set up. The combination of the Savage Macro ART Variable Auto-Extension Tube & the Adjustable Dual Arm LED Light make macro ART fun and easy for everyone!

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About our Guest Author: Art and Photography have always been Lora’s passion starting at a very early age. Lora’s first photography job was in portraiture when she was just 19. She worked for a company that trained her and allowed her to broaden her knowledge and skills in photography.  Each photography job that Lora has had has led her down a new path of learning and experience. She worked for a commercial photographer in North Carolina that taught her far more than she had learned in photography school and inspired her creativity to new levels. When Lora moved back to Texas, she worked for a large professional lab doing everything from customer service  to printing black and white prints, to quality control. Lora eventually found herself working for a very wonderful camera store, sharing her love and passion for photography with others. All through this, Lora found her own creative style and continues to perfect it with every photograph she takes. Her discovery and love for Light Painting photography has made her style of photography even more unique. Her goals in life are to keep learning and perfecting her style and techniques in photography. Check out her website here.