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Meike has announced a pair of macro extension rings designed for use with Panasonic’s full-frame L-mount Lumix cameras. The Meike MK-L-AF1 extension tube comes with 13mm and 18mm rings.
Extension tubes are used by macro photographers as an inexpensive and effective way of increasing lens projection by moving the lens away from the camera’s sensor. As the lens moves further away from the sensor, it may focus closer to subjects than usual. Because extension rings reduce the minimum focusing distance of a lens, it allows photographers to get closer to subjects with optics that would normally not be able to focus that close.
Some companies such as Canon, Fujifilm, and Nikon make their own extension rings while others such as Sony and Panasonic do not. That’s where Miike’s new pair of macro extenders come in handy.
The new Meike MK-L-AF1 extension tube set may be one of the few on the market. The 13mm and 18mm tubes are designed to work with Panasonic cameras, but unfortunately, the company does not indicate if they will work with Sigma and Leica full-frame mirrorless cameras, although they also use the same L-mount.
Meike is known for providing a lot of information about their products, so it’s not even clear if the extension rings will work with Sigma or Leica L-mount lenses in combination with a Panasonic camera, as the company only claims they work with a “Panasonic mirrorless camera with L-mount L” and “Panasonic lenses with L-mount and autofocus”.
While the cheapest extension rings don’t provide an electronic connection to the camera, Meike’s new pair provides and supports autofocus and, although the company doesn’t mention, presumably aperture control as well.
Meike MK-L-AF1 price and availability
In any case, these new macro extension tube rings are not expensive: Meike offers a pair of MK-L-AF1s for $59.99 on Amazon.com, which is significantly less than rings from other manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, or Fujifilm.
Earlier this year, Meike stepped up with a 16mm T2.5 cine lens for full-frame photography. It is a wide-angle lens for film production, designed to work with PL, Canon EF, Canon RF, Sony E, and Leica L mounts equipped with rings focus, and aperture with standard teeth for follow focus systems covers a 45mm image circle and is priced at $1,199.
