What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Macro shots with a 4 meg camera

  • #21
Great shots!

Does this piece of advice make sense to any of you?

Go into the Menu, scroll down and set the AF Zone to "Center Zone". As you say, using a tripod or other steady camera rest, such as a bean bag, is essential. I would also recommend going to the Menu and change the ISO setting to 80 or 100. That will give you the best image quality, but the shutter speed will be slower thus making the tripod/rest essential.
 
  • #22
Ohhh yeah I forgot to mention I don't use a tripod or anything. I am usually too busy to try setting much up in the greenhouse. So I try and keep my shutter speed at 1/60 or faster.

Your ISO is basically your 'film' speed. The quicker (higher) the ISO the more grainy the photo but the faster you can go on your shutter so there is a balance to be had depending on your other factors. So if there is a sufficient light or flash and your subject and camera are steady you can use a slower ISO and get a finer image.

As far as the autofocus, primarily you are looking for it to focus on the center of your field of view. It will make it easier to get your subject in focus since you are most likely putting your subject in the center on these shots.

You may or may not have adjustments in your setup for all these things.. it depends. I couldn't find any ISO setting for mine unless they are hiding it somewhere.

I would try not to get caught up in all the finer details at this point and mainly concern yourself with setting the Fstop and shutter speed. I found the best thing that works for me is to set the Fstop manually and let the camera set the shutter speed automatically and let the autofocus do it's thing. On a nice sunny day I can get my Fstop between 5-6 and keep my shutter at around 1/60 or a little faster so that I am less likely to blur the image as I freehand it or the fan is blowing the plants around a little. For my purposes this gives me enough depth of field so the subject parts closest and farthest away from me are also in reasonable focus when I focus on the center of the object.
 
  • #23
The advice I received came from someone representing Kodak, so the what he said pertained to my camera. It took a bit of rooting around in the menu setting but I found both the ISO & AF. Since I am currently "free handing" it, until I can obtain or construct a stabilizing device, like a tripod, it would appear that maybe a higher ISO would work best for me, for now. And yes, I just want to be able to focus on one, small object, like a pygmy sundew or a Drosophyllum sprout or Utric flower.

What is the difference between center spot and center weight?

I am unsure of what to do with Fstop and/or shutter speed. How does that correlate with 80 or 100?
 
  • #24
Higher ISO makes things faster but reduces image quality.
Fstop and shutter speed go hand in hand. Increasing Fstop gives you more depth of field and a bigger plane of focus but reduces shutter speed. So you can't keep increasing your Fstop without making it too difficult to get a sharp image if the camera or object are moving slightly.

There are different ways of achieving the same thing. For instance if you wanted to do indoor photos but didn't have a flash you could use a low Fstop which would let more light into the camera but reduce how much depth was in focus but also increase shutter speed so you can take a focused shot without everything blurring. You could get a faster film (higher ISO) which reacts faster, making it easier to achieve higher Fstop and shutter speed. Or if you are taking stationary objects and camera and/or object motion is no longer a factor you can set your Fstop higher to get the depth you need with a really slow shutter speed.

If you are freehanding it and your reasonably steady and your object isn't moving much then you should shoot for 1/60th shutter speed or so. Slower than that and it is hard to keep the photo from blurring due to motion. If you have trouble with that then aim for a little faster. Once you know the limit on how slow you can go on the shutter then you want to adjust your Fstop higher to maximize your depth of field to the point at which you reach your shutter speed slowest limit. Depending on your camera and auto vs manual settings you could either let the camera adjust your Fstop or your shutter speed. I prefer to adjust the Fstop and increase it until the camera says the shutter speed is 1/60th or 1/125th. How much room you have to play with or not will depend on ambient light, flash on or off etc. With the sun out I don't use the flash if I can help it. With careful positioning of myself the camera and the subject in relation to the direction the sun is coming from there is usually enough light to get a good Fstop and shutter speed.


I have been playing with using the flash for when the sun isn't shining or I am having problems with a real tiny subject and getting sufficient light for proper depth of field. I haven't really found a combination I like yet.

Just as a side note in some cases it is possible to have too much depth of field. Sometimes you don't really want all the surrounding stuff like pots and labels to be in focus as well. I think this is more an asthetic thing though.
 
  • #25
Nice looking pics Tony.

Center spot and center weight are typically for the exposer of the picture. Center spot takes reading at the center of the view finder and only a small portion to determine exposure. Center weighted again at the center but "looks" at a larger area to determine the exposure.

The 80 or 100 that I think you are asking is the ISO speed.

As for shooting macros you want the F-stop to be as high a number as you can get. The higher the number the more depth of field you will get. As for shutter speed, you want it as fast as you can with the correct exposure. As Tony states around 1/60 is the slowest I'd try hand holding a camera.
 
  • #26
Nice looking pics Tony.

Center spot and center weight are typically for the exposer of the picture. Center spot takes reading at the center of the view finder and only a small portion to determine exposure. Center weighted again at the center but "looks" at a larger area to determine the exposure.

The 80 or 100 that I think you are asking is the ISO speed.

As for shooting macros you want the F-stop to be as high a number as you can get. The higher the number the more depth of field you will get. As for shutter speed, you want it as fast as you can with the correct exposure. As Tony states around 1/60 is the slowest I'd try hand holding a camera.

Steve, how do I get to the F-stop and 1/60 on my camera? I just uploaded and downloaded these pictures, most of them by using an ISO of 100 and an AF of center spot:


Picture002-2.jpg


Picture004-1.jpg


Picture007-2.jpg


Picture011-2.jpg


Picture013-3.jpg


Are these looking like improvements?
 
  • #27
Nice Pics Gecko and Jim! Love Your Plants Very Much!
 
  • #28
A few more:

Picture017-1.jpg


Picture008.jpg


Picture006.jpg


Picture002-3.jpg


Still a little blurry from unsteadiness.
 
Back
Top