how to get digital macro photos

I have an Olympus D-520 and tried taking closeup photos of some devices, but can't get a real closeup, as it won't focus any closer than about 8 inches and the zoom doesn't help. So, I was wondering how you get the great closeups of devices.

According to the specs, your camera can only get no closer than 8 inches. Most macros I've seen nowadays allow getting maybe an inch or less (in wide angle; when zoomed in, somewhat further). I guess you'll have to spring for a newer camera.

Dedicated macro lens.



AlInGaP red Lux1 core:


Problem is, the setup ain't exactly cheap.. not that I'm trying to 'push' this setup, but just saying that some of the incredibly close detail shots you may have seen on the Net may be done with specialized hardware and digital SLR cameras.

A macro lens for an SLR (like KevinL's ) will be quite expensive.
On the other hand, there are many P&S cameras that have superb macro abilities and depth of field

BTW, most P&S DCs offer excellent wide-macro capibilities (ie. the lens is set to wide angle) but poor tele-macro capibilities.

Shoot at 8 inches and crop it in photo software. If you have enough resolution, it will not be a problem.

I agree with Magic79.

Take the picture at the highest resolution and the least compression. In this case you have 1600x1208 available in the D-520

Crop that picture to 640x480 instead of resizing it and you have the equivient of taking the picture 2.5 times closer. DOn;t do any compression till after all the editing, croping and re-sizing to maximize the picture clarity.

Daniel

three basic choices for doing digital macro work. as with standard photography, technique is everything.

1. best and most expensive is a dedicated setup like KevinL's with real macro lens.

2. next up is focusing closest your digital camera will allow, then use digital zoom to max setting. or shoot at highest resolution then digitally crop. either way achieves same results. prefer doing the crop in camera VS photoshop or other software.

3. last is a combo of #2 and addition of external len(s). My favorite is a jewler's magnifier/light combo. you basically place the magnifier/light directly over object to be shot. then shoot directly over large lens. you can also experiement with multiple lens.

results are not as good as dedicated setup, but aceptable. here's a pic of Li14430's two stage head and a wx1s using two lens.

When using the macro setting on my digicam, I've realized that it won't focus properly under low-light conditions.

When using the macro setting on my digicam, I've realized that it won't focus properly under low-light conditions

Click to expand...

That makes sense. Lower light means larger aperature which in turn means shallower depth of focusing field. If you add light the aperature goes down, allowing a wider range in which it will be in focus.

Good reminder. Thanks.

Daniel

I have used a loupe with very good results. The kind I have is like the Watchmaker Type Eye Loupe picture here. It has a plastic body that is designed to fit snug against the skin around your eye. I find that it slips over the lens barrel nicely and the camera's autofocus seems to compensate for the added lens.

I work at a camera/ audio/visual store in rochester ny (rowe photo in case anyone is from the rochester area and has heard of it). While nothing can beat a digital SLR and dedicated macro lens for unbelievable macro shots, some of the olympus (newer) cameras come from the factory with a very easy to use super macro mode. Along with canon digicams (with also have a macro mode that features close to 0 focus) these cameras make it quite easy to capture excellent macro shots with out that much experience. (for those not familiar with my limited camera technical jargon (i mostly sell audio but have recently branched into the digital camera end of the store) 0 focus means that you can focus down on an object that is touching the lens, leading to a 0" focus) My personal camera is a few years old now, an olympus c5050z. The super macro mode on that camera cant be beat, and allows amateurs (myself included) to take a very competetive macro shot with out much trouble. I origionally payed over 600 for the camera when it came out (it was the "hot" model that year) many fine examples can be had on ebay for around 300. If i can get a picture to work, i will post one of the first shots i ever took in the front yard of my house. I basically had the camera on super macro mode and autofocus and you can see that the results aren't that bad for one of my first shots.

I have an ancient Polaroid 810 kilopixel digital camera. I've had great luck taking macro photos by using any medium-power bare lens from my optics bench. I either hold it up to the camera lens or temporarily affix it in place with something like sticky-tack. The results have been quite good. I'll try to find one of my photos and post.

greenLED said:

When using the macro setting on my digicam, I've realized that it won't focus properly under low-light conditions.

Click to expand...

some cameras focus with IR LEDs. If the LED is blocked then the camera will not focus.

dcarch8

Lighting a macro shot can be tricky, especially if you are trying to highlight your GID project. I found that setting the exposure to a few seconds properly captures GID intensity, then a quick of flash from your flashlight to add or show highlights. The camera's flash is likely to be too strong for up close work.

I once had a Ricoh RDC-300Z. I bought it new when digital cameras were new to the scene. It wasn't even a 1 mega-pixel camera and it still cost over $500... It had an increadible macro distance of like 1cm. I was taking extreme close-ups of flowers and bugs. Even thought the camera had a low resolution, the pics were crisp and clear.

My biggest mistake was selling it to help fund a more modern digi-cam... I now own a Sony Cybershot DSC-P31 (I thinkt I spent about $200 for it at the time). It's a 2 mega-pixel camera, but I only recently realized it's poor macro ability when trying to take detailed pictures for the forum here...

I only sold that old Ricoh for about $80 on ebay... I wish I would have kept it just for macro shots

I'm currently looking into a digi-cam with good macro that would be small enough to EDC. This is what is catching my eye so far:
Samsung Digmax i5

Thanks,
Dan

I just look through the eye occular of a microscope for pics like this:

who took that picture of the die in the luxeon!!! tell me who!!! i wanna put his name on that picture. coz that is my desktop background now.

When I had a point-and-shoot digital camera, a few times I had success getting a decent macro shot using a magnifying glass held up to the lens. In particular, I used a lens that was made for a swiss army knife (or so it seemed as it was TINY) and it actually surprised me how well it worked.

-C

Sorry for the off topic post but I just noticed bobisculous's location. Do you actually live in the middle of Minute Maid Park? :nana: