Help: Digital Camera - Macro

I've been trying to take couple pictures of my sammies in Macro-Mode but they all came out blurry. I'm using a Canon A80.

Here are what I've tried.
1. Automatic / macro / flash-off
2. Manual / macro / flash-off

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Chances are you're getting to close. I've found with the A80 that you can't get ULTRA close in macro mode. Back off a bit from the subject.

stay at least 6" away, and use a TINY bit of zoom if you need to. and try to stay really steady.

Also, try not to be at a steep angle to them, you want most of whats in the shot to be at the same distance away.

Also, cameras hate to focus on shinny things, anything reflective confuses them.
You might also want to change backgrounds, maybe try to get more contrast from background to subject.

OK, according to the specs, tha A80 should macro focus down to 2 inches from the lens. Set the camera to macro mode, and zoom to wide angle (zoom out). Now try to get lots of light on your subject. If you can, go outside and use sunlight.

And cameras need contrast to focus on. So if your little focus box in your viewfinder is on a area that is smooth then it will have a hard time focusing. Maybe shift the camera so that a line or a edge is in the focus box.

And yes, stay really steady, or put your camera on a tripod to steady it. Sunlight will help for movement(faster shutter speed) and for focus and over all object lighting.

If you want to go more advanced, you can learn about F-stop (apeture(sp?)). A bigger F-stop number will allow for more things to be in focus, i.e. more foreground and back ground not just the subject.

you can also try manual focus. Set it for as close as you can,the move the camera to get in focus.

You can also change the focus evaluation areas. I have needed to set the focus area to a center spot or it tries to focus on the background.

Thanx for all the tips.
It might be because I was getting in too close ~2".
Lighting wasn't a problem since it was sunny and beautiful yesterday in Nor-Cal /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It'll try all the tips this afternoon, if I can get out of work b4 sundown.

Thanx all for the help.

Try using a small magnifying glass. Dont start even remotely thinking your A80 cant take some good pictures without a mag glass...


(blade of grass)


(Pila)

Those are just a few of my macros...with my Canon A80. I actually used a magnifying glass that was integrated with a compass and whistle for those. I have tried with a large mag. glass and found that it wasnt as good, so try something small.

Cameron

if the focus selection rectangle does not show green, then you are likely too close for macro (once in macro mode).. learned that the hard way /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

That's one sweet closeup

If you get at least one green box, then maybe you ought to try a tripod.

bobisculous I like your thinking!!! I've done the same thing with my SLR camera simply because I couldn't afford official magnifying lens attachments. My only problem is that the depth of field sucks and that the only magnifying glasses I could afford are greenish...

I need to get a better magnifying glass. Mine is a 2" circular.
What do you guys use? And where to get them?
Was thinking of purchasing a uscope but it's in $300-$1200 for the one I want /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
I rather spend that on the next MiniHID /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My old Sony Mavica Model FD-81 has some kind of "auto" macro, and when you get close it continues to focus on its own. It also will keep focusing down to an unbelievably close range - for example when trying to get really, Really close, sometimes the lens will actually TOUCH the subject - while remaining in focus...they don't make'em like that any more for some reason.

Between the daughter and the wife we now finally have three additional digital cameras (four total!) thanks to generous friends and relatives this past Christmas, and although at least one of them is quite high-end, None of them will macro unles you manually switch into it, and even then there is a range limit like 2 cms before things get blurry.

Hope this helped - somehow...

Hi all,

My tip is to make sure you're using the highest resolution that the camera can record.

I've tried several macro shots that just didn't come out right. So instinct told me to try to get a little closer, but the shots would come out worse.

If I set the resolution as high as possible, back off from the subject a bit, and don't worry so much about the larger field of view, they come out a lot better. I always seem to forget that the image is a lot larger than it appears in that little viewfinder screen. Some cropping and post-production in Photoshop can go a long way when you have a very high starting resolution.

My instincts keep telling me to get as close as possible, so I have to stop myself, back off a bit and increase resolution.

pb