Photography question

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mancombseepgood

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Calling Bwana and everyone else who knows something about photography...
I have a great prosumer camera with 12 optical zoom, 6Mp, etc. etc. It does great shots - zoom, macro, emulates various ISO ratings, etc.

I was wondering if there was a way to get a macro shot without actually getting right up close... or at least to some degree... I photograph alot of insects and love detail, but can't always get up close...
I have tried zoom, but focus is an issue... there is a manual setting where I can tweak a few things, but any advice from the fundis is very welcome :)
Maybe I'm attempting the impossible?
 
The lense has a physical limitation as to how close you can get and still maintain focus. A lense will focus from some distance to infinity. The distance is something greater than 0.

A macro lense will get you closer.

Depth of field is also an issue. You want the whole insect to be in focus and that is a function of the F-stop. The lower the F-stop the more light you'll get, but your DOF is smaller, i.e. only the point you focus on will be in focus and the fore and back -grounds will be out of focus - again a macro lense compensates for this in its design.
 
What ^ said, plus invest in a ring flash for closeup work, this will give you more light for higher depth of field.
 
Bradbowlllama said:
Calling Bwana and everyone else who knows something about photography...
I have a great prosumer camera with 12 optical zoom, 6Mp, etc. etc. It does great shots - zoom, macro, emulates various ISO ratings, etc.

I was wondering if there was a way to get a macro shot without actually getting right up close... or at least to some degree... I photograph alot of insects and love detail, but can't always get up close...
I have tried zoom, but focus is an issue... there is a manual setting where I can tweak a few things, but any advice from the fundis is very welcome :)
Maybe I'm attempting the impossible?
Click to expand...
What kind of camera is it? I've got a feeling you're using one of those bigger point and shoots with a fixed lens? Do they make a macro attachment for it perhaps?
 
Also check out the Raynox DCR-250, it comes with a universal adapter, so you can fit it to most point and shoots as well as SLRs. I've ordered one for my SLR (interim solution until I can get my hands on a 100mm Canon Macro), will post some shots when it finally arrives.

But you get some good quality shots from the Raynox.
 
bwana said:
What kind of camera is it? I've got a feeling you're using one of those bigger point and shoots with a fixed lens? Do they make a macro attachment for it perhaps?
Click to expand...

Hi Bwana, it's a Minolta DiMage Z6. Yeah, I can get macro lenses to add, as well as telephoto (dunno why telephoto lenses cost so much)... all use a 50mm adapter I think.

Here it is:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/z6.html

It's a sweet camera considering I paid just over $100 on ebay incl shipping... got lucky - it was sold as is with a faulty button that turned out to be a faulty microswitch which I can live without (dedicated review mode) - there is another button for that anyhow.

I would read the whole manual but i think I need to read a proper photography manual first...
 
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Azrael said:
Also check out the Raynox DCR-250, it comes with a universal adapter, so you can fit it to most point and shoots as well as SLRs. I've ordered one for my SLR (interim solution until I can get my hands on a 100mm Canon Macro), will post some shots when it finally arrives.

But you get some good quality shots from the Raynox.
Click to expand...

Those are some absolutely stunning pictures... Yeah, I am looking at something like that for macro, but how close must the lens itself be to the subject to take the shot?
 
Azrael said:
I think the focus distance is about 115mm.
Click to expand...

Wow... that's neat. Ok - nows when the tech details come in... I guess if I knew what settings to play with, i may be able to do better with my current setup... i.e. take reasonable macro shots without being too close? Would fiddling with 'focal length' have an effect?

Here are some pics i took on the bog standard Z6 auto configuration:

PICT0085.JPG


PICT0029.JPG


xICT0024.JPG


PICT0297.JPG


PICT0295.JPG


PICT0289.JPG


PICT0218.JPG


October_2006_037_cropped.jpg


Obviously I'm still learning alot about photography, but I am getting results that I like... now if only I could take them from just a little further back...
I think a good macro add-on lens may do the trick?
 
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Bradbowlllama said:
Obviously I'm still learning alot about photography, but I am getting results that I like... now if only I could take them from just a little further back...
I think a good macro add-on lens may do the trick?
Click to expand...
macro is about getting up close - sounds to me like you just need a bigger telephoto.
 
bwana said:
macro is about getting up close - sounds to me like you just need a bigger telephoto.
Click to expand...

Ok... maybe that would help, but do you think I could get shots like the ones above (I don't need to get that mych detail - as in be able to see a compound eye on a hopper - but would love to be able to shoot an insect from a meter away or more... esp. butterflies - they drive me insane lol.
 
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