In article ,
Grant Erwin wrote:
I often want to shoot a picture of some detail just to post it as an adjunct to
a discussion, as "a picture is worth a thousand words". I have terrible trouble
shooting closeups with digital cameras. I have finally found the method that
yields the best results:

use minimum aperture for max depth of field (f2.8)
no flash
macro mode
manually adjust exposure
autofocus takes a long time, wait until macro focus lights
shoot multiple images - bracket exposures
use LCD display to adjust exposure, focus

but it's still pretty miserable. I want to know if there exist any digital
cameras in the under $200 price range which can actually shoot closeups. I don't
care about much else, as the cameras we have now can handle other jobs.


What model are you using?

Can you post some URLs so we can see what your results are?

I was a film photographer and when I started selling on ebay and I
bought the cheapest P&S that had a macro setting and pruduced some
fine shots.

Have you played with the lighting? a couple standard 100w bulbs in
aluminum reflectors can do lots.

I now know that *lots* of the nice things about digital photography
happen in the computer and I am a decent Photoshop driver. I'm not
recommending it (big $$$) but Adobe Elements is cheap and can do a
great job. Even the older version (PSE 2) which you can probably find
real cheap.

What software came with the camera. When you get a shot you want
to these steps in this order. Most cameras come with software
that can do this;

- crop
- resize to pixel size depending on where the shot is to be used
(ie web is very different from print)
- set upper and lower levels
- color balance
- "sharpen" (last step and something specific to digital photography.)
- save jpg with appropriate compression for what the shot is to be used for.


If you want to come up to speed on digitial photography you might want
to tune into rec.photo.digital.

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a d y k e s @ p a n i x . c o m

Don't blame me. I voted for Gore.