"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
I'm no shutterbug. I'm using a digital camera that cost about $200. It
isn't a fancy Nikon which allows you to swap lenses or anything remotely
like that. Still, it ought to be able to take a closeup of something
about the size of a golf ball. I simply can't make it shoot anything
clear.
It has a zoom button. It has "macro mode". It has autofocus, and I know
about putting something like a playing card at the right distance and
holding the button halfway down to hold the autofocus and then shooting
the object. I get pictures that are semi-usable but nothing at all that
can really be said to be in focus. I believe I've tried all 4 permutations
of zoom and macro mode.

Is it me, or the camera? If me, what should I do differently? If it's the
camera, what other camera works better?

BTW, what I'm shooting are details of my die filer for the die filer Web
page I'm building. I know there is probably a more specifically correct NG
but I'm real used to this one and we have many knowledgeable regulars.

I use a Fuji FinePix 2400Zoom which I bought a few years ago; it wasn't
expensive. The macro facility on that works very well - I often use it for
photographing PCBs for my web site.

Leon