how do i get the best results on taking close up figs?

[steph&steph]

i just reacently got back to the hobby,i don't have the right camra to do the job,i was wondering if any one could advise me on what kind of camra i should buy,one that can take beatful details pictures on master painted minatures.i will need an answer soon before my hubby rush in to buying one. thank you so much!

[ladystorm]

moving topic to Shutterbug SubForum.

[Wilwarin]

I have a Digital SLR (Pentax k100d to be exact) that takes AMAZING pictures. It costs about $500+, but worth the money. I use it for more than just mini photography though.

 

If you haven't the money for it, I suggest getting a Nikon Point and shoot of some kind that allows your macro to get really close. With my SLR I can get really close to the mini, manually, and if I wanted more I have a filter I can use; but, with a point and shoot, that's different.

 

Kodak's got some nice point and shoots too. I haven't had any problems with any from them and I've gone through two! :) Best of luck, though! What kind of camera in particular are you looking for? Something you might use for photography as the hobby or maybe just something for minis?? You might get more helpful advice if you post a little more detail in what you're looking for :)

[steph&steph]

thasia

in the moment,i'm wanting to buy a canon powershot sx20 12.1mp,but i have tested the powershot A1100 as well,it'seems pretty good at zooming in too,quite cheaper as well,but i really like the xs20 for it has many other great options and picture qualitys.the G11 sounds top of the line for point n shoot camras,but a little too high for my budget.

i've owned a early macro mode camra when that option first came out in canon powershot,i just loved what it could do for mini photographing.i think canon makes pretty good camras,so i haven't looked into any other brand just yet,if you think there some that really good and close to price range please do let me know,thanks !

[Doug Sundseth]

For camera comparisons and reviews, I strongly recommend DPReview. They commonly show samples from multiple cameras taking the same picture (including macro photography), so you can see the real differences yourself.

 

(BTW, lens quality, CCD physical size, and software are much more important than number of pixels in the image.)

[Spike]

I have both a Canon Rebel XSi DSLR and a Canon Powershot A480. The DSLR gets darn good results using the kit lens, and there is a supermacro lens available that is absolutely amazing...but pricy.

 

On the other hand, the Powershot I have costs under $100 and can deliver a pretty good high-resolution supermacro image with only a few limitations on camera settings.

 

Here's a supermacro I took last night (not the best painted mini in the world, but he was handy)

 

By null, shot with Canon PowerShot A480 at 2010-01-29

 

Even though the camera controls the aperture and shutter speed, I could choose how to meter the picture to get the best contrast, and I could use the Evaluate White Balance menu option and a whitecard to get a good natural tone even under mini-flourescent bulbs.

 

The above image is at f-stop 3, 1/30 sec exposure, ISO 100, evaluative metering, 2-sec shutter timer, tripod-mounted, no flash. Below is a picture of how I did it using a homemade light box, a construction-paper backdrop and two workshop clamp-lamps. No Photoshop needed except for resizing.

 

 

[bogoz]

I am also in the market for a camera. Unfortunately I have no experience in photoigraphy. Is there any site on the web that you have run across which would be like "photography for dummies"? I have been looking and really have not found one which is very helpful. Also I have been looking at a Cannon powershot as well. Price is a big concern as I do not have a very large budget. Do any of you have any suggestions on a good starter camera which is user friendly but still has enough bells and whistels to keep the interest flowing? Also, what about a reputable web dealer that can be trusted on sales?

 

Thanks so much.

 

BogoZ

[JimL]

I recently purchased a Nikon D90 SLR. Nikon really makes great cameras and lenses, alas they're not cheap. I don't just use it for only minis as I also am a bit of a photography nut. However any camera that will allow you to manually adjust your settings will yield the best results, I'm talking shutter speed and aperture settings especially using lightboxes and such. You need to be able to control the depth of field for the sharpest photos and backgrounds in lighboxes wreak havoc with the auto settings in most cameras because the camera has a hard time deciding what level of light to adjust for. The macro settings in point and shoot cameras will certainly be helpful and allow you to take better shots. Another benefit of SLRs is the ability to override the autofocus and manually focus the lense.

[ixminis]

Basic Thoughts:

 

Know your camera. Find the manual that came with it, or find the manual online. Read it to either understand the terms, or find the ones that you don't understand. Write a list of all the terms, especially the ones you do not understand. Look the terms up online. Look up the terms on a few sites to get better clarity (took me a few times to really get 'em down and some sites are going to be written closer to your reading style than others).

 

Before you go shopping for another, practice practice practice.

 

Know lighting. Evenly distributed natural daylight is your first "goal". That is, take photos with natural daylight & compare the color quality to pictures with incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.

 

Lighting tips. Any bulbs that you use should be the same brand and/or light temperature. Any bulb that is not the same is going to cause color balancing problems that are difficult to solve & leave you with digital images that at best look slightly off, or have degradation that you won't be able to fix. So, if you've got multiple types in the room, turn all lights off except for the photo area... or use directed/reflected natural light. Also, don't try anything fancy at first -> start simple.

 

Change configurations/settings one at a time. As you play with taking pictures, only change one camera or lighting setting at a time. While you are still learning what works best, change one thing, write the change down, take the picture. Change another thing, write it down, take another picture. As you do this, use little chits/dice/something to mark what the picture number is so you can easily tie all the settings to a picture number.

 

Color References. a card with blocks of primary colors, black and white set to the side of the subject will help you determine whether or not you are getting good color in your photographs. Don't expect this to help your camera's auto-white balance. It's possible, but you will likely find that a grey or white card sold at a camera shop/online store will get you better auto-white balance adjustment.

 

Picking a new camera. Use your experience to help you figure out what you are looking for. Camera selection is a personal thing & since it's likely going to cost you more than $100 to get one that does what you want, learn the basics before moving to our next camera.

 

Features I look for: Macro, Auto-White Balance, full-auto settings, All manual settings and "priority settings" (helps you start to take your training wheels off, but gives a safety net while learning), timer and/or remote trigger, depth of field that is wide enough to cover the majority of figures I'll photograph, slow film speed (it's macro photography, not action photography)... next camera will auto-magically move photos to my computer (cabled or wireless is up in the air)

 

Hope these generalities help...

 

Regards,

[rgtriplec]

I have a Canon PowerShot S5IS and it gets great results for a non-SLR. When I bought it about 21/2 years ago, its macro function was actually better than the kit lenes for all of the SLRs the photo shop carried (I'm not counting the $2500+ pro SLR bodies). I later bought a Canon EOS Rebel XSi which also works well with just the kit lens, but if you can afford a macro lens you could photograph just about anything you want. I also have one of those $150 Canon's that are about wallet size and it does a decent job.

 

When I bought both of mine. I had the sales person at the shop take macro shots of a mini from three sides with every camera I liked.

 

But in all honesty all the major brand SLRs and 10x power zoom type p&s will do an excellent job. I will say some built in flashes don't work well with minis, I'd suggest a nice little light box that comes with a couple lamps.

 

We just moved... well in April, and most of my photo stuff is packed

Yes, a little procrastination. I'll see if I can find my stuff and take a few pic with all three of my Canons.

[steph&steph]

ok,so i bought the latest canon G11,the pictures are awsome with just the auto settings,i'm not a know everything photographer,but i'd like to know a little bit about how to take amazing pics on miniatures with a good camra,i can do a great job on taking pictures of my kids,but hey,people photograpging are totally different than miniatures.

as far as how to set the shutter speed mode and aperture mode,can i get some pointers?i can't never get it to focus on a mini.thanks

[Doug Sundseth]

For macro photography, your biggest problem is likely to be depth of field (depth through which the camera will focus with acceptable quality). In photography, the smaller the aperture (hole) in the lens, the greater the depth of field. For miniatures photography, you'll usually want to use aperture priority and set the aperture as small as possible. (BTW, the larger the F-Stop number, the smaller the aperture.)

 

Since the aperture is small, you'll need to either have a long exposure or really bright lights to get decent quality pictures. With a long exposure, you need to worry about camera shake causing fuzziness; a tripod and a cable shutter release (if your camera accepts it) help to prevent movement. For bright lights, see (for example) this thread.

 

HTH

[Spike]

Of all the online tutorial resources I've ever found, the ones at Digital-Photography-School.com are the most comprehensive.

 

For "Macro for beginners", start here >> tutorial

 

The nice thing about the DPS site is that at the bottom of each tutorial there are links to related articles. You can just keep clicking through scores of tutorials on almost any aspect of photography.

 

AND there's a forum too, with a whole section dedicated to macro photography.