Question for camera people - Pics in post #40

[Catlady711]

Husky Mom is right. The problem with your pictures is not your camera lacking in anything or not being 'good enough'. You are too close for it to focus on the normal setting. Remember the trying to read a newspaper touching your nose analogy I used earlier? Same thing here.

Your camera has Macro AND Super Macro according to the website I had linked to earlier. I'm trying to find your manual online so I can tell you how to access that. I'll post back when I find that info.

BTW, your pix are going to be dark doing Macro or Super Macro if you're using your on camera flash for your light source. If you look in the last two pictures you posted you can see the 'hot spot', or brightest part of the picture is on your hand not the thing you were trying to photograph. That's like wearing a miners cap but trying to see something close up to your face, the light is just not going to hit where you're looking. For problems like that you can try having a lamp or flashlight off to one side a bit for light, or use bright window light.

[Catlady711]

Ok here's something for you.

http://www.fixya.com/support/p328328...-13498/page-29

that one tells you how to get to the menu to change image quality, ISO, picture modes etc.


http://www.fixya.com/support/p328328...-13498/page-38

If the subject is too close (less than 500 mm or 20 in), move farther away from the subject or use the Macro or Super Macro focus range (see page 42).

http://www.fixya.com/support/p328328...-13498/page-39

Macro (120 mm to 1 m or 4.7 to 39.4 in) or Super Macro (30 to 200 mm or 1.2 to 7.9 in) range,


http://www.fixya.com/support/p328328...-13498/page-42

To select a focus range setting, press MF (picture of a flower goes here- that's the middle button on the back of your camera under the LCD screen) , use the (right left arrow icons go here) buttons to highlight the desired focus range, then press ('menu/ok button)).

Setting Description

Normal Focus Use when taking pictures of subjects greater than 500 mm (20 in) away. Normal Focus is limited to a range of 500 mm (20 in) to infinity. This is the default focus setting.

Macro Use when taking close-up pictures of subjects between 120 mm to 1 m (4.7 to 39.4 in) away. You can use optical zoom with Macro. With this setting, the camera will not take a picture if it cannot find focus (see page 39).

Super Macro Use when taking close-up pictures of subjects between 30 and 200 mm (1.2 to 7.9 in). Zoom is not available in Super Macro. With this setting, the camera will not take a picture if it cannot find focus (see page 39). Infinity Use when taking pictures of distant objects and landscapes. Focus is limited to a small region near infinity.

Manual Focus Allows you to step manually through the full focus range. Use the buttons to adjust the focus. You can determine the focus by observing the image in the Live View screen (see page 43).

[Catlady711]

Oh, and here's the main link to the online version of your user manual. The link goes right to the index, page numbers in the book DO line up with the web page numbers.

http://www.fixya.com/support/p328328...l-13498/page-5

[jennielynn1970]

bump for catlady711

[Husky_mom]

you see.... you got great pics!!... and you saved a few bucks...

I love the Panda Paw... sooooooooo cute!!!!.... I wanna steal him.. .. (obviously the whole cat )

[Catlady711]

Great job on the pix!!! Isn't the world of macro rather interesting?

For the lighting, since I don't have time at the moment to look up your camera specs, try tenting a piece of thin, very white paper over the pop up flash. On mine I use cheap very white computer paper about 4 inches in front of the flash. That should help with some of your lighting for the moment on macro/indoor shots.

Glad you posted some pix, and that I finally got a bit of time to get to see them! BTW cute kitties!

[jennielynn1970]

Holy cow! I have never ever used those buttons!!! I just took some pics of cat whiskers, lol. I'm amazed! I'll have to do some other things, see how they look, and then post them.


Pet Talk.. so much more than pets, lol!

[Catlady711]

Great!!!

And THAT'S why I get so ticked at camera sales people and marketing hype making people believe the camera is somehow sub-standard and you need a 'better' camera to take good pix.

NOPE not really true. Just a good understanding of the camera you have, good photo techniques, and a good eye for composition/lighting/exposure and basically even a polaroid (and I mean a real polaroid that spits out pix you have to wait for them to develope) can take good pictures.

Isn't it a great feeling to find out what you thought wasn't good enough turns out to do more than you thought?

Like I said before, I love photography probably as much as pets. lol

[Catlady711]

BTW I'll be looking for you to be posting those pix soon!

[jennielynn1970]

Well, they're nothing like what you or Kirsten post, or Kay for that matter (bows to Kirsten, you and Kay for your awesome pics), but I was amazed that I could take close ups, and that my camera had those settings. This is what I get for NOT reading the manuals.

I still want to take my mom and dad's camera to the shop and see what they say. Maybe it's a lost cause and I can get something else to play with as well (like a cam corder or something), or get something better and donate what I have. OOORRRR... maybe it's not worth anything at all, and it will just be a nostalgia piece, lol.

I have nostalgia pieces for different things around here. Anyone collect old toasters, like the ones where the sides flipped down, and you had to turn your toast to get it colored on both sides??? It's an OLDIE!! I'll take some pics of that too, lol!!

[Catlady711]

Thank you very much for the compliments. *blushes*

NEVER EVER think your photography is 'bad' just because it isn't as good as someone else's!!!!!

You have to remember even the people who you admire their shots the most, have people who they also look up to as having 'better' shots and yet even those people have people who they look up to......etc etc.

We all started somewhere, no one is just born with all the knowledge to make perfect pictures, it's a learning process that requires practice, and with that LOTS and LOTS of 'bad' shots.

If you think some of the stuff I post are 'great' pix, you should have seen some of the stuff I shot a few months ago while learning off camera lighting (still learning but getting better), or even the stuff I shot back in the early 90's when I got my first SLR. Some of those are so bad I had to circle the subject in some shots write a caption in the photo albums so people would know what I took pix of! No joke!

About the only time I ever get riled up about 'bad' shots is when the person is billing themselves as a 'professional' or an 'expert' in a certain area and from the pix they certainly have ALOT to learn. Not so great shots from someone learning is one thing, but not so great shots from a paid wedding/portrait photographer is quite another.

Nope never seen a toaster like that. I've spent years as a packrat and am now trying to declutter from under all that 'stuff' so I'm downsizing my stuff.

Let us know what the camera shop says about that old camera. I'd be curious as I don't know anything to speak of about that brand.

If you sell that old camera for any amount of money, maybe you'd want one of these?
http://www.lumiquest.com/products/softscreen.htm
I have one I keep in my camera bag for quick shots when I don't have time/energy to drag out the big flashes.