How do you take such good digital pics?

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Hopefully I picked the correct forum to post this in...

Like the title says, I need some tips on getting better pics out of my two cameras(Fuji Finepix e510 and Canon Powershot G5)----specifically pictures within 12" and really close-up pictures.Can someone help out? Perhaps a link to some tutorials or videos?

Thanks alot!

[larva]

I don't know about the Fuji, but a G5 is a serious camera. Try this:

1) Put it in macro mode
2) Hold steady
3) Depress shutter release half-way
4) Wait to verify focus has been achieved
5) Continue to hold steady whilst depressing the shutter release the rest of the way down

In the end, just like a PC, you only have so many control options available to you. Try flash, no flash, and if you really care about the quality set the camera on a small sandbag or use a tripod to hold it and use the self-timer to release the shutter. If you go no flash under incandescent lighting using the custom white-balance setting where you calibrate it against a known white area in the frame will probably help.

If you can't achieve focus in a few seconds, you either don't have enough light for the AF mechanism to function properly or you are too close to the subject for the focal length you are shooting at. If you don't know how to do any of the above, RTFM. I've never used a G5, and as such can't be much help there.

More light generally improves digital camera performance. If flash results are not good due to glare take the part outside on a sunny day and set it up on a table or sidewalk. Strong light may obviate the use of a tripod, but of course, tripods never hurt. But above all, RTFM and practice, practice, practice. You only get out of photography what you put into it, and most simply don't put enough into it.

[Joe Camel]

ya, "macro mode" does most of the work for me...

only thing i have to do is hold a white pad of paper to reflect the flash down when the lens is < 3" from the object:

http://img290.imageshack.us/img290/9219/pict01036fe.th.jpg (http://img290.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict01036fe.jpg)

[shellshock]

Keeping plenty of light on the subject is important. Avoid using the flash. When im taking some close up of electronics, I aways get a spot lamp. The results are much better

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y47/shellshock-gw/PICT0039.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y47/shellshock-gw/Reflectionsmall.jpg

^That was taken on a spinning hard drive


btw Im shooting with at Minolta dimage Z2


Theres alot more good macro shots of obcjects and stuff on my flickr. Check it out

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabe_ward/

[Maviryk]

Shellshock... is that first pic a fanblade?

I'm jealous... I'm stuck with a crappy Sony Powershot 3.2mb...

Ya'll know how good a Canon Powershot S2 is? I think I'm getting one in the mail soon.

I wanna take pics that make it look like I'm playing doctor on gainward boards as well... :)

[shellshock]

Its actually a fan shroud/duct off a dell that i was reparing for someone. I was showing the amount of dust on it:eek:

[HeatM1ser2k4]

That's amazing clarity! I think I can actually count each particle of dust individually.

I've been doing all of the steps you listed in your first reply.I'll have to look at the manuals.I've been shooting everyything on Auto or on the "M" setting, which I assume is Macro Mode.I'm guessing its neither of the cameras, and just my picture-taking skills(or lack thereof ).

[Yamiyanazz]

Macro mode is always represented by a little tulip button. (as seen in the top left of this camera

http://www.megapixel.net/reviews/canon-g6/gfx/g6-backcontrols1.jpg

Make sure it's turned on, and then it'll focus on things that are close to the lens. I also suggest to NEVER use flash as a way to lighten up your object if possible. Get another source and have it constantly on what you want to take a picture of.

I also started looking it up a few days ago and found this site (http://www.theswitchboards.com/articles_professionalphotos.html) to be useful.

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Macro mode is always represented by a little tulip button. (as seen in the top left of this camera

http://www.megapixel.net/reviews/canon-g6/gfx/g6-backcontrols1.jpg

Make sure it's turned on, and then it'll focus on things that are close to the lens. I also suggest to NEVER use flash as a way to lighten up your object if possible. Get another source and have it constantly on what you want to take a picture of.

I also started looking it up a few days ago and found this site (http://www.theswitchboards.com/articles_professionalphotos.html) to be useful.
Aha!
I thought that was for automatic color correction :|

I'm going to have to test this out tonight when I get home.I'd love to take close-up pics like Larva and Shellshock have.Looking at those pics again, I can appreciate the picture of the camera reflecting off the spinning hard drive.Its amazing the resolution and clarity in that pic.Just look at the reflection of the reflection from the chrome on the camera(if that makes sense).

I'll upload my best close-up pic tonight, after 11pm EST.

Thanks for the feedback!

EDIT: That website looks like a good website for people new to digital cameras.Thanks

EDI#2: Once I find the cable, I'll have no problem uploading my much improved close-up shots! :bang head

[HeatM1ser2k4]

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/4199/flower5oz.th.jpg (http://img352.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flower5oz.jpg)
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/9164/dandelion6an.th.jpg (http://img352.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dandelion6an.jpg)
Those are two, but i have more...its just that I cant find my cable, so i have to take the camera to another computer to transfer the pics from an xD card to my USB flash drive, then take the flash drive back to my computer to upload.I'll add the others later.These pics were taken with the FinePix e510.Is the camera or the picture-taker the reason for the grainy-ness?

[larva]

Looks like you've been trying :) The graininess is either digital noise from the camera or jpeg artifacting. It looks like you re-sized the pics, and the program you saved them out as has a high default degree of jpeg compression. Either that or the camera was not in its highest quality mode when the shots were taken.

If jpeg artifacting is not responsible, the then it must be digital noise. Noise increases in low light, but those don't really look like low-light shots. If the sun was shining bright its almost certainly jpeg artifacting.

In any event, I'd recommend the G5; it's a tremendous camera.

[Yamiyanazz]

Another bit of advice for the graniness. I was reading on the website I posted earlier that it's a good idea to use a film setting where it is not "as quick as possible". So for example, try using 1/200 of a second shot instead of 1/400 of a shot. It may be more blurry if your hands are unstable, but should get rid of artifacting. It's really useful to adjust shutter speads and aperture. I'd say read a little more about it and then just play around with your settings. It's really nice once you can get all these down.

And, of course, for best shots...try to get your hands on a tripod. They work wonders for clarity.

[larva]

Another bit of advice for the graniness. I was reading on the website I posted earlier that it's a good idea to use a film setting where it is not "as quick as possible". So for example, try using 1/200 of a second shot instead of 1/400 of a shot. This is generally not necessary. The digital noise issues with modern small-sensor high resolution digital cameras are so severe that the manufacturers cannot favor anything over the lowest possible film speed equivalency, including shutter speed. And although I understand you just chose these numbers for the sake of explanation, no camera would insist on 1/400th over 1/200th. You would have to manually enforce the opposite. Modern digital cameras take you directly to 1/60th or 1/30th of a second, and most will happily choose even longer exposures while simply warning you in the LCD that you best hold it (inhumanly) steady.

And, of course, for best shots...try to get your hands on a tripod. They work wonders for clarity.No doubt about that one. Tripod is god for macro shots. For the iris I posted above I had strong light which allowed a 1/400th shutter speed and F4 aperature at ISO80 (the camera's minimum). It was shot from a decent quality tripod. While the Panasonic FZ5 used has image stabilization, it was turned off as per Panasonic's recommendation for tripod shots.

[shellshock]

Got any new photos? The flower ones looks pretty good, except for the grainy. What's your expousure set to?

[Adragontattoo]

LMAO I was jsut out screwing around with me Fuji A210 without Macro mode on and managed to get a few good pics out of about 30 that I took. Ill upload them in a few to show what I managed. Hopefully I didnt get poison ivy from trapsing around pretty much in it.

[Adragontattoo]

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a64/Adragontattoo/Digi%20pics%20to%20be%20sorted/screwing%20around/?action=view&current=DSCF1100.jpg

[JCLW]

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/4199/flower5oz.th.jpg (http://img352.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flower5oz.jpg)
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/9164/dandelion6an.th.jpg (http://img352.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dandelion6an.jpg)
Those are two, but i have more...its just that I cant find my cable, so i have to take the camera to another computer to transfer the pics from an xD card to my USB flash drive, then take the flash drive back to my computer to upload.I'll add the others later.These pics were taken with the FinePix e510.Is the camera or the picture-taker the reason for the grainy-ness?

Cameras store "EXIF" data in the JPGs, which allows you to go back and review what settings the camera used to take the pictures. Here is the EXIF data from your pictures:

File: - flower5oz.jpg
Make - FUJIFILM
Model - FinePix E510
Orientation - Top left
XResolution - 72
YResolution - 72
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Digital Camera FinePix E510 Ver1.00
DateTime - 2005:04:28 12:26:24
YCbCrPositioning - Co-Sited
Copyright -
ExifOffset - 366
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
WhiteBalance - Auto
SceneCaptureType - Standard
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown
ExposureTime - 1/160 seconds
FNumber - 8.00
ExposureProgram - Normal program
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
ExifVersion - 0220
DateTimeOriginal - 2005:04:19 18:29:40
DateTimeDigitized - 2005:04:19 18:29:40
ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr
CompressedBitsPerPixel - 2.00 (bits/pixel)
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/158 seconds
ApertureValue - F 8.00
BrightnessValue - 5.00
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 2.93
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 15.10 mm
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 2048
ExifImageHeight - 1536
FocalPlaneXResolution - 4545
FocalPlaneYResolution - 4545
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit - Centimeter
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera
SceneType - A directly photographed image

Maker Note (Vendor): -
Version - 30333130
Quality - NORMAL
Sharpness - Normal
White Balance - Auto
Color saturation - Normal
Flash Mode - Off
Flash Strength - 0.00
Macro - Off
Focus mode - Auto
Slow Sync. - Off
Picture Mode - Auto
Unknown - 1
Sequence mode - Off
Unknown - 0
Blur warning - No
Focus warning - Yes (out of focus)
AE warning - No (AE good)


File: - dandelion6an.jpg
Make - FUJIFILM
Model - FinePix E510
Orientation - Top left
XResolution - 72
YResolution - 72
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Digital Camera FinePix E510 Ver1.00
DateTime - 2005:04:21 14:17:08
YCbCrPositioning - Co-Sited
Copyright -
ExifOffset - 366
CustomRendered - Custom process
ExposureMode - Auto
WhiteBalance - Auto
SceneCaptureType - Standard
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown
ExposureTime - 1/100 seconds
FNumber - 4.50
ExposureProgram - Normal program
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
ExifVersion - 0220
DateTimeOriginal - 2005:04:21 14:17:08
DateTimeDigitized - 2005:04:21 14:17:08
ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr
CompressedBitsPerPixel - 4.00 (bits/pixel)
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/97 seconds
ApertureValue - F 4.44
BrightnessValue - 4.02
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 2.93
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 4.70 mm
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 2592
ExifImageHeight - 1944
FocalPlaneXResolution - 4545
FocalPlaneYResolution - 4545
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit - Centimeter
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera
SceneType - A directly photographed image

Maker Note (Vendor): -
Version - 30333130
Quality - FINE
Sharpness - Normal
White Balance - Auto
Color saturation - Normal
Flash Mode - Off
Flash Strength - 0.00
Macro - On
Focus mode - Auto
Slow Sync. - Off
Picture Mode - Auto
Unknown - 1
Sequence mode - Off
Unknown - 0
Blur warning - No
Focus warning - No (Focus OK)
AE warning - No (AE good)

The graininess in both pictures is almost certainly caused by the camera shooting at ISO 400. Those small CCD sensors really don't do well above ISO 200. Shooting in an area with more light is the best solution. Flashes don't work well for close up shots, because the camera body/lens often casts a shadow on your subject (unless you use a special macro flash). If you can't get the light level up then try forcing your ISO down to 200. This means your exposure time will be cut in half so you'll have to make sure you hold the camera steady. Or instead of cutting the exposure time in half you could open up the aperture ("f/stop") but that would reduce your depth of field (depth of the area in focus - background and foreground would be blurrier).

The first was not shot in Macro mode, but the second was. Also, as you can see, the first one has a focus warning.

[Aidenswarrior]

if you want bareable noise then look into DSLRs :-p. I had an S2 and couldnt stand it in low light situations. Got a rebel xt for not much more than i paid for the s2 and i am happy as hell with it.

[NsOmNiA91130]

Could someone explain this ISO 200/400 argument? I really don't get what ISO 200 or ISO 400 means.

[Albaholic]

ISO or (ASA) is the sensor or films sensitivity to light

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Digital_Imaging/Sensitivity_01.htm