Good Macro Feature on a low cost Digital Camera!

16 years ago

Hello again from the Bear,

I have been using a Canon Powershot A540 to take the photos that I have periodically posted to this site. The camera doesn't belong to me and must be left behind when I move to SJO. So, I went out and bought myself one, a Canon Powershot SX100 IS.

Gosh, you know I said it before that a digital camera gives a person a lot of instant flexibility, but that I was totally unsatisfied with the macro feature. It was next to useless. Well besides having a lot of new features like built in pop-up flash, making movies longer than 2 minutes, and others, the 'SX100 IS' does a good job of macro photography ( at least compared to the 'A540' ). Forgive me as I can not critique other cameras as these two digitals are the only ones I have had to play with.

Here're some examples.

A540:

with flash active, this quarter is a white-out ...

with flash turned off, the quarter is still obscure ...

Yuckkkk!

Canon SX100 IS:

Notice how poor the focus is on this photo of the 'SX100 IS' which was taken with the A540 in Auto Mode. If you look above at the pic of the A540 taken with the 'SX100 IS' in Auto mode, you'll note a difference. Of course, I wasn't working very hard to ensure better results in either case. But the results are marked.

The new camera does all the work in auto mode, even to decide whether or not to use flash and hey, you can tell you have a quarter ...

This Puya is about an inch and a half tall and is growing in a Jiffy 7 peat pellet.

Next time I come across a butterfly or a dragonfly on a Bougainvillea, I will be prepared to take a better photo.

Comments (12)

youreit
16 years ago
I have a Canon A95 PowerShot. What I learned with the macro setting is that you can't get too close to the subject, whether before or after zooming in. If I'm getting a blurry preview, I find that backing away from the subject as needed, then zooming INto the shot, seems to help. Too close, and you get either flash washout or just plain blurry pics. :)

Also, if at all possible due to light conditions, try to go without the flash (move subject into better light or wait for light to come to subject :D). It always washes out the image and creates unreal colors in the final result.

Have fun with your new camera!

{{gwi:508370}}

Brenda
eloise_ca
16 years ago
bearstate, your camera has a nice zoom lense; mine is way less.

Wow Brenda, great close-up of a dragonfly!

I have a Canon A630, but just keep it on auto because I have no clue how to use anything else -- one day I might read the manual and figure it out, LOL! I mostly use it to take pictures of my grandbaby.
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stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
16 years ago
Problems with my old camera that i look to avoid with my new Canon to be. First,top notch color rendition,higher resolution,that motion stuff so i can breathe and snap a pic at the same time!..and the ability to handle contrast.It would be nice to see blue sky behind a plant instead of white. Faster picture taking..none of that seconds gap between photo snaps.
Finally,buttons that are easier to push,my old camera really needed some force to press down.A true sign of bad design.
eh,I only paid $60(brand new) for the old one...
bearstate
Original Author
16 years ago
Brenda,

Your dragonfly pic really makes me wonder why I have so much trouble with the A540. But try photographing a quarter! Like Eloise's A630, the A540 has 4.0X optical and 4.0X Digital zoom with macro for a total 16X zoom. Yours is 3.0X optical by 4.1 Digital for 12X total.

Both yours and Eloise's cameras have those swing out LCD viewers, whereas both the cameras I have used do not.

My new camera is 10X optical by 4.0X digital for 40X.

The A95 and A540 have a minimum Macro focal length of 5cm, very similar.

The A630 and SX100IS have a minimum Macro focal length of 1cm.

The SX100IS has a bunch of new features over the others.

Eloise,

I think you have a nice camera and you should read the manual and play with it more to learn how to use it.

It's very interesting how the prices have fallen on these cameras since 2003.
youreit
16 years ago
Thanks, Eloise! All of the pics I take are when my camera is on the Auto setting, because I have no clue how to use it, otherwise. LOL

With my A95 (and probably all of these similar Canons), I love how I can get rid of most of the "shakes" by holding the button all the way down. The camera (usually) auto-focuses for me, which is nice, since I hardly ever use our tripod.

About the only thing I don't like about this camera is the long wait necessary in between flash photos. I really appreciate the flip-out LCD screen, as well as the size of it, too! My folks have another model with a smaller screen that isn't moveable, and it's definitely more difficult to view previews on it.

You're right about the quarter, Bearstate. The preview looked clear, but when I viewed it on my computer, it appeared more blurry. I haven't had that issue with the usual pics I take (flowers, nature stuff...), so I imagine a coin collector wanting to take pics of his stash might have issues. :D

From about 2 ft. away, with above lighting and flash -

{{gwi:508372}}

I usually do some editing in Paint Shop Pro (size, sharpness, contrast) before sharing my pics, as well. Some day, we'll get an upgrade on this camera, but until then, I'm enjoying the heck out of it. :)

Brenda
bearstate
Original Author
16 years ago
Brenda,

Your photo of the quarter looks pretty good and I assume from what you say, that part of the reason is from work you did on it using your photo pro software.

I found mention on the web that the A95 accepts a Macro attachment lense. You're not using one of these are you?
hopflower
16 years ago
I have the A95, too. It acts just as Brenda's does. If too close, you do get a washout sometimes. I think it has a lot to do with the lighting.
bearstate
Original Author
16 years ago
These cameras are so miniaturized and with a macro focused pic at 1cm, the flash can create a shadow on the subject of the protruding lense. You need to toy with features of the camera and the zoom/macro feature to find a happy solution to some shots when lighting is poor.
youreit
16 years ago
No macro attachments for me, Bearstate. I agree with Hopflower about lighting, as well as the background choice. Anything you try to photograph with a white background is going to get some washout, I think.

Here's the original image of the quarter, edited only for size (no sharpness or contrast).

{{gwi:508374}}

Brenda
bearstate
Original Author
16 years ago
Brenda,

I took the following pic yesterday ...

{{gwi:504306}}

It's a tiny bud on the end of a climbing rose stem. It's about half the size of a dime. Fantastic look'n critter - eh? The macro world sure has some surprises!

I had originally included it in the thread 'Early Spring'.
bearstate
Original Author
16 years ago
With 8.0M pixel resolution and only set to fine, not the top superfine setting, the quality of the above rose bud picture is so good that when I set it as Wall Paper on my cmputer, it remained very well defined. I could probably do a poster with no loss of quality.

That's nice for starting with macro shot!
youreit
16 years ago
Very nice, indeed! Macro shots are so addicting. :) I've taken shots where I only noticed AFTER that there was a bug on the plant - I couldn't see it with my own eyes.

Keep up the great work! Can't wait to see more from your future SJ garden, too.

Brenda

Good Macro Feature on a low cost Digital Camera!

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youreit

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