Digital Cameras'

[p0689109]

I have found that close ups I take with my Samsung 4 megapixel camera are always out of focus. Not knowing much about these I thought these modern ones auto-focused but apparently not. Mine has a 4x zoom but that does not help. I thought I would get a auto focus compact with a lot more pixels to overcome this problem. Reading some specs it seems the auto focus works on faces but will it work on say a close up of a wiring diagram or a picture of an electrical connection board or block? And is it true that the more pixels the better and if so if I get a 20mega pixel without auto focus would it give me better close ups.
Cheers for your views, Michael T

 

[the snooper]

for real close work you should choose the macro function it has a little tulip icon

 

[grandads_shed]

there may be a macro setting on the camera that you have,

or you could try moving the camera away from the item until it will be in focus, then once on the comp zoom into the picture, if you can see the item ok that way then you can crop/cut out the surrounding bit that you dont want,

what it the model of the samsung that you have ??

 

[p0689109]

Is that on the front of the camera where there is a dial that can be switched from one position to the other? On my camera the two icons are like a double apex roof and I suppose the other could be a tulip or similar plant.

 

[the snooper]

what model is the camera ?

 

[Robotstar5]

On my camera the two icons are like a double apex roof and I suppose the other could be a tulip or similar plant.

The double apex roofs represents mountains = distance and plant is for close up (macro mode)

 

[p0689109]

Samsung Digimax A402 I downloaded the manual and that ring on the front is called the focus ring so I reckon you are right. In the index it does not mention Macro setting though.

 

[the snooper]

page 18 of the manual shows the macro icon

 

[Paul99]

I have found that close ups I take with my Samsung 4 megapixel camera are always out of focus. Not knowing much about these I thought these modern ones auto-focused but apparently not. Mine has a 4x zoom but that does not help. I thought I would get a auto focus compact with a lot more pixels to overcome this problem. Reading some specs it seems the auto focus works on faces but will it work on say a close up of a wiring diagram or a picture of an electrical connection board or block? And is it true that the more pixels the better and if so if I get a 20mega pixel without auto focus would it give me better close ups.
Cheers for your views, Michael T

Yep the snooper is right the macro function should be the first test before shelling out on a new camera. To speed up autofocus lock compacts limit the focus range - for 99% of photos you're going to be trying to focus on objects / people at least 1m away so if you're camera always looks to focus on objects closer than this every time it's wasting a few seconds for 99% of the photographs you take. The macro feature should tell the camera specifically to look for a focus lock at much closer distances and not to look at further objects.

Also with macro photography you need plenty of light to help the autofocus with compacts - the more light you can get on the object the better your chances and IMO is the single biggest source of failure for first time macro photographers.

Autofocus should work for anything within it's focal range not just faces so don't get hung up on that.

As for are more mega pixels automatically better - simple answer is no - akin to asking are more available welding amps automatically better. In some cases yes - the larger you intend to print then the more MP the better - but you'd certainly not be using a compact for large scale prints anyway consider that old 5mp DSLRS are capable of very good prints up to at least A3 size - 10mp+ out of a compact is a bit of a nonsense and actually can make for poorer photographs especially in less than perfect lighting.

Of course all of the above is a bit over simplified and there is a lot more to it but it should at least give you something to start reading around.

 

[p0689109]

Page 10 shows the ring but if you, like me, did not know the inference of the word macro as regards cameras' then it is meaningless. A sentence some where explaining the focus ring and its icons would have been a good idea by the manufacturers. Thank good this forum has the brains amongst us to answer much about anything. Thanks for your quick replies and great help.
Cheers, Michael T

 

[the snooper]

I think you access the macro function through the menu button (the centre button) and go through the various menus to find it

the icon at the top of the circle is to record a voice memo

 

[voipio]

There are tricks for getting a camera autofocus to do what you want. The Samsung is probably focusing on something, but not what was wanted. On many cameras these days, it's possible to select the zone(s) in the image that are to be used for focusing. For detailed work, it might be preferable to go through the menus and set the centre region for focusing, and then point this centre region at a contrasty part of the subject, where the contrasty parts are not horizontal. There has to be contrast in the object, as this is how the camera derives it's focusing "signal". It's impossible for the camera to focus on something that is relatively uniform, or has soft lines - clouds are a good example. Some cameras have a face recongition feature, which is best turned off for subjects other than people, else the camera will try to use something it's computer thinks is a face, as the object to be focused on. I have a Casio Exilim EX-H15 which displays the minimum focus distance briefly on screen after a zoom level change, which can be useful to stop me from trying to get too close, which is a common reason for out of focus images. At 14 Megapixels, the image detail on the camera is pretty impressive, and auto focusing performs very well, on the whole. It helps greatly to have something vertically contrasty in the object for the focus to work, or for the object to contrast with the background. The screen has a decent resolution, so it's possible to gauge whether the object is in focus or not, before actually taking the picture. Give the camera a chance to focus by half-pressing the shutter button, before taking the picture, and try not to move between obtaining focus and actually taking the picture, which can be up to a second after the shutter button has been fully pressed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autofocus has some useful background info to autofocus.

 

[rtbcomp]

I'm still using an ancient Epson PC800 2.1 MP with decent results. I just keep it on "Fully Automatic" and use the Macro setting for close-ups.

 

[Paul99]

Have a read of this article a friendly chap posted quite a long time ago to help people with macro photos:

http://www.completefisher.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2004

Clearly the subject is a little different and it's now a few years old but the advice contained within the post is still totally valid and may well help to make a few improvements.
Good Luck.

 

[Wayne.]

This maybe an option http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K9N2O-mKqw

 

[bump]

All lenses have a minimum focus distance, it's just the nature of optics. Most lenses you're likely to encounter will be at 1.8m (pro zoom lenses are much more).

Macro mode will help, it's probably get you to 1m or 50cm focus distance.

 

[rtbcomp]

My macro setting will go down to 15cm.

 

[bump]

My macro setting will go down to 15cm.

That's impressive for a non dedicated lens! It's on par with the Canon L Series macro.

 

[bump]

I used to use one of these for all of my macro work.

 

[rikrobson]

on the galaxys its settings, focus mode and change to macro from auto focus