I’m busy trying to make friends with my new canon s400 and I am having the devil of a time with it in macro mode because of the dreaded camera shake.
It takes phenomenal photos at those settings if I can hold the durn thing still enough, but as an old SLR person I’m too used to being able to brace the camera against my face, and with the digi about half the time when I’m using the lcd as the viewfinder an otherwise good shot is out of focus.
Obviously a tripod would help, but it’s kind of hard to get butterflies and lizards to hold still while I set one up. Any suggestions?
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Barbara, I know what you mean – I’ve recorded a number of ‘shaky’ images over the last year. A cfew suggestions:
1. Instead of a tripod, you might want to try a telescoping monopod; it doesn’t eliminate all the potential for motion but it’s a little easier to use. 2. Play with the tradeoff of shutter speed and aperture, going for a little higher shutter speed while sacrificing some depth of field via larger lens openings. This is tougher to do in the macro world, where depth of field is at a premium anyway. Maybe, though, when you’re dealing with images in bright sunlight you can get away with it. 3. Another alternative with its own set of issues is bumping up the apparent ‘film speed’ of the camera. Your s400 can be adjusted to the equivalent of ISO 50, 100, 200, and 400. Moving up to 200 or 400 would give you a faster shutter speed without sacrificing depth of field. However, there’s no free lunch; the images captured at 200 and 400 are apt to be noticeably noisier…
Thanks, Chuck. It seems like the potentially great shots are usually the ones where there’s just not time for something like a monopod/tripod. I was out back just now and could have had a wonderful pic of a gecko getting ready to jump from a leather fern to a hibiscus, but it still takes me so darn long to find the adjustments on this thing. Rats. I suppose I’ll be faster once I don’t keep resetting the wrong thing first. I’m horribly tempted to leave in "auto’ mode and go back to instamatic days. 8^)
Barbara, the probably worst invention in photo history is the LCD to be used as a viewfinder. But, don’t give up! There is a light shining at the horizon. There is a rather good solution at this Dutch website with a translation in English: <http://www.xs4all.nl/~wiskerke/artikelen/string.html> BTW, i worte this before, this website is mainly in Dutch, but part of it is in English and it contains a wealth of information and useful links. Well worth visiting.
Grant had a superb suggestion just a few months ago, something along the line of attaching a screw with a chain from the tripod hole down to under your feet so that you could put tension (like forcing the camera up a bit) and avoid shaking. Grant..??? Can you explain it again, my English is failing me today.
Hi, Ray. Thanks. I didn’t see your post when I replied. We must have been posting at the same time. Yes, that’s pretty much what Leen’s article was suggesting, too.
Leen has show what I suggested and in some ways it may be a bit better. The string will have a certain give therefore the tension can be varied. The string may be more sensitive to nicely polished floors.
Barbara
A friend of mine that takes really kick a$$ photos captures the insect then chills them in the refrigerator. The sure calm down and he can work in leisure. Once the insect has warmed he can release it …. or re-cools it if he is really trying to be evil.
Grant, i have read of this practise years ago. From tree frogs to lizards to crickets. It’s just plain cruel and ridiculous. Freeze something so it wont get away…ya, that’s a real pro photog…NOT ! mo
Grant, I guess it would just seem boring to me to ‘pose’ a tree frog for that shot. I would not feel like I really got ‘the shot’…no matter how good it looks. That’s just me…i guess some people don’t care about that stuff….only the end result. …kind of like a ‘forced smile’ in a posed portrait….yuck !
Well, I’ve always thought Audobon’s reputation was pretty ironic, given that he shot the birds and then put them back together and wired them up to draw them.
No…he robbed graves…. and later, paid others to do it for him….. but, then, so did most medical researchers up until the beginning of the 20th century.
The practice was widespread— Cadavers were shipped to MCV (Medical College of Virginia) in casks of whiskey– which was then sold and consumed.
Just a little historical gross out on a Sat. night. 😀
"JodiFrye" wrote in message
Barb, How ’bout Leonardo DaVinci ? He carefully ripped the skin off of
people to draw there muscles….imagine, did he kill them first ? lol
This might seem a cruel technique, but actually it is not. If you go out for a walk at a chilly morning you will experience that insects hardly move as they need the warmth of the sun; they are cold blooded. It ‘s just like copying nature.
Grant, I love the idea of freezing mosquitos. There was one in my bedroom last night. One of the most common species, that buzzes close to your ears when it ‘s dark and becomes completely invisible as soon as your hand comes too close to the light switch.
How much have you used the "Macro" on your digital and at what range is the lens setting when the macro is engaged? (For instance; I have a 70-300mm lens with a macro but the macro is only available at the 300mm setting. Because of the size and weight of that lens I use it only with a tripod. I don’t believe I could hold the monopod steady with such magnification, but maybe the digital handles the macro differently?).
Pete, I bought a dedicated macro lens for the 10D; it’s 100mm, not zoom, and is heavy enough that it is sold with an optional tripod ring which turns out not to be really optional. I’ve only tried it a couple times with the tripod and not at all with the monopod, but like Barbara said in her original post, the tripod thing doesn’t do for quick grab shots. I’m more inclined to use the monopod with my G2 and have done so once or twice, but not enough to say that it’s a definite solution. It will damp the push-down motion of the shutter release, but side-to-side sway is still something to be dealt with…
So taking in these facts I am thinking that the macro for digital cameras is very similar to using 35mm macro……."not" for a quick grab photo. Rather, it is more for a stationary photo situation like a studio shot, or better find a nice comfortable place to sit and wait if you are shooting wild life because you need whatever is moving to walk/fly/run in front of the camera on the tripod :).
Pete, that’s certainly been my experience so far with the dedicated macro – some of the users on the Canon forum have talked about the need for the tripod and a special flash attachment which is way out of my price range.
However, the ‘normal’ zoom that I’m using, which is a 10-year-old Canon 28-80 f3.5-5.6, has a pretty decent macro range on it and is a lot lighter. As it’s a beautiful day here in Southeast Texas, maybe I’ll try a few shots this afternoon and see if I can put it through its paces, with and without the monopod and tripod.
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