S50 Macro

[RonL]

S50 does not seem to focus properly in macro? What is the secret to getting
in focus ??

[stduc]

Assuming your not holding the camera outside the macro focus range (RTFM), increase available light. I find macto shots only work for me reliably outdoors on a sunny day. Indoors is a bit hit & miss.

[paguyo@comcast.net]

I have the same problem with my new S50 that I purchased last week. I thought I had tried everything without success and brought it back to the store. I asked the sales person to see if he could get the focus to work in macro mode. With a little tweaking in the menus, I witnessed a test shot that came out OK. Changes that I saw being modified are as follows:

*optical lens was set all the way to wide angle
*hit your "menu" button then play with MF-Point Zoom setting to either on or off
*in your menu button again, setting Spot AE Point was modified to either AF Point or Center

I brought the same camera home and tried taking macro shot and I couldn't get any decent shots off. I played with the above settings again with no luck. I'm returning to the store for help again, this time I'll take notes and shoot a couple of test shots in the store. Lighting was not a problem for me as noted by other posts.

[Pewterpez]

I have the S50 and I love its macro

you must first realize, that if you're too close, then it's a bad thing. I strongly suggest you arm yourself with the autofocus, it's easy to see if something is in focus or not...

here's how I do macro:

Make sure you're in macro mode (hit the macro button and a flower will appear on screen)
Put your lens all the way at wide angle (you can do it at telephoto, but then you have to be like 2 feet away instead of mere inches)
Aim at the subject (duh! But go with some suggestions: try going at a flower...it's big, the focus can't really miss it, and you won't be messing around with the focus trying to get it to focus on the correct object...which is where manual focus comes in)
Hold down the shutter half-way (this does the auto-focus -- make sure the lil' box on the screen turns green, if it's yellow, then it can't focus and you're either too close, or (heaven forbid) too far away)
While making sure NOT TO MOVE, depress the shutter the whole way.


Moving is what'll often mess up your macro shots..so try working with a tripod of any size. A mini one is great for table tops, and a medium one will do wonders in the garden.

One final note: the built in flash is deplorable for macro, you'll get an overly contrasted image with an extremely bright upper left corner


here's a few I've taken:
looks nice, taken in RAW and then converted...
http://www.eviltangerine.com/uploaded/2003_349/CRW_1098CL.jpg
the last two are more for technical merit (I'd think)...room was too dark but such is life
http://www.eviltangerine.com/uploaded/2003_349/IMG_0226L.JPG
http://www.eviltangerine.com/uploaded/2003_349/IMG_0220L.JPG



Hope this helps!

Robert