Help with my A95

[nismoman]

Ive been looking for awhile now but have had no luck. I recently bought an A95 and was looking for web sites and info dedicated to the camera. Im very new to digital photography and would like to get more into it, like macro shots and so on. Could anybody refer me to someplace or a guide online.

[Jon]

What in particular do you need help in? If you have specific questions, we'll be glad to answer them. There are also stickies in the "Talk About Photography" forum on best links and recommended books. And a lot of the capabilities your A95 has are also found in other PowerShot cameras. For instance, the A80 was the immediate predecessor to the A95. Aside from the internal electronics and an extra 1 MP resolution, the two are very similar.

[Godzilla]

What in particular do you need help in? If you have specific questions, we'll be glad to answer them. There are also stickies in the "Talk About Photography" forum on best links and recommended books. And a lot of the capabilities your A95 has are also found in other PowerShot cameras. For instance, the A80 was the immediate predecessor to the A95. Aside from the internal electronics and an extra 1 MP resolution, the two are very similar.

I have an A95 and would like to get some advice on shooting good Macro shots under the "M" dial.

Let me give you two examples of what I've done and how it went:

I tried an outdoor shot of a willow and all I got was a fuzzy unfocused messed under good light. I also tried an indoor shot of mom's fresh roses on her dresser and the flash whited out the picture too much. I tried turning off the flasher, but I got the same results. I want to learn how to master my camera under the "M" mode, so I refuse to use the automatic setting.

I've tried manipulating those two number settings on the lcd, but I don't know what they mean and what settings I should operate under.

I would appreciate any suggestions on improving my macro shots [or just shooting in general] and maybe helping me understand why I should plug in certain settings for outdoor shots versus indoor ones. :D

[scraggles]

For starters, read the manual to get an idea of what some of the features are used for. I have an A80 and thats how I started out. As for macro shots, make sure you have macro mode turned on, which is the little flower button(at least on my A80 it is). It should allow you to focus as close as 2-3 inches away. There is no way to control the macro mode to my knowledge. You can use it in Manual mode, but that won't allow you to control the focus. I may be wrong if I'm reading wrong.

However, if you are a complete beginner, I would highly suggest avoiding M mode for a little while. First, start out by playing with Av mode for a few days, to get the feel of what those controls do, then move to Tv, after you feel comfortable with the controls of both, you are pretty much all set for M mode.

[Godzilla]

For starters, read the manual to get an idea of what some of the features are used for. I have an A80 and thats how I started out. As for macro shots, make sure you have macro mode turned on, which is the little flower button(at least on my A80 it is). It should allow you to focus as close as 2-3 inches away. There is no way to control the macro mode to my knowledge. You can use it in Manual mode, but that won't allow you to control the focus. I may be wrong if I'm reading wrong.

However, if you are a complete beginner, I would highly suggest avoiding M mode for a little while. First, start out by playing with Av mode for a few days, to get the feel of what those controls do, then move to Tv, after you feel comfortable with the controls of both, you are pretty much all set for M mode.

I did have the lil' flower icon present on my lcd. I know what you are saying, but I just got this digi cam. It's my second one and the reason why I got it was because of the manual options. I can do Macro under my old point and shoot HP Photosmart 945, but that's not fun anymore...

I know you probably don't want to write paragraphs upon paragraphs of stuff for us noobs [I don't blame ya, I wouldn't either].

Maybe you could just give me a lil' explanation of what those numbers reflect and maybe general usage rules?

Any info would be helpful and appreciated.

Thank you.

[scraggles]

Hey, I'm a noob myself. All I have is this A80. I'm working on gtting a 20D.

Av : You can adjust the Aperture in this mode. The aperture adjusts the amount of light that passes through the lens. Selecting a lower Aperture allows you to blur the background, a higher aperture brings the background into focus with the foreground.

Tv: In this mode, the aperture is automatically selected by the camera. However, you can adjust the shutter speeds manually in this mode. The higher the shutter speed, the lower the number you will use will be, for example: 1/1000 is faster than 1". You would use a lower shutter speed for either slow moving objects, dimly lit areas... things like that. Use a high shutter speed outside while well lit. You can, of course use different speeds if you'd like, but I'm just trying to give you a basic idea.

Hopefully that helped, as I stated, I'm still an amateur. :)

[Godzilla]

Hey, I'm a noob myself. All I have is this A80. I'm working on gtting a 20D.

Av : You can adjust the Aperture in this mode. The aperture adjusts the amount of light that passes through the lens. Selecting a lower Aperture allows you to blur the background, a higher aperture brings the background into focus with the foreground.

Tv: In this mode, the aperture is automatically selected by the camera. However, you can adjust the shutter speeds manually in this mode. The higher the shutter speed, the lower the number you will use will be, for example: 1/1000 is faster than 1". You would use a lower shutter speed for either slow moving objects, dimly lit areas... things like that. Use a high shutter speed outside while well lit. You can, of course use different speeds if you'd like, but I'm just trying to give you a basic idea.

Hopefully that helped, as I stated, I'm still an amateur. :)



You have a link to an online photo album that you can share?

Maybe I can see some of your work... :D

[scraggles]

I don't at them moment. When I get my 20D I'll be making a gallery shortly afterwards.

[Godzilla]

I don't at them moment. When I get my 20D I'll be making a gallery shortly afterwards.

If you want, you could just post a few shots on this thread.

It's up to you, but either way, I appreciate the 4-1-1.

[randalcandari]

try this site, learned a lot from this. http://www.shortcourses.com/

Its not about A95 though but gives a lot of useful information.

[Godzilla]

try this site, learned a lot from this. http://www.shortcourses.com/

Its not about A95 though but gives a lot of useful information.

Book mark'd and appreciated.

[bachscuttler]

Nismoman...

Try having a look around my A95 gallery (http://steve120.fotopic.net). especially the 'Fungi' collection.

The A95 is a great little camera for macros, especially with the swivelling LCD which means you don't have to lie flat in mud to get dramatic shots.

As a general rule I shoot in manual mode (and macro mode of course) and leave the aperture at f2.8 to maximise D.O.F and get the exposure by adjusting the shutter speed (take a practice shot and check the historogram until you get a good spread)

Use the optical zoom to maximise D.O.F also.

Remember the macro distance is 5 to 45cm at wide angle end and 25-45cm at telephoto end.

You can also use the Manual Focus setting in the same ranges above to get some good close up shots.

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination and you'll see some technically dodgy shots in my collection but am very pleased to get shots like these for a camera in that price range.

[Godzilla]

Nismoman...

Try having a look around my A95 gallery (http://steve120.fotopic.net). especially the 'Fungi' collection.

The A95 is a great little camera for macros, especially with the swivelling LCD which means you don't have to lie flat in mud to get dramatic shots.

As a general rule I shoot in manual mode (and macro mode of course) and leave the aperture at f2.8 to maximise D.O.F and get the exposure by adjusting the shutter speed (take a practice shot and check the historogram until you get a good spread)

Use the optical zoom to maximise D.O.F also.

Remember the macro distance is 5 to 45cm at wide angle end and 25-45cm at telephoto end.

You can also use the Manual Focus setting in the same ranges above to get some good close up shots.

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination and you'll see some technically dodgy shots in my collection but am very pleased to get shots like these for a camera in that price range.

I appreciate the imput you gave me. I took a look at your gallery. I am impressed. Very nice.

Anything else you want to share or add, please do.