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View Full Version : Newbie help needed! Anyone?

darren.karp
18th of July 2005 (Mon), 06:28
Hi,

I have a problem with depth of field on my Canon Ixus 40.

I am trying to take some pictures of jewelry (a gold diamond ring to be precise) and whatever setting I try I cannot get the whole ring in focus.

I am using a soft box (light tent) with various coloured back clothes as well.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong or whether I need to sell the camera and get something a bit better!

Many thanks
Darren
PhotosGuy
18th of July 2005 (Mon), 06:49
Try a shot at f/22 & see how it comes out. ;-)
darren.karp
18th of July 2005 (Mon), 07:00
Hi,

As a newbie I don't know what you mean by f22. There are no f settings on the Canon IXUS 40 (as far as I know that is!)

Many thanks
Darren
PhotosGuy
18th of July 2005 (Mon), 07:54
I don't know how you're supposed to change the settings on your cam, but these will explain what f/22 is & how to get more depth of field (DOF) in your shots.
Exposure explained: Three gateways for light.
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/enjoydslr/p_2_005.html
Exposure - Low Tech Tips
http://www.photonhead.com/exposure/
SimCam
http://www.photonhead.com/exposure/simcam.php
Virtual Camera
Cameras Interactive aims to help novice photographers grasp the main concepts of SLR photography.
http://www.camerasinteractive.com/index.php#
darren.karp
19th of July 2005 (Tue), 03:42
Many thanks for that reply it was most useful but I think I'm going to have to sell my Canon IXUS 40 as it doesn't pocess aperture priority and therefore my depth of field will never be any good on close up / macro shots.
EOSAddict
19th of July 2005 (Tue), 04:07
My advice? Don't sell it unless you need the money! I have one and its a great little camera and you can carry it anywhere unlike an SLR!
darren.karp
19th of July 2005 (Tue), 04:11
Don't get me wrong I love the camera but if I can't take pictures of close up objects which are in focus then what is the point? The depth of field on the camera in macro mode is terrible, in fact I can't believe Canon have produced this unless I'm doing something terribly wrong!
EOSAddict
19th of July 2005 (Tue), 04:43
There are more things to photograph than Macro! But if it doesn't suit, each to his own ;)
darren.karp
19th of July 2005 (Tue), 05:22
I sell things on eBay and a lot of items are jewellery based and therefore I need to be able to get up close to the object. If its not all in focus it looks poor as you can imagine.
PhotosGuy
19th of July 2005 (Tue), 07:17
Many thanks for that reply it was most useful but I think I'm going to have to sell my Canon IXUS 40 as it doesn't pocess aperture priority Does it have a Tv or M setting?
darren.karp
19th of July 2005 (Tue), 07:24
no it doesn't
MattL
19th of July 2005 (Tue), 07:45
Just because it doesnt meet your needs, doesnt make it useless, and not worthy of the Canon name.

Having a shallow DOF can be useful, for example in portrait photography it can throw the background out of focus.
PhotosGuy
19th of July 2005 (Tue), 09:27
no it doesn't OK, I don't know anything about that cam that might help you out. Maybe go up in the Equipment Talk section & find out what people with comparable cams are doing.