First try using P&S

This is my first try with Macro. Just use my S2 IS handheld without any additional lens. I know it looks bad compare to other great Macros here.

My question is, is there anyway that I can improve my Macro given that I can't afford a dSLR (studetn budget you know )

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That's very good for a P&S camera. Not familiar with your camera, but if you can reduce the aperture a bit and use flash you migh get better DOF. Is this all optical magnification or is there some digital (ie cropping). If there is some digital magnification then an add on macro filter/lens may help- but that shot looks better than some of my early attempts with my macro lens on a dslr
Brian V.

LordV wrote:
That's very good for a P&S camera. Not familiar with your camera, but if you can reduce the aperture a bit and use flash you migh get better DOF. Is this all optical magnification or is there some digital (ie cropping). If there is some digital magnification then an add on macro filter/lens may help- but that shot looks better than some of my early attempts with my macro lens on a dslr
Brian V.

Thanks for your advice. This attemp was inspired by your fabulous fly photos here. I just used a super macro mode in my camera and the object is about 1cm distance from the lens. I might try to save for a macro lens then.

You did amazingly well not to spook the fly at that shooting distance
Brian V.

Wow you did well to focus that close to a greenbottle - must have been sunbathing. I'm sure someone on this forum takes great shots with the PS Pro1. I took this with my recently sold Olympus C-70z with no additions:

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Just thought- If you want some inspiration this lady does amazing macros/ butterfly shots with her canon ixus camera.
http://www.flickr.com/​photos/camerar/

Welcome here.
Man, you have an excellent camera: 12X optical zoom ( don't go for the digital zoom in the camera) and 0.0 cm focussing distance ans Image stabilization . All what you have to do is practice keeping things in focus, and keep things in fair light. Soemtimes the built-in flash will not light up close things, so think of a cheap external flash as a start , better works as slave and held by hand , triggered by the camera flash.
The Super macro mode is an excellent tool that gives you very good depth of field.

Here is one of my first shots taken woth my Pro1 , in Super macro mode .. Directly from the camera

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Excellent first attempt. Number #1 rule, practice, practice and more practice. you are off to a wonderful start, ask lots of questions, particularly here on this Forum, we have some excellent people here, more than willing to help, looking forward to seeing many more shots.

Had a look at your camera in the buying guide and would now suggest you buy the lens adaptor (£22) which allows the mounting of a quality close up lens like the Canon 500D (£75). With the 12x zoom set at max you will get 1:1 from about 10" away. I had a similar set up with my Panasonic fZ20 which was very effective:

Welcome to the Macro Maniacs Forum fellow S2 owner. Excellent first attempt! The only thing I would do is apply a little Unsharp Mask in post production (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, ect).

Then yes, save up for that 500D since few subjects are going to allow you to get that close. In the meantime, try using some of that 12x with a steady hand. You'll be amazed what you can accomplish there too. For more examples of what's possible with the S2 check my sig below.

Thank racketman, mecdave and everyone else for making such useful suggestion. I have several questions:

1. I looked at BH and they got 250D, 500D and 500 that can fit my 58mm adapter. What really is the difference between them?
   
2. I tried to use my 12X zoom set to max but the camera just couldn't focus unless I'm about 3 feet from the object. Did I do anything wrong?

This looks like a very nice posting, especially for your first time.
I was looking into both the 250D & 500D Canon macro lens/filters, and it seems the name indicates the usable focal distance of each. It was also recommended that the 250D was better for the shorter zooms, ie; up to 135mm. The 500D was recommended of course, for longer telephoto lengths.
-Bruce

Yes, that's right. The 500D enebles the camera to focus at 500mm min. from the object, and the 250D at 250 mm min. from the object.

for the second part, no , you didn't do anything wrong. It's clear that the camera can't focus that close when using the full zoom IN NORMAL MODE. You can focus down to 50 cm ( 1.5" ) when using the 500D.
You can also focus at closer distances in full zoom , but using the Super Macro Mode in the camera.

Regards