I hope this forum can help me. Metering, AF mode etc, settings on camera

I've got a lot of PC graphics cards in my collection, that I finally want to shoot properly.

The problem is, I don't seem to find or get the right answers on which settings to use.

Here are a couple of pictures I have taken, they seem allright to me.

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I could really do with some help.

Zoom lens do tend to be at their best in the middle of their range, but that's not a hard-and-fast rule. Of course, the wider the range the harder (and more expensive) it is to correct for distortions at the extremes. I don't know your camera, but middle of the range seems like a good starting place.

Yes, definitely.

There are a few things to be aware of when using a sheet of white paper. First, is it really white? Some papers contain bluing to make them seem whiter. Second, you have to be sure that you are not overexposing the paper when you make your custom WB, because that will distort the calculation. Slightly underexposed so it looks grey is better. If you are buying a grey card, be aware there are three kinds; those that are for setting WB are a true neutral grey, those that are for setting exposure but are not true grey, and those that are good for both WB and exposure.

I would use spot only, in order to take the white background right out of the equation.

Again, not familiar with your camera, but if it can be manually set to use only the middle, that would be best.

A rule of thumb says that lenses are usually best at 2 stops closed from their maximum opening. Also, your sensor is very small and closing down any more than that will cause losses due to diffraction, so I'd stay with f/5.6.

Sounds good. Use the timer so you are not actually touching the camera at the instant of exposure. Or a remote release.

Ah thanks so much for answering all my questions!

I just bought a 18% Grey card, this one :

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk …&ssPageName=STR​K:MEWNX:IT

Okay, will set Metering to spot only.
Yes 1-area focussing is on the center (you can move it around, but that's where it is default)
Aperture to F/5.6, check.

I'm using the timer on the camera (can only choose between 2 and 10sec though!)

I think I'm going to lower the tripod a tiny bit more, I think the sharpness can be improved. From a review on my camera, it seems that even at wide angle there is surprisingly little distortion, seems like the camera is compensating it automatically before saving it to Jpeg. Not bad I guess.

Thanks again! Much appreciated!