My self-introduction of myself

[Crossfire905]

Okay, I'll admit I'm no pro, and I don't have a DSLR. Not that I wouldn't want one, mind you... What I do have is an HP PhotoSmart C618 [a year 2000 model 2.1MP], bought dirt-cheap on eBay in June '06 to replace a broken Vivitar ViviCam 3500. It's actually the best camera I've ever owned -- since 1976, five or six film cameras [including a Brownie 127!] and three digitals [the first of which was a horrid piece of junk completely unworthy of being mentioned in this forum] -- but the really FUN stuff started this past December, when I bought a Tiffen HP618AD lens/filter adapter for it. That lets me mount 37mm threaded stuff over the existing lens. And, since I needed something to actually mount on it, I also bought a starter set of filters -- a polarizer, a UV [I thought I needed it, but I don't really see that it has any effect], and what was claimed to be an FL-D on the box but which is actually a mislabeled ND4. I'm not complaining; I shoot more outdoors than under fluorescent lighting anyway.

So, that was the start of the obsession. My sister -- the real photographer in the family, and the one who told me about this site -- bought me a star filter and a graduated neutral for Christmas, and then I bought a set of four macro lenses [+1, +2, +4, and +10]. The latest addition is a 0.5x wide-angle lens, and that has 49mm threads in the front, so I simply HAD to add a polarizer, a 1A filter, a star filter, and an FL-D in the 49mm size as well.

My favorites out of the whole bunch? Those macro lenses, definitely! With all four stacked up, plus the wide-angle, I've taken shots from as little as about 3/8" away from an object, which would not have been possible for this camera without the attachments, even with the camera's macro mode. Ran into the ol' learning curve on day one with those little lenses, though... Eventually figured out on my own that I have to lock the focus at infinity and move the camera.

One of my favorite macro shots so far, attached. I don't recall whether I used the full stack of lenses on this one, but if I did, then the sweet spot was perhaps two inches away from the lens, and I would have used the camera's 3x optical zoom to get past the vignetting [the big down-side of using that adapter]. Incandescent room light, no flash [I learned very quickly that I can't flash at that distance!], camera mounted on a mini-tripod, auto-everything-else [except focus]. The camera wound up doing a 2.5-second exposure, which explains the noise. I've corrected the color balance and scaled it down from the original 1600 x 1200.

Edit: I'm thinking I probably didn't use all four lenses on this one -- the field looks too deep. I believe this might've been just the +10.

So anyway... Not a pro, no DSLR <*drool*>, but a reasonably decent old point-and-shoot with some manual controls, and an aftermarket gizmoid for attaching filters and other lenses. That's my story. Software-wise, I use Picture Window Pro for post-production, and I "produce" for my own enjoyment, for email, and for my web pages -- strictly amateur hobbyist stuff. I'm really psyched up about experimenting with these various attachments, though.

[jiminyClickit]

Crossfire905, Welcome

Before you reply to yourself, let me ask if you were prepared for the compulsion that is Macro? Sounds like you really enjoy it - who wouldn't?! - and you have lots of company here (and two specific sections for questions and Critique).

Don't worry about the slow response to your thread - it's one of those things that happens in large groups with over a thousand posts a day coming in! Let us know if you have questions.

jC

[mfreg]

Welcome to the forum. I just bought my 1st macro lens and I've noticed my brain starting to think in macro now. every little speck I see laying around the house I can't help but think hmmmmm, I wonder......

anyway, welcome to DPS, looking forward to seeing more of your photos.

cheers
mike

[Crossfire905]

Prepared for the compulsion? Well, maybe a little... I really wanted a microscope when I was a kid. These lenses aren't quite that strong, of course, but magnifying the bleep outta things is still a lot of fun. Taking pics in the process? Bonus!

The wide-angle lens I bought is actually a two-piece -- a wide-angle half and a macro half. I'm not sure what strength that one is [the label simply says "Macro"], but it still means that I actually have five macro lenses now. Of course I've stacked 'em up, and I've found that I can also use the wide-angle at the same time, so I get a "wide macro" setup. Using all of them together gives me a field width [not depth-of-field -- I'm referring to the area being photographed] of maybe 1-1/2" at a distance of about 3/8" away. But then I have a real lighting problem -- the camera gets so close to the subject that most of the ambient light is blocked by the shadow of the camera. Too much of a good thing...?

Without the wide-angle and its macro, I've taken shots that cover a vertical area roughly width of my thumb. Using the macro lenses gives me some real depth, of course, which I usually can't achieve on this camera without using the manual settings, but with these lenses there's going to be depth whether I set the camera for it or not. With the full stack, my DOF goes down to... um... I'm not exactly sure, actually. 1/4" or so...?

re: Shooting every tiny little thing I can find... Okay, I haven't really done that yet, but I imagine that a little bit later in the season, when certain plants around here start to bloom, I can probably get some pretty good flower shots, and maybe an insect or two if I can get 'em to say "Cheese!" for me.

To be honest, I don't travel much [/understatement], I don't get out to very many places where there may be good photo opps, and I generally don't bring the camera with me unless I expect to be taking pics when I get to where I'm going. The best part of about having these macro lenses is having the ability to shoot something that's not just the same old thing, because I've just about run out of "same-old-things" to shoot. The worst part? Not having TTL, and having to guess at the focus via the LCD [what looks sharp on the screen might not be so sharp after all when unloaded and viewed at 1600 x 1200].

Here's a link to my "Best Shots" album on Facebook. [It's viewable by all; no need to be in my friends list or even a Facebook member. I prefer to limit my "friends" list just to people I actually know anyway.] This is all point-and-shoot stuff, taken with a ViviCam 3500 or an HP C618; only a few have had any PP done on them, unless you count cropping and resizing as PP. Only one pic so far -- the very last one in the album -- was taken with any attachments. No macro pics posted yet.