Macro focusing

[Chris Walker]

I have an Olympus SP-570-UZ and find that when in Macro and Super-Macro I have a lot of difficulty focusing. The problem is that what I am trying to photograph, "fynbos" of the Cape Peninsula (Cape Town), is super small - sometimes down to 2 to 5 mm in size. Even larger flowers (between 5mm and 3 cm) can also give problems focusing.

This can be realy anoying especially when you have spent days looking for a particulary rare plant only to find that the results of your photography are sub-standard.

I have bought a x4 pair of magnification glasses to help but still not that great an improvement. I can't affor a more expensive camera.

WHAT SUGGESTIONS?

[Elmo]

Me not knowing your camera, Can you do manual focus? If so manual focus then fine tune by moving the camera. Another big issue often mistaken for mis-focus is camera shake. Also lost of times I "sway" and object goes in and out of focus. I use a tripod nearly always.

[Geebee]

You could try switching to center or spot focus, it was recently sugested to me and can help a lot on some macro subjects.
Also use as small an aperture (largset number) as possible to get the best DOF.

[candleman]

get hold of a magnifying glass and shoot through that.
i've been told it helps

lekker bly !
moennie daardi moi fynbos vertramp nie !

DAMN my afrikaans is bad after 7 years !

[Chris Walker]

No the manual focus (makes an enlarged area of your focus) is only by button and most often zooms past best focus before you can react properly

[Chris Walker]

Thanks! I am already using spot focus and highest apperture setting for the light conditions. In fact I set speed and apperture manually. One suggestion made was to use a magnifying glass in front of camera lense as well - sounds as if it may be worth trying.

[Chris Walker]

Hi Candleman,
Ek bly heer en my Afrikaans is ook sleg! My vrou, vriende end ek is gewoond om "Vreemde vegetasie" om in the berge uit te kap. Will U somege van my fynbos photos te sien?

For those who can't read Afrikaans "Fynbos" is a unique flora group confined to the Western Cape in South Africa. I am currently assisting in helping "The Friends of Silvermine Nature Reserve" obtaing photos of all the plant species, flowers etc in the Cape Peninsula. Towards this end I have written software that has just about all the bells and whistles to assist users to identify and see details about the 2500+ plants in the Peninsula. The big problem now is sucesfully to photograph flowers smaller than 5mm (some as small as 1 to 2 mm). This is particularly difficult in field conditions.

Is there any one out there who know if a digital can be connected to a laptop to display a much bigger image realtime.

Dit is ontmoontlik om nie a bietje van die fynbos te vertram as jy besig is om "vreemde bosse" soon deneboome uit te kap maar ons is gewoondt om min skade te doen"

Lekker bly !


Chris Walker

[BeardyWeirdy]

are you doing these in the field or in the studio - I bring this size of stuff back as the slightest wind makes focusing impossible - if not you will need to build a box/wind shield around it to keep it still. I have used clear plastic, but obviously you need to be clever with the lighting to stop it showing.

Another factor that might come into play is how you camera does AF. My Nikon works much better if the line it is focusing on is vertical across the AF point. I don't know about you camera but worth a play.

As for going to a laptop you camera claims top have a usb/av out port - so I guess it is possible - contact Olympus?

[Dano700]

Hey I have three Olympus DSLR's and the focus method I use is to use manual focus till it's very close and then the macro rail to fine tune it ....however you can still get shake if you don't use the remote control to fire your shot .
This helps greatly because after you make your last adjustment the shake then stops becuse you no longer have your hands on the tripod or camera, then ljust trip the remote and the pictuure gets taken with no shake and in focus sharply

even the less expensive cameras have the self timer which you can use instead of the remote ...and still the camera shake and hand shake is reduced to nil

Have a great day
Dano700

[alvoki]

I've seen very useful using a DVD player conected to a digital cameta to view the photo. It is easer to carry than a laptop and can see a much bigger picture.

Originally Posted by BeardyWeirdy

are you doing these in the field or in the studio - I bring this size of stuff back as the slightest wind makes focusing impossible - if not you will need to build a box/wind shield around it to keep it still. I have used clear plastic, but obviously you need to be clever with the lighting to stop it showing.

Another factor that might come into play is how you camera does AF. My Nikon works much better if the line it is focusing on is vertical across the AF point. I don't know about you camera but worth a play.

As for going to a laptop you camera claims top have a usb/av out port - so I guess it is possible - contact Olympus?