close ups of my children? help pls

[cameramum]

hello,
this is my first post. Im looking for some help with taking close ups of my children.

Im trying to get the blurry backgroud effect when i take photos, and am getting some results but not as good as id like.
Im using a panasonic fz38 which has an 18x zoom and ive put it in A priority, but the lowest setting possible is f3.6

Im using a combination of moving back and using zoom whilst keeping the F setting at its lowest.

can anyone give me some tips? Do I have the right camera for the "job" Can anyone recommend a great close up camera?
many thanks.
ive put an example of what i mean below.

[OsmosisStudios]

The Sensor in the FZ28 is too small to get a blurred background. At best, try the macro feature or use the longer end of the zoom if you can. otherwise, you're not gonna be able to

[cameramum]

hi, thankyou.

This is what I was worried about. I kept trying to get the effect i wanted, but it just wont work.

Do you think you could recommend a camera more suited to this kind of photo?

[OsmosisStudios]

Anything with interchangeable lenses.

[tyasa81]

or with the current camera you can go outside to a park/outdoor with the thing behind him placed veeeery far... zoom to the max length, go lowest f stop number (wide open), keep his relative size the same as the pic you showed or even bigger (go half body or head only shot) and the trees and the building behind him will be blurred...

something like this:
camera ---- distance less than 1 meter ----> ur child ---- distance more than 5-10 meter ---> closest tree/building/object...

(1) the bigger the distance between your child and the closest object will blur it more...
(2) and of course the smaller the distance between the camera on your child will also blur (quite significantly more than (1) ) the closest object behind your child... so if you haven't got the blur you want, walk closer to him (use your feet since you are at maximum zoom right?)

otherwise, yes if you want to spend money, get a dslr coz it'll make your life of obtaining bokeh (blurred background) much easier, but then you'll need to learn a lot more things...and the kit lens in dslr doesn't really do nice bokeh either... so you'll need a fast prime...

[cameramum]

thankyou both for your replies.

I think a trip to my local camera shop is in need.

[andrewdt]

If you go get the cheapest body (eg Canon 1000d) and spend an extra $100 on a 50mm f1.8 you will get exactly what you are after, plus a very nice camera to learn the rest on.

At first just stick it on AV, set asperture to around 2.8 - 4.0 and start snapping (closest you can go with that lens to the children to allow focus is about 1 meter).

Be careful though, the depth of field is so small with these that you can end up with parts of the face in crisp focus, and other parts blurred or soft. If that happens, just stop it down to f5 or so. Remember in AV the rest of the settings automatically adjust around that so it is an almost fully automatic mode other than you telling it to have a shallow depth of field (ie blurred background in portrait shots).

Then in your spare time you can learn to drive it in other ways too!

[cameramum]

thankyou for the canon sugestion.
thats seems like a good way to go.
someone also suggested the nikon d5000, but this seems to be a bit more expensive.

do u have experince of the canon you mentioned, I was a little worried about the lack of image stabilisation, as i dont have a tripod.

sorry if im sounding a little clueless but I really wat to get this right. And a lot of shop assistants like to push the expensive makes etc for obvious reasons!!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by cameramum

someone also suggested the nikon d5000, but this seems to be a bit more expensive.

If you're going to go with the very inexpensive 50mm f/1.8, Canon is the way to go, as that lens will not autofocus on the D5000.

[cameramum]

good to know!! Im very glad I asked here.

well Ive called my local london camera exchange, and they also recommended the canon, along with a sony A390.

Hes going to get some prices for me. Thankyou so much for the great tips.

now I just need to sell my old camera!