help: simple macros w/o accessories

[winklew]

hi, just got a Canon S50 a week back, wanted a portable cam that allows me to learn.

so far fascinated with the landscape, protraits and macro shots i see pple take here, tried abit with my mum's plants (cos lazy to go outdoors ;p ) but the pics are all blur no matter what i try.

i focussed on the main object (a branch wif a few leaves) and had the background blurry and OOF intentionally,

tried auto, aperture and shutter priority mode with the varied min and max settings etc. then read up the manual and found the limits for macro for the camera to be 10-50cm for the wide end and 30-50cm at the telephoto end . can anyone help me explain what this means in layman terms?

also found the pics abit overexposed at places where the sunlight reflects off the leaves, but if i adjust the exposure lower to -2 the photo is too dark, at -1 the sunlight parts are still overexposed. didn't really try metering yet, and never use the inbuilt flash. anyone can suggest stg i can do?

understand that i cannot hope to match the quality of macros taken with the closeup lens and other stuff, but belief that i am still not doing the S50 justice. i have seem simple pns galleries with good pics.. so hope the experts can give some pointers to help me. thanx! :gbounce:

 

[winklew]

correction: meant 10-50cm for the wide angle end and 30-50cm at the telephoto end

thanx!

 

[Retro]

Originally posted by winklew
also found the pics abit overexposed at places where the sunlight reflects off the leaves, but if i adjust the exposure lower to -2 the photo is too dark, at -1 the sunlight parts are still overexposed. didn't really try metering yet, and never use the inbuilt flash. anyone can suggest stg i can do?

Have you tried using a polarise to reduce the reflective glare?

 

[winklew]

thanx for the fast reply!

actually if u noted my title, i have no lens accessories. have a tripod tho(as my hands are really lousy at holding the camera steady now). apart frm that, just the cam, my eyes and fingers. (or course the other body parts but that's irrelevant to the picture )

i do remember seeing in the threads that a polariser is cheap, can i get one and just hold it in front of the camera? S50 doesn't really allow attachments, i know overseas got avenues to order but i was more of thinking abt using the camera simply.

just a thought for the future tho, can i hold lenses (or whatever's useful) in front of the camera in without using a lens adapter? presuming i have attained steadier hands by then...

 

[tweakmax2]

polariser is not Cheap .. u should get a Circular polariser cos u using an AF camera....

 

[megaweb]

I would suggest that you do the following :

1. Post the shot
2. Indicate the type of setup (e.g. handheld support on a chair)
3. Indicate the shot settings (e.g. 1/60sec , f5.6)

so that we can see what is the actual problem

 

[winklew]

thanx! will get down to posting the shot sometime... haven't had time to check the forum as i just started work