Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

Greetings,

I am decidedly unknowledgable re photography in general, digital in particular,
and come begging advice.

I have a Canon Powershot A560, and, to save my po' soul, cannot get the thing
to focus on finely detailed objects.

Need to be able to take detailed photos of things like components on a circuit
board, i.e. chips on a pc motherboard and the like.

I've tried numerous settings, mostly on "Auto", depress the shutter button
halfway, and the detail remains fuzzy. An actual photo looks the same. I've
been thru the manuals numerous times.

No doubt I'm making silly mistake(s). If anyone has some idea what might be
needed for proper focus, I would much appreciate it.

Cheers,
Will

Re: Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

On Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:37:12 -0500, Wilfred Xavier Pickles
<barrel.full@screwmail.com> wrote:

>Greetings,
>
>I am decidedly unknowledgable re photography in general, digital in particular,
>and come begging advice.
>
>I have a Canon Powershot A560, and, to save my po' soul, cannot get the thing
>to focus on finely detailed objects.
>
>Need to be able to take detailed photos of things like components on a circuit
>board, i.e. chips on a pc motherboard and the like.
>
>I've tried numerous settings, mostly on "Auto", depress the shutter button
>halfway, and the detail remains fuzzy. An actual photo looks the same. I've
>been thru the manuals numerous times.
>
>No doubt I'm making silly mistake(s). If anyone has some idea what might be
>needed for proper focus, I would much appreciate it.

The Duck has answered your question, so I'll just chime in to verify
his answer: you're too close to the subject. The camera has a
minimum focus distance. Move back and you should be able to focus.

I don't know that camera, but many cameras have visual or audible
signal that the camera is in focus. Mine has a faint "beep", some
have a flashing light. Take your camera outside and focus on some
distant object and then some closer object. See if it signals you
when in focus.

The Duck advises shooting in the "Close Up" (flower setting) mode, but
that may be a problem. With some cameras, that mode automatically
fires the flash, and that may cause serious glare when shooting a
circuit board. You need the ability to turn off the flash.

Also, note in the manual that the minimum distance in close-up mode is
different when the camera is zoomed out than when it is not zoomed
out.




--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Re: Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

Wilfred Xavier Pickles <barrel.full@screwmail.com> wrote:
>I am decidedly unknowledgable re photography in general, digital in particular,
>and come begging advice.

Free advice is easy, and might be worth more than you pay. :-)

>I have a Canon Powershot A560, and, to save my po' soul, cannot get the thing
>to focus on finely detailed objects.
>
>Need to be able to take detailed photos of things like components on a circuit
>board, i.e. chips on a pc motherboard and the like.

As others have written, the camera cannot focus closer than a certain
minimum distance.

But if you do some shopping you'll find that you can buy a "close up"
lens that attaches to the camera and let's you get closer to the
subject. Probably on the order of $40 but of ... "unknown" quality.

I found some by entering "Canon Powershot A560 close up lens" into a
web search engine.

--
Ray Fischer | Mendocracy (n.) government by lying
rfischer@sonic.net | The new GOP ideal

Re: Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

On Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:25:55 +0100, bugbear
<bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote:

>tony cooper wrote:
>
>> The Duck has answered your question, so I'll just chime in to verify
>> his answer: you're too close to the subject. The camera has a
>> minimum focus distance. Move back and you should be able to focus.
>
>http://www.dpreview.com/products/can...cts/canon_a560
>
>5 cm in macro mode. Moving back is "probably" not required.

I don't have that camera, but I think the minimum distance is much
longer than that if the lens is zoomed out. That's a significant
point because the tendency is to zoom when doing a "macro" shot by
someone who doesn't understand this.
>>
>> Also, note in the manual that the minimum distance in close-up mode is
>> different when the camera is zoomed out than when it is not zoomed
>> out.
>
>Yes;
>
>To summarise:
>
>* Get close (6" or less)
>* have the lens at minimum zoom
>* flash off
>* engage macro (flower symbol) mode
>
>I would also recommend a tripod; in macro shooting,
>depth of field is VERY shallow. If you move, even slightly,
>from the time you focus to the time the shutter opens,
>you may well get an out of focus shot.
>

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Re: Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

On Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:00:05 +0100, bugbear
<bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote:

>tony cooper wrote:
>> On Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:25:55 +0100, bugbear
>> <bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote:
>>
>>> tony cooper wrote:
>>>
>>>> The Duck has answered your question, so I'll just chime in to verify
>>>> his answer: you're too close to the subject. The camera has a
>>>> minimum focus distance. Move back and you should be able to focus.
>>>
>>> http://www.dpreview.com/products/can...cts/canon_a560
>>>
>>> 5 cm in macro mode. Moving back is "probably" not required.
>>
>> I don't have that camera, but I think the minimum distance is much
>> longer than that if the lens is zoomed out. That's a significant
>> point because the tendency is to zoom when doing a "macro" shot by
>> someone who doesn't understand this.
>
>I've agreed with you on that point once, but I'll do it again if you like.
>
>Yes.
>
> BugBear (a little confused)

I wasn't thinking of directing the point to you. I was directing it
to the poster who asked about this. Your level of knowledge is
greater than his, so what you see as obvious may need emphasis for him
to understand.

A person who needs to be told that his camera has a minimum focussing
distance needs all the plain-talk emphasis we can provide.

>>>>
>>>> Also, note in the manual that the minimum distance in close-up mode is
>>>> different when the camera is zoomed out than when it is not zoomed
>>>> out.
>>>
>>> Yes;
>>>
>>> To summarise:
>>>
>>> * Get close (6" or less)
>>> * have the lens at minimum zoom
>>> * flash off
>>> * engage macro (flower symbol) mode
>>>
>>> I would also recommend a tripod; in macro shooting,
>>> depth of field is VERY shallow. If you move, even slightly,
>>>from the time you focus to the time the shutter opens,
>>> you may well get an out of focus shot.
>>>
>>

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Re: Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

On Wed, 1 Jun 2011 21:17:03 -0700, Savageduck <savageduck1@{REMOVESPAM}me.com> wrote:

>If you are shooting with your subject closer than the minimum spec
>distance (for your camera that is 1.5 ft.) you will need to enable the
>macro feature. Check your basic user's guide Page 15. It is the little
>flower & leaf symbol on the Func/Set wheel to the right of the display.
>
>< http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/3/090000...0CUGba_ENg.pdf >
>
>You will probably also need good light for shooting those circuit board parts.

That got me "over the hummp".

Some combination of the Canon symbols, the 2 manuals, etc has long
perplexed poor me. I figgered I was missing something simple.

Many Thanks,
Will

Re: Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

On Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:25:55 +0100, bugbear <bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote:

>To summarise:
>
>* Get close (6" or less)
>* have the lens at minimum zoom
>* flash off
>* engage macro (flower symbol) mode

Nice little summary. Seems to work pretty well:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...slot1mobo.jpg/

>I would also recommend a tripod; in macro shooting,
>depth of field is VERY shallow. If you move, even slightly,
>from the time you focus to the time the shutter opens,
>you may well get an out of focus shot.

I'll try to use a tripod for anything really important. There's
one around here somewhere.

>Here's a closeup shot of a pair of earings I took long ago with
>a 2 megapixel Canon A60, an ancestor of your camera.
>
>http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...lack_jewel.jpg
>
>http://www.dpreview.com/products/can...acts/canon_a60

Neat!

Brief mention: I leave the zoom alone for detail shots. Also avoiding
flash almost exclusively. Trying to keep it as simple as possible.

Thanks,
Will

Re: Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

On Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:38:41 -0400, tony cooper
<tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote:

>On Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:25:55 +0100, bugbear
><bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote:
>
>>tony cooper wrote:
>>
>>> The Duck has answered your question, so I'll just chime in to verify
>>> his answer: you're too close to the subject. The camera has a
>>> minimum focus distance. Move back and you should be able to focus.
>>
>>http://www.dpreview.com/products/can...cts/canon_a560
>>
>>5 cm in macro mode. Moving back is "probably" not required.
>
>I don't have that camera, but I think the minimum distance is much
>longer than that if the lens is zoomed out. That's a significant
>point because the tendency is to zoom when doing a "macro" shot by
>someone who doesn't understand this.

I have this camera and use it for ebay and craigslist sale shots.
Things like coins, camera parts, etc. The macro works very well.
You're right that the min focal distance is much longer zoomed in. If
for some reason you can't get right up on the subject, the zoomed in
min focal distance is 1.1 ft. That lets the camera cover an area
3.7"x2.8". Not bad.

If you want the max magnification with 7.1 megapixels covering an area
of only 2.4"x1.8", zoom out and get close, as close as 2".

This should work great for components on a circuit board.

Steve

Re: Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

bugbear wrote:
>Wilfred Xavier Pickles wrote:
>> On Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:25:55 +0100, bugbear<bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote:
>>
>>> To summarise:
>>>
>>> * Get close (6" or less)
>>> * have the lens at minimum zoom
>>> * flash off
>>> * engage macro (flower symbol) mode
>>
>> Nice little summary. Seems to work pretty well:
>>
>> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...slot1mobo.jpg/
>
>Yep - that's not bad at all; the softness is probably due to
>the 1/25 exposure time. To improve on this, you either need more light,
>to get the exposure quicker, or a tripod, so the exposure
>doesn't matter. As I mentioned before, a tripod (or
>other means of fixing the camera) would also be beneficial
>to accurate focusing.
>
> BugBear

Here's a couple macro shots from a Canon Powershot;
http://www.datafilehost.com/download-a92d9873.html
hand held, no flash, compact flourescent lighting.

Re: Begging advice re Canon Powershot A560
 

On Fri, 03 Jun 2011 10:23:05 +0100, bugbear
<bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote:

>Wilfred Xavier Pickles wrote:
>> On Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:25:55 +0100, bugbear<bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote:
>>
>>> To summarise:
>>>
>>> * Get close (6" or less)
>>> * have the lens at minimum zoom
>>> * flash off
>>> * engage macro (flower symbol) mode
>>
>> Nice little summary. Seems to work pretty well:
>>
>> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...slot1mobo.jpg/
>
>Yep - that's not bad at all; the softness is probably due to
>the 1/25 exposure time. To improve on this, you either need more light,
>to get the exposure quicker, or a tripod, so the exposure
>doesn't matter. As I mentioned before, a tripod (or
>other means of fixing the camera) would also be beneficial
>to accurate focusing.

I wouldn't recommend a standard tripod for use with a compact camera
and circuit boards. I think it would be extremely difficult to
position the camera.

What I'd go with is a "Gorillapod".
http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics...tography/82db/

They're small enough to be convenient to carry around, positionable so
the camera can be facing downwards, and adjustable enough to place in
situations where a standard tripod wouldn't work. They are short, but
the poster is doing close-up photography.

I use a tripod frequently, and the most difficult shot with a tripod
is shooting straight down on something. There are tripods with booms
that do this, but mine is just a standard tripod with a ball head.

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida