Poor pictures why?

[tinyfish]

I have a Canon PowerShot G5 capable of macro and 5.0 megapixels. I also have a very good tripod.

For the life of me I cannot seem to take a macro shot and use the optical zoom of 4X on my coral and have the shot be in focus.

I know they would come out on my film camera just great.

I have tried depressing the button halfway to get a green go ahead box but that is no guarantee of in focus. I have also tried depressing the button halfway to lock the focus and then manually moving in and away from the target to try to achieve a focus.

Is it the optical zoom that is killing my shots? I am at a loss. Any help appreciated.

 

[hypertech]

Find out what the minimum focusing distance for your camera is. If you are closer than that - there's your problem. Back up to get the subject in focus and then crop the picture when you are done.

Also, try using the self timer. This will remove the movement from you depressing the button which could be blurring your images.

 

[IPT]

Not sure, but if you're using the "optical zoom" that may be your problem (especially at 5 MP). To the best of my understanding optical "zoom" is a little misleading. Basically it is just an in camera crop that makes the subject look bigger. However, rather than a true zoom where you'd have a 5mp image of that subject, you end up with maybe a 3 mp image. Not gonna enlarge very well or show much detail.

Whatever the image looks like fully zoomed out right before the optical zoom takes over is the max image quality you're gonna get. You can either crop it down in PS or let the camera crop it within itself. Either way your losing a lot of information and starting with only a 5MP P&S camera you don't have a lot information to be able to throw any away.

 

[MrSandman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14228825#post14228825 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by IPT
Not sure, but if you're using the "optical zoom" that may be your problem (especially at 5 MP). To the best of my understanding optical "zoom" is a little misleading. Basically it is just an in camera crop that makes the subject look bigger. However, rather than a true zoom where you'd have a 5mp image of that subject, you end up with maybe a 3 mp image. Not gonna enlarge very well or show much detail.

Whatever the image looks like fully zoomed out right before the optical zoom takes over is the max image quality you're gonna get. You can either crop it down in PS or let the camera crop it within itself. Either way your losing a lot of information and starting with only a 5MP P&S camera you don't have a lot information to be able to throw any away.

I think you're talking about digital zoom.
Optical zoom is all lens.

By the way, i used to have the G5 and it is definitely capable of taking a good macro photo. Here is one that i took with it.

If you can, switch to manual focus. Also, try not to zoom out too much or your minimum focus distance will increase as well. Try it at the wide range first and using manual focus get a better idea of how far the subject must be to get it in focus. If you zoom out to the 4x range and the subject that you're shooting is only a few inches away, then you'll never get it in focus as you're well outside of the focal plane. This is a pretty common mistake.

Lastly, post a sample of some of your images and it'll give us a better idea of what you're doing.

 

[tinyfish]

Mr. Sandman, thank you for the info. I did not realize that the zoom was increasing the minimum focus distance. Although the G5 camera has manual mode I am not quite used to it yet because it is so different than my old Canon Ftb on which of course everything is manual.

Here is as good as I can do without trying what you said.

 

[tinyfish]

Another thing is the posting of pictures on this site. What is the correct size in pixels and in kb?

And I wish RC would give me more time to edit until I learn how to do this.

 

[MrSandman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14229729#post14229729 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tinyfish
Mr. Sandman, thank you for the info. I did not realize that the zoom was increasing the minimum focus distance. Although the G5 camera has manual mode I am not quite used to it yet because it is so different than my old Canon Ftb on which of course everything is manual.

Here is as good as I can do without trying what you said.

The image looks cropped. Could you post an uncropped/unedited version of it? Need to see exactly what is coming out of the camera. Also, when linking/posting pictures, you need to link the large version and put those within the img brackets. like this:

If you want to post high-res version of a photo i suggest using a different host such as photobucket.

 

[tinyfish]

This is with ASA 100, 1/60, F4, resolution fine.

 

[MrSandman]

Looks sharp but there's a whitish cast to the photo. Possibly a little over exposed. Try metering off the sand, or better yet, shoot in RAW and convert to jpg after you adjust the exposure, white balance, etc. Always shoot/convert to the highest resolution to maximize quality when cropping and displaying on here. Also, try zooming in a little bit and playing around with manual focus to get a better feel for the focus distances.

 

[IPT]

opps - I stand corrected. yes I was thinking of "Digtal zoom". Thanks for catching that.

 

[tinyfish]

OK, I am trying again. I have studied the G5 manual and know a little more about the different settings. There are so many more settings than my old Canon Ftb. I am still not certain about how to post pictures correctly. I copied the image location from photobucket and put the IMG brackets around it. Yes this is cropped because I am too embarrassed about the cyano breakout. The bubbles are from the bacteria, not bubble algae. I did have this on ISO 100, f3, macro; but I just cannot seem to get that macro focused. Maybe its my eyes.

 

[TWallace]

That one looks warped, which is likely caused by not having the camera lens parallel to the glass of the tank. Were you aiming your camera at an angle, likely from above?

 

[tinyfish]

Yes, I did have the camera at an angle. I did not know the glass warped the picture. It doesn't just shoot through?

And I thought I was getting better.

 

[Recty]

Look through glass from an extreme angle and you'll see the effect easily.

A little angle is hard to tell, but your camera definitely picks it up.