# A few questions for the pros



## airrat (Mar 18, 2011)

I was given a FinePix S9000 to use to take pictures.   I have had some luck the pictures but not consistent.

The lens on it is a 28-300mm Equiv 135   It also says Super Macro 1cm/0.4inch

My question is that a good lens for taking pictures of pens.   I use a photo tent and camera on a tripod.   I have tried putting it in regular mode, Macro, Super Macro, Auto Focus and Manual Focus.   My best so far was Super Macro with Manual Focus. (ex pic 1)   I used the same set up (had not taken down photo booth) on a different day with different background (forgot which one I had used) with different results. (ex pic 2) 

Do I need to get an attachment lens to go on that one?  I have a High Definition 0.5X Wide Angle lens With Macro that mounts to that one.


Any help is appreciated.   I can also post picture info to those pictures if needed.



Thanks 
Tom


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## alphageek (Mar 18, 2011)

Tom, 

I think those are VERY good photos.. I don't think you need a different lens.   Consistency is very hard, but with practice it gets easier...   You will likely get better results with manual focus .. and if you back the camera off a little bit, you wouldn't necessarily have to use super macro.


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## IPD_Mr (Mar 18, 2011)

Tom,
I had the S7000 for years.  Personally it was as close to an SLR as you could get.  That is a darn good camera.  The macro works great.  I agree with Dean, the photos are very good.


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## SGM Retired (Mar 18, 2011)

How are you adjusting your f-stop, manual or auto?  Where is your focal point, middle-top-bottom? 
Gary


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## G1Pens (Mar 18, 2011)

Here's a tip that may help....as a general rule if you are using Macro on any zuoom lens the lens needs to be set at its widest setting. So if you are macro or super macro the lens needs to be on 28mm for the sharpest pictures. It may be that you can enable macro at any focal lenght, but you will have to move the camera further away from the pen as you increase the focal length. In all likelihood, it will not focus as well or not at all in macro at 300mm.

My personal opinion...you do not macro to take a picture of the entire pen. Put the pen in the light tent, put the camera on a tripod and zoom in to fill the frame. Focus manually and expose manually. Use the camera's timer to release the shutter to avoid vibration from pushing the shutter release button.


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## NewLondon88 (Mar 18, 2011)

the thing about these cameras in auto-anything is that no matter what they say,
the meter is averaging. It could be spot metering, but it's still averaging the spot.
So .. for the kind of shooting we're doing, up close and high contrast .. go as close
to fully manual as the camera will let you. Get a good white balance, depth of field
and you're already 99% there. These photos look good. They're clear, focused and
well exposed. I don't think I'd invest in another lens.. this one is doing fine.

There's a proper exposure for the pen, and another one for the background. The
two will rarely be the same, so there will always be some sort of trade-off. The
camera is going to guess which one you want (if you let it)


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## avbill (Mar 19, 2011)

Your exposure maybe ok.  BUT your angle of photographically the pens are not .  Lower your camera angle down lower. Your shooting from the top angle  it compresses the pen.


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## airrat (Mar 19, 2011)

Thanks all, I am reading all of these.  Right now I am reading the book on how to do all the manual exposure and controls on the camera.  

Bill I thought the same thing thanks for confirming my suspicions.


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## 76winger (Mar 19, 2011)

NewLondon88 said:


> the thing about these cameras in auto-anything is that no matter what they say,
> the meter is averaging. It could be spot metering, but it's still averaging the spot.
> So .. for the kind of shooting we're doing, up close and high contrast .. go as close
> to fully manual as the camera will let you. Get a good white balance, depth of field
> ...



+1 to the above

Given the same set of lighting condtions and tent for each shooting, keeping your settings on manual will be your best bet for replicating your results.  This way, changing backgrounds colors, which would normally change the auto exposure settings, won't affect your photo exposure levels. 

From here, you can bracket your exposures, incrementally, from a couple settings light, through to a couple settings dark, and then compare your final results to pick out the best of the lot.


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## moke (Mar 19, 2011)

Tom, 
First let me say I think your photos are well done. There are a few simple changes I think you can make that might make some slight improvements, but you are starting in a very good place.

First though, let me just say, buying one "overall" lens like a 28-300 is ok if you are after convience. They are not as sharp as lenses that are smaller in increments or just a "telephoto" zoom. It is a long and boring explanation. It deals with lens aberation and the subsequent correction. Wide angle lenses require one kind of correction and telephoto requires another. "All in one lenses" are in general, a compromise. Edge sharpness is where you pay your price. There are a few exceptions, but they are very pricey. Having said that, use what you have but in the future maybe look to two lenses.

There are two major things to help your photos, first back up and use your zoom. In general, magnification has nothing to do with how close you are to the item. If you have to, even zoom in software. Backing up will accomplish two things. Depth of Field, or "focus" will grow, and become less critical and also less of the width of your background will show. Telephotos operate at a narrower angle. (This is a difficult thing to explain, but easily undertood when you see comparison photos so Google - Angle of acceptance of lenses). 

The second major thing is to change your angle lower or lay your pen down. You just need to be more parallel to you pen. This will also improve your depth of field greatly. It will however force you to use a different syle of background. Set up a little "seamless" background. Pens are small enough an 8.5x11 sheet works fine.

Lastly, not to insult or be argumentative with anyone on this post, but going to manual is rarley a good answer, unless you really know what you are doing. As a camera store owner and professional photographer, I hear almost daily how people take their cameras off auto and use manual. I always ask how they determine their exposure, they generally respond they use the meter in the camera. I ask if they have metered a select area or used a spot meter or changed the exposure from what the meter originally said. Rarely does anyone do that. This gains nothing! You have merely disconnected the auto mechanism and have done the same thing the meter would have done in the first place. And ditto for Auto focus. Auto focus uses contrast to focus in "spots" those spots are clearly marked....pick a spot and put it on your pen. If that is not where you want it generally composed and you are on a tripod, turn the auto focus off at that point and compose it the way you want after that. Or you could use "focuslock"... look that up in your camera instructions. To manually focus an auto focus camera is not like focusing a manual focus camera. In a manual focus camera there is "aids" to help you determine the correct focus, in auto focus there is not. You are sort of looking at the overall scene and focusing.

Also, spot metering should be used by people that know what they are doing. Camera meter systems, oversimplified, seek and make general assumptions. They think everything is 18% gray, so if you spot meter off a black or white section, it's reading is skewed. In the world of portrait and commerical photography we use only incident handheld meters. You can accomplish a similar thing by buying a "gray card" at your local photo shop and putting it where your pen is going to be THEN going to manual and using that reading for your exposure. Make sure that you only have the card in the viewfinder, nothing extra. Your camera may not operate correctly because it will not be able to focus, so take it off autofocus briefly, but make sure to put it back!!

This is the world of photography according to "moke". There are tons of ways to do anything in this business, so no absolutes, but this is what I have preached for a long time.

Feel free to PM me anytime, and I hope I do not appear too confident. This is merely my opinion.


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## SGM Retired (Mar 19, 2011)

+1 on Mikes dissertation on camera 101.  That brought back my Cannon AE-1 day's and going to the photo lab with many a black and white paper.  Thanks for the flash back.


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## avbill (Mar 24, 2011)

Here's a low angle photo tom


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