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To macro or not to macro...?

E

Emberghost

Gawd
Joined
Jul 5, 2003
Messages
534
I am in the market for a new digital camera and have some questions for you [H] experts out there. I would like a camera that is capable of taking very good quality macro shots, but also be a good all around camera. I am mainly leaning toward Canon, and more specifically the A80 and the S50. I have heard terrific things about both cameras, but I would like somebody to explain to me which one is better for macro/close-up shots? I have around a $450 budget and do not mind spending it all for a quality camera. But I am a student just learning so I do not want this to be outdates in a few months ( $$$ is hard to come by when you are young =/ ). I do not mind a lot of manual settings; after all, that’s half the fun. I do not mind using a 4 MP over a 5 MP if the quality of the 4 MP is better.

Here are some of the main differences I have noticed:

*S50 has a 1 MP advantage over the A80

*The A80 has a 38 mm wide zoom, while the S50 has 35 mm (wider seems better to me for macros is it not?)

*The A80 has a 5 mm macro focus range while the S50 has double that

*The A80 has a shutter speed of 1/2000, while the S50 has 1/1500

*The S50 contains Time-lapse recording

*The S50 uses Lithium-Ion batteries, while the A80 uses AA


Thank you very much for your time.
 
Honestly, I wouldn't seriously look at buying a camera for its macro capability. Most of your consumer PAS cameras don't do TRUE macro images. The macro mode on your camera just allows the camera to focus on an object closer to the lens than normal, and blurs out the outer edges on the center which is what a shallow DOF would do.

Both are good cameras. I don't know enough about either one to really suggest what would be a good one to buy.
 
Originally posted by Mr. Baz
Honestly, I wouldn't seriously look at buying a camera for its macro capability. Most of your consumer PAS cameras don't do TRUE macro images. The macro mode on your camera just allows the camera to focus on an object closer to the lens than normal, and blurs out the outer edges on the center which is what a shallow DOF would do.
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Thanks for your input Mr. Baz. So in your opinion you feel both cameras have comparable macro capabilities?
 
Originally posted by Mr. Baz
Honestly, I wouldn't seriously look at buying a camera for its macro capability. Most of your consumer PAS cameras don't do TRUE macro images. The macro mode on your camera just allows the camera to focus on an object closer to the lens than normal, and blurs out the outer edges on the center which is what a shallow DOF would do.

Both are good cameras. I don't know enough about either one to really suggest what would be a good one to buy.
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Can you define macro?
 
Originally posted by Alias
Can you define macro?
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Not saying you can't pull off macro shots with PAS cameras. You could basically just stand back and zoom in until you filled the frame with the subject and have a 'macro' shot.
Just saying it's not the same as say an SLR with a lens that can do 1:1 or even 1:2.

In general I wouldn't judge a camera by its macro mode. Same as when comparing lenses.

If you wanna dick about what a 'macro' shot is why don't you just PM Mr_Bucket. I actually try and give out helpful advice.
 
Thank you very much for your input, I seem to be leaning more towards the S50. I know i am the only one that can make the final decision but it is nice to get advice from more experienced users.

I am not sure if I am correct but what I myself consider a macro would be a close-up shot of a small object. Such as a leaf, bug, water drops, etc.

Edit: you snuck those last 2 posts in before mine. :D
 
Its funny, I read threads about users that thought to much about which camera they would purchase that it made them crazy. I thought I wouldn't be one of them...

It's like choosing from a Lexus and Mercedes. :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by Mr. Baz
Not saying you can't pull off macro shots with PAS cameras. You could basically just stand back and zoom in until you filled the frame with the subject and have a 'macro' shot.
Just saying it's not the same as say an SLR with a lens that can do 1:1 or even 1:2.

In general I wouldn't judge a camera by its macro mode. Same as when comparing lenses.

If you wanna dick about what a 'macro' shot is why don't you just PM Mr_Bucket. I actually try and give out helpful advice.
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Hey you got it all wrong buddy! I wasn't trying to be an asshole. i was seriously wanting a definition of a true macro.

My F-717 can Focus at 2CM, however it only focuses on a 2-3CM square. I guess that would be the DOF. So a true Macro would focus the whole picture at that distance?
 
Originally posted by Alias
Hey you got it all wrong buddy! I wasn't trying to be an asshole. i was seriously wanting a definition of a true macro.

My F-717 can Focus at 2CM, however it only focuses on a 2-3CM square. I guess that would be the DOF. So a true Macro would focus the whole picture at that distance?
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Oh, sorry. It's just that there are a lot of people here that get all pissy when they are told their camera doesn't do "true" macro.
I really don't see the need for it. It's just another fancy thing to play with.

My 70-300mm lens will do 1:2 and that's when you zoom all the way out to 300mm and then set it in "macro" mode so the lens can zoom in a smudge further. I never use it to tell you the truth.
 
Just found this gallery of pictures taken by the S50 and all I can say is WOW!
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Those are some sweet pics. It probably doesn't help that he's in Scandenavia and has all that content. Those pics were probably taken from his back door. I'm in Charlotte NC, I'd probably have to drive a few hours to find mountains half a cool as those.
 
Originally posted by SouthPaw72
Those are some sweet pics. It probably doesn't help that he's in Scandenavia and has all that content. Those pics were probably taken from his back door. I'm in Charlotte NC, I'd probably have to drive a few hours to find mountains half a cool as those.
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I agree, the scenery is amazing. By the way, he said he went there for vacation. So he is only special for a short time, then he is a simpleton like us =]
 
Originally posted by Emberghost
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I used to have a S40 and I would have gladly paid $70 to move up to a G3 (difference was ~$200 at the time). I'd imagine the G5 is well worth the extra $70 over the S50, assuming you don't mind the less compact size. I'd also suggest looking at the G3 because supposedly it has better image quality than the G5 (and the S45 supposedly has better IQ than the S50). If youd don't understand how that coule be possible read agentzero9's salt analogy on this thread, hehe.
 
Thank you, I will look into the G5 and G3 more deeply. The website I posted just recently says this

"All items are brand new and factory fresh. They include all manufacturer supplied accessories and full manufacturer USA warranties."

What are the accessories that it comes with? Battery, charger, hook ups, memory card? Because below it, they sell kits for it. So I was wondering If I would have to buy one of the kits with the camera so I would have a memory card etc and be able to use the camera... Please clear this up for me.

Basically what I am asking is does that base price for the camera come with the things it needs to run out of the box (battery, memory, etc). And the kits below are just for them to get more money.
 
I got the S50 for Christmas, and it is great. It had everything you NEED in the box. The 32 meg CF card will only hold 9 picture at max quality, and I think 5 in RAW. I got myself a 256 MB CF and still manage to fill it pretty quickly. I would also recommend an extra battery or two (go for generic from ebay or something) so that you don't end up waiting for a battery to charge and not have anything else. I enjoy doing macro type shots, and most of them have turned out pretty well.

I don't know what kind of bandwidth I get with my .mac account, so I will just put one compressed pic up.

Macro
I couldn't get the junk text out of that. I didn't add it in when I wrote the html, and I can't figure out why it is there.
 
That link doesn't work. It wants me to download your webpage? And when I do that it doesn't work because the picture is not with the page. So I get an "X" where the picture should be. Try again...
 
True macro doesn't really begin until you reach 1:1 magnification, meaning an object 1cm on the side covers precisely 1cm on the physical detector (CCD, CMOS, potato chip, film or whatever).

I have a 100mm 2.8 macro lens I use on my EOS equipment and use varios Nikon macros on my Nikon SLRs, certainly a very nice thing, however many digital cameras give you decent closeup ability.

Using something like the G3 or many other cameras in macro mode generally means the camera opens up a wider focusing range which would otherwise be off to prevent the camera from hunting in that range. My Canon 100mm 2.8 USM macro has a focus limiter switch on it for the same reason, if I'm not shooting macro cutting out the close focusing range signifigantly cuts down the focus range the lens has to hunt through.

As with a film camera these macro modes focus on a plane closer to the camera, however you begin to see the flaws in the optical system quite clearly and in addition to minimal DOF (although still more than with 35mm) you also lose corner sharpness considerably with many cameras.

To that extent I also use a Canon G3 with a closeup diopter (Canon 250D) and it provides quite good results, that are sharp and with good magnification. I don't remember the exact mag equivalent to a 35mm camera at 1:1 however you can nearly fill the full frame with a key off a standard keyboard. Its not as good optically as my dedicated macro lens but its a lot more portable and convenient in some instances.
 
Originally posted by Mr. Baz
Not saying you can't pull off macro shots with PAS cameras. You could basically just stand back and zoom in until you filled the frame with the subject and have a 'macro' shot.
Just saying it's not the same as say an SLR with a lens that can do 1:1 or even 1:2.

In general I wouldn't judge a camera by its macro mode. Same as when comparing lenses.

If you wanna dick about what a 'macro' shot is why don't you just PM Mr_Bucket. I actually try and give out helpful advice.
Click to expand...


Stop acting so childish. I gave out more useful information than you did and made a whole thread on genmay that explained what a macro is, and people just didnt want to listen.


Both cameras will take nice shots for what you want. Id get the s45 over the s50 becuase it has a better ccd in it and its cheaper, but then id just get an a80.
 
Originally posted by Mr_Bucket
Stop acting so childish. I gave out more useful information than you did and made a whole thread on genmay that explained what a macro is, and people just didnt want to listen.


Both cameras will take nice shots for what you want. Id get the s45 over the s50 becuase it has a better ccd in it and its cheaper, but then id just get an a80.
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Dude, don't even start. I didn't even bother with that thread.
 
Originally posted by Mr_Bucket
Stop acting so childish. I gave out more useful information than you did and made a whole thread on genmay that explained what a macro is, and people just didnt want to listen.


Both cameras will take nice shots for what you want. Id get the s45 over the s50 becuase it has a better ccd in it and its cheaper, but then id just get an a80.
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Sorry. Gotta agree with Baz on that one, regardless of how tactless he was about it.


You are overly 'textbook' about what one percieves to be a "Macro" shot. Calm down, kid..... photography isn't an exact science, it's an art. In leiu of having actual definitive meanings for such words.
 
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