Sparky
starting to spend too much on rocks
Still diggin'...
Member since October 2007
Posts: 147
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Post by Sparky on Oct 31, 2007 17:18:36 GMT -5
Alright people! I give! I have an Olympus D-370 digital camera but whenever I take pics of my rocks and/or jewelry, they always come out so blurry ya can't tell what it is. Any other pic comes out just fine. What's going wrong? Is it me or the camera settings? HELP!!! Rus
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Sparky
starting to spend too much on rocks
Still diggin'...
Member since October 2007
Posts: 147
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Post by Sparky on Oct 31, 2007 17:56:37 GMT -5
Thanks a bunch, Rockitman.
But there's a bit of a problem...I got this camera from my sis in law and she lost the destruction manual...sooo, I don't really know anything about macro settings on it. Really wish I did. lol
And yep...tried it with no flash...still way blurry.
Rus
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one80mike
freely admits to licking rocks
@(-_-)@ Princess Leia!
Member since February 2007
Posts: 908
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Post by one80mike on Oct 31, 2007 18:55:07 GMT -5
Hey Sparky, click on this link, scroll down and find the D-370 and download yourself that instruction manual. You can save it as a PDF file if you have adobe. www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/manual/#dThis should help with your rock photos. In fact it will help you with all your photos. Have a top day Mike
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Post by docone31 on Oct 31, 2007 19:25:37 GMT -5
You might also need macro filters. They come in -1 -2 -3 diopter and screw into the lense threads. They usually run about 20$. This allows the camera to think it is further away and gives more depth of field.
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adrian65
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Post by adrian65 on Nov 1, 2007 0:15:26 GMT -5
Maybe the glow of the jewels tricks the camera and it can't focus right. Try the following: Aim an ordinary object placed about at the same distance from the camera as the jewels. Keep the button half pressed (usually a little light - green or other color - will be on near the viewfinder), to keep the focus data in the camera's "brain". Now aim the camera to your jewels and take the photo pressing completely (but gently) the button.
If you didn't half-press the button this way till now, practice a little. It's not very complicated.
Adrian
PS. I have an Olympus too and had Olympus before, and I've noticed they "think" a lot before being able to focus in low light conditions. Somertimes they simply refuse the job. So also take care about the light conditions - what appears enough for the eye could not be enough for the camera. An exposure time over 1/30 sec (like 1/20 or 1/15) means there's not enough light and you must have a very steady hand not to blur the picture by moving the camera.
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Post by LCARS on Nov 1, 2007 1:13:40 GMT -5
The metering also has to be set to center only or center weighted evaluative depending on how much manual control the camera "lets" you have. For most cameras the universal symbol for macro mode is a little flower logo, this enables the optics and electronics to anticipate a close-up subject and focus/meter accordingly as well as correct flash output for close range. Nine times out of ten that you don't get a good shot it's because the camera foesn't "know" what type of shot you are going for in order for it to set itself up to take the shot you want under the conditions you're in. It's really not the camera's fault, it doesn't know what you're thinking, and it's really not your fault because you know what you want, you just can't "tell" the camera how to do it. It's a catch-22 until you learn the camera's language and moods. ;D It's really not so bad once you've had time to figure out what all the buttons are for and then just play with it for a while.
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Nov 1, 2007 2:10:36 GMT -5
Sparky, follow one80mike's link and read or download the section on macro photography or close-up photography. That's the ticket, it will tell you all you need to know. Then start posting pics! -Don
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Nov 1, 2007 7:35:13 GMT -5
hehehe maybe this is too obvious but are you using a tripod??
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Sparky
starting to spend too much on rocks
Still diggin'...
Member since October 2007
Posts: 147
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Post by Sparky on Nov 1, 2007 7:44:00 GMT -5
Great ideas and advice, all! Thanks sooo much. I'll go to work on it as soon as I get a bit of free time.
Rus
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yogibear
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2006
Posts: 100
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Post by yogibear on Nov 1, 2007 8:17:51 GMT -5
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Post by Tonyterner on Nov 1, 2007 9:28:09 GMT -5
Hey Sparky, I think some cameras just $^(& when it comes to macro photography. I have a year old Canon A540 and can't get it to focus on anything that small. I've tried macro, no macro, flash, no flash, different presets. None of them work, the camera will just not focus on anything that small, even if I fill the view finder with the stone. I miss my old film camera, never took a bad photo EVER. I was reluctant to go to digital and now I know why. My manual was useless. Right now I just take about 10 pics with different settings and pray that one of them comes out usable. Hope you have better luck.
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Sparky
starting to spend too much on rocks
Still diggin'...
Member since October 2007
Posts: 147
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Post by Sparky on Nov 1, 2007 10:18:24 GMT -5
Thanks Yogi...and Tony, I'm sorry to hear that you have just as much trouble with your pics. I feel your "pain"...lol But, I guess misery does love company. hehe
Rus
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one80mike
freely admits to licking rocks
@(-_-)@ Princess Leia!
Member since February 2007
Posts: 908
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Post by one80mike on Nov 1, 2007 20:33:04 GMT -5
Can you turn off auto focus and use a manual focus setting?
Most lenses have a minimum focal distance. It may be that you are just too close and the lens is unable to focus not matter what you do. Again see the manual for these details. Once you have zoomed in as close as you can and moved the lens as close to your subject as the minimum focal distance will let you...that's as good as you will get it.
Mike
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adrian65
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Post by adrian65 on Nov 1, 2007 22:59:44 GMT -5
Yes, like Mike said. Better smaller and clearer than big and blury. And if you consider the jewels are not close enough in the picture, then edit the picture by cropping it.
Adrian
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
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Post by rollingstone on Nov 1, 2007 23:04:39 GMT -5
You should be able to get quite close pics, even though it is an older model Olympus. I used to use an Olympus D510 zoom, which was a nice little camera and not much more advanced than the D-370. I used one80mike's link above to check out the specs for your camera -- 1.3 megapixel chip, and a minimum focus distance of 10" in macro mode. For my old D510, it had a 2.1 megapixel chip, and an 8" close-focus distance in macro mode. (BTW, you can read about how to set the macro mode on your camera on page 13 of the detailed manual in the link one80mike provided.) So my old camera could produce pics with roughly twice the detail of your camera. I went back and found some old rock photos I'd taken with my Olympus D510 (with a quarter for scale). I will reproduce part of the image at maximum resolution here, though that makes the file very large, so I cropped it to show only part of the image. Anyway, it is the maximum image detail capable with the Olympus D-510 zoom, taking the picture hand-held (no tripod). You should be able to get about half the resolution with your camera. Good luck, -Don Well, first here's the image as originally presented on this forum, using the "message board" size from Photobucket (ie a lot of detail and size squeezed out of the image). And here's the same image, cropped to show only part of the image, but shown at maximum size. You can use any photo editing program to crop the photo to show any part of the image at this size... I just used the software that came with the camera:
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2007 23:15:44 GMT -5
Macros setting and a tripod. You will notice the results.
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Post by Tonyterner on Nov 2, 2007 10:23:38 GMT -5
Tony, I use both of those but the camera will just not focus on small items. I'm gonna try the manual focus. Of course my vision is almost always a little blurry so we will see how they turn out. LOL
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mirkaba
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2006
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Post by mirkaba on Nov 3, 2007 13:33:08 GMT -5
I prefer a sandbag to hold the camera steady. But 1 of those 1.99 tripods from wally world makes a world of difference.....Bob
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