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reefNewbie

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Hey guys, i have a kodak DX4900. I have taken a few pics so far and played around with the adjustments, but they all turn out blurry when doing up close shots. The camera is being held about 6-12in away from the subject, without flash. I had it on the flower mode(i think thats macro) I tried my settings, then i tried everything to auto, still blurry. My settings were iso 400, sharpness to sharp, 4.0 megapixel. also when i try and use digital zoom the images all look pixelated. please help me with this guys!
 
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Anonymous

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It takes time.I have a Sony and have not many problems.Just play with it.
 

John_Brandt

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Hi there,

I can only speak about my Olympus C-4000 digital camera. For a close macro shot, setting the "flower mode" isn't enough. I need to go into the menu and also make a setting for "super macro", which is the flower icon plus "s". This setting shuts off the flash, and allows focusing on objects as close as 2cm; a special metering is automatically employed in this mode as well.

Read your owners manual carefully, you may be overlooking a necessary setting.

John Brandt
 

reefNewbie

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ok, thanks....what about the digital zoom? You can zoom up on something that is far away and it will look pixelated and crapy?
 

John_Brandt

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Digital zoom looks crappy, relative to non-digital zoom.

Super macro does not look crappy or pixelated, but it is challenging to properly illuminate a super macro shot.

John
 
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Anonymous

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reefNewbie":34o5jqv2 said:
ok, thanks....what about the digital zoom? You can zoom up on something that is far away and it will look pixelated and crapy?

Yeah avoid digital zoom. All it does is takes the image the computer sees and digitally magnifies it. Same deal as when you zoom way in on a picture on your computer. If the image information isn't there, there's not much to work with. Past two digital cameras I've owned I've just turned the digital zoom off completely.

As to focusing in macro, the best bet is to switch to manual focus. If you leave it set on autofocus, odds are the glass of the tank is screwing it up, the water column is screwing it up, or it doesn't know what to focus on in macro (which screws it up). It's much safer to focus it manually (if your camera has that option). Get it as clear as you can in the viewfinder, then take 3 or 4 shots, slightly adjusting the focus each time. Sort of a bastardized bracketing system. That way you're nearly sure to end up with at least one good shot.

Cheers,
John
 

Len

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Another tis is to use a tripod. it makes a huge difference, as I'm sure others here can confirm.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Kodak model you own isn't really geared for specialized photography such as aquarium photog. With its limited controls (lack of aperature control and fine white balance control), you are forced to work within the manufacturers predetermined parameters. However, I've used P&S cameras to shoot a lot of my photog in years past (my website is predominately from a P&S Fuji), but I found that flash was required to get sharp images. You may want to try flash photography with your camera.

I recommend setting the sharpness back to standard and doing unsharp mask in photoshop if needed. In-camera sharpening algorithms are usually lackluster better left for post process software.

Oh, and to further describe digital zoom: Imagine it like the camera cropping off the edges of the sensors the further you zoom in. It wastes all that extra information and is no different then if you had cropped an unzoomed image in photoshop. In other words, avoid digital zoom at all costs :P Optical zoom is just fine.
 
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Anonymous

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reefNewbie":6sc8618u said:
ok thanks guys. i just tried and the damn camera wont let me manualy focus, what crap!

yeah, the Kodak cameras do not have a manual focus. Fine for taking snapshots but not for anything else.

I have a Kodak and if I weren't loosing my job I would upgrade. Not sure why I bought it since I knew the type of pictures I wanted to take.
 

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