close up photography?

Question

i was wondering if anyone could sugest a digital camera, one for close up shots of things like dwarf hamsters and PCBs without going out of focus and still capture as much detail as possible

Answer 1

I'll tell you what I use for intraoral photography and what you might consider. If you need critical detail, this is a good setup. I got a Nikon D70s for personal use, with the thought that I could also get a macro lens and use it in the office. I got myself a new camera for personal use, as I found that I wanted to leave this setup in the office at all times. I would say that a Nikon D40 or D50 would be perfectly adequate for intraoral use, but you might find a good buy on a D70s, as they are being closed out right now. 6 MP is PLENTY for intraoral use. You would not need a huge memory card for limited use, but I'd still suggest a 1 GB card with accelerated write speed, like a Sandisk Ultra or Extreme or a Lexar 80x card.

I am using a Nikon 60 mm Macro lens, which translates into about 90 mm in "35 mm equivalent." This gives plenty of working distance. Nikon also has a 105 Macro and the brand new 105 VR Macro, but you said, "simple and effective."

I use the built-in pop-up flash rather than a $400-600 marco lighting set-up. It's free. "Simple and effective."

Set the camera in Aperture priority and choose f:11, f:16 or so, depending on personal preference. Set the EV at -0.7 stops. Perhaps you would like a different EV setting, but this is what works for me. After that, in autofocus, it's a point and shoot with wonderful results.

These prices are from http://www.bhphotovideo.com as of December 2006. You can probably price shop and find them cheaper, but B&H is a rock solid dealer and I usually end up buying from them, even after comparison shopping. I am just using their prices as a point of reference.

The Nikon D40 is $600 _with_ the 18-55 kit lens.
The D50 sells for $450. That's a recent price cut of $100.
The D70s sells for $640. That's a recent price cut of $60.
The D80 sells for $930.
The D200 sells for $1,350.
The Macro 60mm f:2.8 lens is available for $400.
The Macro 105mm f:2.8 lens is available for $660.
The Macro 105mm f:2.8 VR is out of stock, but sells for $830.
A 1 GB Sandisk Ultra II CF Card (D70 & D200) sells for $40.
A 1 GB Sandisk Ultra II SD Card (D40, D50 & D80) sells for $40.
A 2 GB Sandisk card (either CF or SD) sells for $65.
(Due to a rebate valid through 12-31-06, the faster Extreme III cards are actually cheaper than the Ultra II cards.)

SO - pick your price and find a match. If you can find a D50 and 60mm Macro lens, you would have an excellent intraoral camera for less than $900. I have seen kits to modify point and shoots that cost more than that.

Here's a sample shot from my D70s with the 60mm lens. I admit that it is not "presentation quality," but it was just a quick shot to communicate with the lab.

http://www.members.aol.com/swf08302/d70ssample.jpg

Answer 2

Just agreeing with the guys above. D40 should be good. It's not as expensive as many other DSLRs and it's easy to use (even has a help feature built in). 18-55mm is focal length. 10X is zoom (not that important unless you can't get close to the subject and in fact sometimes misleading because it doesn't tell you how wide or long you can go just the ratio of the two). For most close up/macro photography you'll probably pretty much be using lenses around 50mm to 70mm, it's a good idea to get true macro lenses but they cost more than similar "regular" lenses. Anyway for a start I would say the D40 with 60mm AF micro lens (the lens is pretty good also for no macro work). Note: The lens suggestion I have made is what I would take personally mostly because of price, however the 60mm lens requires you to get pretty close which may mean you'll sometimes be blocking your own light. If you have issues with that it's probably better to pick a longer lens even if it's not a true macro lens.

Answer 3

The solution is not so much the camera as it is the lens you'll be using. If you are wanting to be able to get close to a subject, you'll want a wide-angle lens. Lenses are often referred to in millimeters and I would suggest something in the range of 18-20 mm for good close-up work.

Answer 4

Any SLR with a macro lens would do.

There are several macro lenses to choose from. Make sure that they are the ones with fixed focal lengths and not the ones that just come with the mid range zooms.

The focal lengths for macro are :

1. 55mm
2. 60mm
3. 105mm
4. 250mm

the most popular flash for these lenses are ring flashes. These mount right on the tip of the lens to light up your subjects well.

Check these out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macro_photography

www.macrophotography.org

http://photos.msn.com/resources/targeted/en-us/editorial/macro_msn_p.htm