Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

General => General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion => Topic started by: oldraven on February 01, 2007, 07:19:03 AM

Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: oldraven on February 01, 2007, 07:19:03 AM
(http://www.dpcourses.com/images/macro.jpg)
I noticed this a lot, lately, and the EGR thread reminded me that there is an easy solution to these blurry images of rusted metal and thumbs.

To fix this problem, press the 'macro' button on your camera for close shots (and it has one, trust me). It's the one that looks like a flower.

(http://www.photographyblog.com/images/reviews/fuji_finepix_s3500/fuji_finepix_s3500_18.jpg)
(http://www.photographyblog.com/images/reviews/konica_minolta_z20/konica_minolta_z20_16.jpg)
(http://www.megapixel.net/reviews/canon-g6/gfx/g6-backcontrols1.jpg)
(http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/PSA200/IMG/144_01.jpg)
(http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/IXUSv3/IMG/144_01.jpg)
(http://www.karbosguide.com/books/photobook/img/787.jpg)

There are some other obvious tricks, like make sure you have something other than a flash for lighting (heavily contrasted shadows are confusing), and be sure that lamp/trouble light/headlight is behind the camera, not the part.

This may sound nit-picky, but with a clear image to work with, the fox geniuses on this site will be able to help you a lot easier. Take it from someone who once posted cell phone photos of his cracked turbo for advice. ;)
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: vinnietbird on February 01, 2007, 08:03:09 AM
AND,not only will the Fox geniuses be able to help,some of the Fox idiots can too.LOL.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: P71 on February 01, 2007, 09:52:29 AM
Good thread oldraven :thumbs:
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: DMC24guy on February 01, 2007, 11:08:22 AM
Since I am indirectly responsible for the creation of this thread, let me say I currently own a Kodak Easyshare CX7300.

(http://www.jewa-media.de/kunden/mediavision/catalog/images/kodak_cx_7300.jpg)

This Camera DOES NOT (http://"http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/digital-cameras/kodak-easyshare-cx7300_question.html?qid=8922") have a Marco Function!!!

Thankyou Very Much.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: Red_LX on February 01, 2007, 12:01:49 PM
I don't believe my HP (which is a few years old) has a macro function either. I'll have to look tonight.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: oldraven on February 01, 2007, 12:45:10 PM
O.k. I'll rephrase that. Unless you're DMC24guy, you have a macro button. ;) Seriously, I've never seen a digital camera without a macro function, barring cell phone cams.

Red LX, just plug your DC model number in the search function of http://www.dpreview.com and you should be able to find out if it has a macro setting.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: SSX on February 01, 2007, 01:40:16 PM
Actually my Apex camera doesn't have a macro mode either, its sort of a low end one though (although it does pretty well and it's 3.2MP)  One of these days I'll suck it up and spring for a decent camera.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: softtouch on February 01, 2007, 04:20:57 PM
My Kodak EasyShare CX7430 has a mode select thumb wheel on the top.
They call it close-up mode and it is the flower logo on the thumb wheel.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: blueovalford on February 01, 2007, 05:22:39 PM
Mine has one but I never knew what it was for so I never used it. Not to sound dumb, but what is a macro function?
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: Masejoer on February 01, 2007, 06:05:15 PM
My favorite 50mm lens has no macro mode, does that count? ;)

17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 one can get as close as ~3 inches though.

Quote from: blueovalford;127085
Mine has one but I never knew what it was for so I never used it. Not to sound dumb, but what is a macro function?

It makes it so your lens can focus in on things close up.

Most cheap lenses (standard cameras) have a 1:2 or 1:3 "macro"/close up mode. Say if your lens has a 50mm macro mode with a 1:2 ratio. Your lens would be able to focus on something 100mm (~4 inches) away from your camera, through maybe 1.5ft, before things begin to blur. True "macro" mode is 1:1. There's other numbers that go into the equation, but this is enough to understand generally how it works. You lose picture quality with such modes (most people don't pay that close of attention), but everything can be focused upon much better than the typical 2-3ft minimum distance for an entry level lens.

Hope this is simple enough of an explanation to get the general idea across. Digital cameras really throw off raw numbers in explanations as there's different sensor sizes which change the mm ratings on lenses.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: jcassity on February 01, 2007, 07:59:18 PM
my camera is a FUJIFILM A201 model made several years ago.

i never knew what the flower was for,, i just found it.

BTW,, this is one helava camera, it just sucks up the double A batteries too quickly.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: Masejoer on February 01, 2007, 08:40:15 PM
Quote from: jcassity;127126
my camera is a FUJIFILM A201 model made several years ago.

i never knew what the flower was for,, i just found it.

BTW,, this is one helava camera, it just sucks up the double A batteries too quickly.

They made some great digital cameras when the things were new. I still have a 2800Z that takes beautiful pictures. I'm not sure, but I'm willing to bet they used the same imaging sensor. Unless you need to print something larger than 4x6's, that camera will take pictures just as nice as the latest 10MP point and shoots. Recommend keeping it ;)

Mine sucks FOUR AA's at a time. Alkalines lasted around 20-30 shots, 1800mah NIMH's about one 128MB card full (166)
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: oldraven on February 02, 2007, 07:15:28 AM
I still have my Vivitar f3.5-4.5 28-85mm Macro for my XG-9, but that body is leaking light like swiss cheese. I only use my 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.0 EF-S that came with the Rebel. It's a shame, because I have a few nice lenses for the Minolta that are just sitting there now. I should just give them to my sister, who has my old XG-1 that works perfect still. (I gave that to her with a 1:50 fixed when I got the XG-9 and its gear)
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: BCA on February 02, 2007, 11:11:14 AM
I have an HP Photomart 720 digital camera 3.18 mega pixel that has been very good to me except that it doesn't have a macro mode.
To compensate, I take the picture at the highest resolution, then with the basic photo editing software that came with the camera, I zoom in and crop the image. It's a little more work but the results are about the same.

Brent
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: stuntmannick on February 02, 2007, 11:30:35 AM
You guys should be using lithium batteries for yo cameras.  They last FOREVER.  I took around 5 hours worth of video on my Nikon L6 and still had enough battery to take ~200 pics before replacing.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: Masejoer on February 02, 2007, 01:19:14 PM
Lithiums can be nice. I love the 1500mah one I have in my XT. Charged it before Christmas, have taken about 600 pictures since, and its still at full bars. Bought two but haven't had to use the second one yet. May as well just sell it as the stock 720 lasts quite long also.

Anyways, yes, macro should always be used when in closer than ~2 feet (depends on camera, but a good general rule for most). It also opens up a new type of photo taking. You may not be able to take close-ups of an insect(1:1), but it works great for just about everything else.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: oldraven on February 02, 2007, 01:33:39 PM
Quote from: stuntmannick;127222
You guys should be using lithium batteries for yo cameras.  They last FOREVER.  I took around 5 hours worth of video on my Nikon L6 and still had enough battery to take ~200 pics before replacing.


I have Li-ion in my Rebel XT and my DC20. The only camera I have that uses AA's is my E323 Dimage, which hasn't been touched in nearly a year. It's a pig for batteries.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: bhazard on February 02, 2007, 01:45:26 PM
Some macro shots from my Casio Exilim EX-P505. Macro goes down to 1cm.
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: Cougar5.0 on February 02, 2007, 03:07:58 PM
Yeah, my 6.3 MP Fuji has a Super Macro mode (a flower inside a magnifying glass :hick: )

Notice the dew drops on the spiders leg :D

(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e360/Domeskull/b5278e5b.jpg)
Title: How to take pictures of engine parts
Post by: Masejoer on February 02, 2007, 03:12:40 PM
1:2.3 ratio at 70mm, this is about as close as I can get before I lose a lot of light. I don't know what the "close up" mode is even doing on an SLR since it all depends on your lens. 1/80sec f/8 70mm

(http://home.comcast.net/~seekproj/20.jpg)