Super Macro Advice

fergyjohn · Jul 25, 2004

Went for a dive today and thought I would try out the super macro on the oly 5050.
Found a few Nudi's..... they all turned out blurred, see attached photo.

Setup was ISO 100 , various Fstop for lighting, held the camera steady, Inon 180 strobe.

Just wondering is it advisable to maybe use Manual focus rather than the auto.

Any advice on shooting Super macro greatly appreciated.

jlyle · Jul 25, 2004

Your camera didn't achieve focus. Possible reasons:

You're too close for the camera to focus. In supermacro, you have to be more than one inch away from the subject.

No modeling light? The camera's focus light isn't pointed where you are trying to focus. A modeling light helps, a lot!

Shutter speed? Must be at least 1/60 sec. Are you in manual or Aperture priority? Don't let the camera pick the shutter speed.

Manual focus doesn't work well underwater! You can't see the LCD well enough. You can try setting the focal length at 1" and then move the camera in/out until it's clear, but with the narrow depth of field, you are not going to be happy.

Solution: no closer than 1" in supermacro, 1/250 sec, f 8.0, modeling light should do the trick. Use the strobe intensity/position to adjust exposure.

ssra30 · Jul 25, 2004

I agree with jlyle, I find manual focus on C5050 not very useful especially for macro/supermacro as the LCD resolution is not really good enough for you to judge if the picture is in focus. The blurriness did not look like a motion artifact so I think your shutterspeed should be ok. One thing that may help is that the blinking greenlight next to the viewfinder should become solid when focus is achieved so that should give you a clue whether the camera can focus on something.
Generally I find the supermacro mode on C5050 useless as the lens is fixed. I much prefer using macro mode with the zoom capability and a wetmount macro lens or two so I can get the camera within 3-4 inches of the subject. In super macro when the camera is 1-2 inches away from the subject, it is not easy to aim the strobe properly.

Eli · Jul 25, 2004

I practiced with the supermacro on my oly c5060 before taking it underwater, and I decided that this feature is virtually useless. So I dont even try to use it. You have to manually focus the image, which is difficult and clumsy to do to do on the oly. All of the other digital cameras I own do a better job at macro than the oly. I have yet to find a non SLR digital that can do macros as well as my old Nikon Coolpix 990 which autofocused down to 0.8 inch. The canon point and shoots I own (s40 and s400) also are far better at autofocusing at macro settings than my oly, which I consider a basic problem with the camera. Heck even my Pansonic DMC FZ10 does a better job autofocusing at macro distances, even though it has a 12X zoom range!
Examples of extreme macro with coolpix 990 http://www.pbase.com/elif/microscope_photography

fergyjohn · Jul 26, 2004

Thanks for your reponses, I might just stick to Macro only,

jlyle · Jul 26, 2004

fergyjohn:
Thanks for your reponses, I might just stick to Macro only,

IMHO, you should buy a macro lens adapter. With it you can achieve the same magnification that you get in supermacro mode, but from 2-3 inches away. Autofocus works better and the housing isn't going to scare as many tiny critters!

fergyjohn · Jul 26, 2004

Thanks Jim, What sort of money are we looking at for a Macro lens adaptor.

ReyeR · Jul 26, 2004

My experience with the macro adaptor hasn't been that promising. It's not like attaching a macro adaptor to a C5050/PT-015 will give you heaps of distance between the camera and the subject - you still have to be pretty close or the camera won't focus at all. And IMO the camera becomes even more finicky with focus. What it will give you is greater magnification at an EQUIVALENT distance when shooting without the adaptor.

When shooting close-up (macro or super macro) for critters like nudis use a spotting light whenever possible. Use Spot focus and if it struggles you may have to resort to iESP.

jlyle · Jul 26, 2004

The macro lens adapters are less than 150$ US.
http://www.uwdigitalcamera.com/English/euwdigitalindex.htm

You will want to read the following thread:
http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/gearreviews.php?s=567

Super Macro Advice

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