Q about 'macro' camera settings

[sheepherder]

I imagine we all use digital cameras now (except Tom ) but to get a decent close-up I have to use the macro [close up] setting...

They don't look all that good...

How do you guys get the close-ups to not bend??? I drew a line above the sights on my 1902 Colt to illustrate...

(Not a phone-cam; Kodak EasyShare)...

[Ron Wood]

You get a "fish-eye" effect with macro/closeup settings on a point and shoot camera. It allows the software to sharply focus at close range but the lens introduces spherical aberration because of the curvature of the lens. This usually can only be corrected by a seperate close-up lens that corrects for this condition. To get sharp photos without introducing a "curve" it is best to use a high resolution setting and shoot from a bit longer distance using the zoom function to get a close up effect. Also shooting at a high resolution then cropping the photo to the portion that you want to illustrate helps. Macro settings are only useful for a very close up photo of a small area, not the entire gun (for instance, you could us the macro setting to take a sharp photo of the rampant colt logo on the grip). It also is much less apparent for not-linear objects (you don't notice the bend).
Some higher end cameras have on board photo editing capabiliies that folks that know how to use them (not me) can manipulate fish-eye and correct for it.
Ron

[Norme]

Hi Rich, The problem you are experiencing is called spherical aberration. Macro lenses are corrected for this, but it's not usually a problem 99% of the time since so few close ups contain straight lines. You can get around this by placing your straight line, in this case the barrel, so that it passes through the center point of the frame, in other words, it's essentially a radius. I know this sounds complicated, but give it a try.
Regards, Norm

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Ron Wood

To get sharp photos without introducing a "curve" it is best to use a high resolution setting and shoot from a bit longer distance using the zoom function to get a close up effect.

Thanks! I'll try that tomorrow, in morning light (those Renaissance painters were right about that).

I don't think my EasyShare has a higher res that 2304 x 1728, but I'll hold over the 28 inches for close-ups and shoot it with the zoom.

I'm also experimenting with background colors. The towel in my pic is actually blood red, not pink. I had to Gamma correct everything to get the dark colors [the gun] to differentiate.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Norme

You can get around this by placing your straight line, in this case the barrel, so that it passes through the center point of the frame, in other words, it's essentially a radius. I know this sounds complicated, but give it a try.

I do get what you mean. I'll try that too.

[Vlim]

If I want really detailed close-ups of markings, I pop the pistol under my flatbed scanner. It can scan up to 2400 dpi, but usually 600dpi already does the trick.

I use a HP ScanJet G2710 at the moment. Works well for close-ups and quick scans of guns when there is no time to set up the light tent and camera

[DonVoigt]

Back up, use a longer focal length, high resolution - then crop to enlarge.

For color, use a neutral grey, no red, green, blue, etc.

If the color still isn't right, try adjusting the "saturation".

[Edward Tinker]

red looks great for a bakcground, but as Don said, it leaves a 'residue' on the gun colors and / or makes the colors get darker.

So, although I prefer a robin egg blue background, probably a tan works well.

And the main thing with any pictures is plenty of natural light - subdued natural lighting.

Most of the time I take a quick picture, but I have found that many times the changing of the in the picture that the lighting or contrast seems to make the picture fuzzy, at least thats my experience...

[Dwight Gruber]

Not to be a pedant, but--

The effect is called barrel distortion, straight lines bow outward. This is the result of cost compromises of lens design, most often seen in wide-angle lenses or the wide settings of inexpensive zoom lenses. This shows up in "macro" pictures because the "macro" setting almost always defaults to a lens's widest-angle focal length.

The opposite effect, with straight lines bowing inward, is called pincushion distortion and usually associated with long focal lengths.

As Norm notes, placing straight lines as closely as possible to the horizontal center of the fame is the only way to reduce the effect without investing in different photographic equipment.

Spherical aberration is seen as slight "fuzziness" surrounding sharp points of focus. This is the result of lens design which does not adequately focus off-axis light rays.

The color cast problem requires explanation of how light suffuses the interior of your camera. Proper remediation is not easily, and requires photographic techniques more sophisticated than simple gamma correction. If you really want to avoid it, the only solution is to photograph with a white background in the first place. You can add a color background later, but the techniques are far beyond explanation here. This very problem, and its ultimate solution, delayed publication of "Police Lugers" for almost a year.

--Dwight

[Dwight Gruber]

There are several different ways to fix in software, but it is always easier and more satisfactory--and much less time consuming--to do it right in the first place.



--Dwight

[sheepherder]

I had to cancel my 'photo shoot' yesterday due to overcast & ground fog that didn't burn off until mid-morning.

Today was better. I took several telephoto lens shots from ~six feet, and a couple of macro shots using the top line of the slide as my focus center.

Best of each is below; neither is very good.

I don't have any light colored towels; my last wife was a nurse and all my bath towels are blood red...

I have to get some more R-30 insulation today; I'll stop at WallyWorld and get a white bath towel for shoots and use my red one for a superimposed backdrop...

[sheepherder]

All theser pics have been taken vertically; I tried one horizontally on a white background...The sky/trees reflect from the flat surfaces...

[ithacaartist]

Rich,

All these pics look washed out, as you mentioned. They appear over-exposed, a well as lacking in saturation, and incorrect hue. Try setting the brightness down a bit to help the subject to not come out so ghostly. The color shift towards blue might be the result of white balance set to tungsten instead of natural light.

Suggestion for backdrop would be to use light grey paper or card stock from Staples. Almost 20 yrs. ago I scored a free remnant roll of grey seamless from a photographer who did studio work, and it works very well. Even a piece of a clean cardboard box might be an improvement over the red towel. Rather than drag out and set up a piece of the paper, one time I used a similar towel, with similar results.

[sheepherder]

Just got bacl from WallyWorld; got a white & a beige bath towel. Really wanted a light blue but there were no pastel bath towels; most were garish mixed colors...

It wasn't until I got home that I thought I should have looked in the 'baby' section. I'll check that next time I go 'up town'.

Which will be in a couple days; insulation prices seem to have skyrocketed, $52 for a bundle of faced R30 9 1/2" x 16" x 48"...I didn't have enough cash...

My Kodak EasyShare CX7430 is a dumbed-down digi-cam designed for brain dead soccer moms; not much in the way of adjustments. 4.0 mega pixels, Auto, Portrait, Sport, Night, Landscape, and Close Up are the only 'settings'. It does have a separate Video mode.

I had to 'lighten' the pics in PSP to bring out the detail in the handgun. I used the 'Gamma Correction' function.

I've never been a camera buff. (IOW, I have no idea what you are all talking about).

Dwight mentioned software correcting. I may have that capability in Paint Shop Pro 10.2, which I use mostly for shrinking scanned magazine articles. I use Paint Shop Pro 4.12 for quick editing. Old but small footprint. And easy enough for a dummy like me.

[sheepherder]

This is a vertical shot; high noon, bright sunlit day, in shadow, using the beige towel. The towel looks white outside. I aimed about an inch over the top of the slide. 'Close Up' setting. I can still see reflections in the flat surfaces. Colors are still out of whack; my grips are brown.

But at least the slide doesn't look quite as warped/bent.

Second pic is scanned on my HP OfficeJet 7210 All-In-One, resized, and Gamma corrected (but not as much), again with the beige towel.

[mrerick]

I think that your camera may be set to automatically correct for color temperature. It's reading the beige towel as white, and setting things that way.

Look for a feature like "automatic white balance" and turn it off, instead selecting "sunlight" "outdoors" or something that will balance for 5200K.

Marc

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by mrerick

I think that your camera may be set to automatically correct for color temperature. It's reading the beige towel as white, and setting things that way.

Look for a feature like "automatic white balance" and turn it off, instead selecting "sunlight" "outdoors" or something that will balance for 5200K.

Marc

I had to look that up in the manual. It's there but only as long as you keep the same mode; it defaults to 'Auto' if you change mode or shut the camera off.

I'll try that tomorrow.

Edit: Checked Kodak Support site; firmware updates for camera and docking station, plus Users Manuals for both available. Got 'em!

[sheepherder]

More experimenting; morning shots, bright but cloudy, beige towel.

First is 'daylight' white balance setting; second is ISO 80 setting; third is daylight and ISO 80 settings.

Doesn't look all that different, still have to Gamma correct three times to see any detail.

The 'Auto' settings don't look any worse than the manual settings, so that idea was a bust (for this cheap camera anyway).

But at least now I know how to lessen the 'bent' effect.

[Sergio Natali]

Just as an example I didn't use macro lenses just a plain Nikon 28-300
I think the main thing is to avoid flashlight or bright sunlight. As a background I used a grey cardboard.
My 2 cents


Sergio

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by luger.parabellum

Just as an example I didn't use macro lenses just a plain Nikon 28-300
I think the main thing is to avoid flashlight or bright sunlight. As a background I used a grey cardboard.

Sergio, what 'settings' did you use??? Is that a digital camera???