Attention TL and any other coolpix owners

[brandy_z28]

How in the world do you get the stones to focus? I''ve read through the owners manual and I can''t for the life of me get the camera to cooperate. The stone focuses and looks fine until I go to take the pics and then it jumps around and is blurry 19 times out of 20 tries! I''ve got it on the macro mode and turned the flash off, I just can''t get the focus thing figured out. Any advice? I''ve got the S230 model.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Are you using a tripod or are you holding the camera in your hand? Macro shots really need stability. I recommend trying to use a tripod (or a makeshift one such as a pile of books) and a shutter delay (where the camera waits a few seconds to shoot, so your finger movement doesn''t cause blur in the photo).

 

[T L]

Sometimes I get it in focus and sometimes I do not, but a steady hand helps. I have mine set on the macro mode with the two flowers for closeup shots. I''d like to hear how other coolpix owners focus as well, maybe I''m doing something wrong (did you see all my blurry pictures lately??)

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 12/7/2009 2:44:55 PM
Author:brandy_z28
How in the world do you get the stones to focus? I've read through the owners manual and I can't for the life of me get the camera to cooperate. The stone focuses and looks fine until I go to take the pics and then it jumps around and is blurry 19 times out of 20 tries! I've got it on the macro mode and turned the flash off, I just can't get the focus thing figured out. Any advice? I've got the S230 model.

Thanks in advance!

Are you getting enough light into the lens of the camera? If you're taking these pics in the dark, it won't focus very well. I think you should get a green focus box when the camera has enough light to take the macro pic (IIRC from my CoolPix). Otherwise, there may be a second light on the back of the camera that alerts you to the fact that it doesn't have enough light.

Also, Lady Disdain's suggestions of using the timer and tripod helped me immensely.

Also, try holding the shutter halfway down, letting the focus lock (you'll hear it and it should pop up that green focus box/bracket), and then taking the pic.

Good luck!

 

[Stone Hunter]

I do macro mode with the Auto focus. Otherwise everything is blurry. Well sometimes I get a good shot. I try to put the camera down on the kitchen counter and touch it very gently in Macro no Flash mode. Because that mode shuts OFF the Auto Focus.

I like the idea of using the timer and setting it down on books or a stable surface. I''ll try that next time myself.

Good Luck!!

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 12/7/2009 3:53:24 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier

Date: 12/7/2009 2:44:55 PM
Author:brandy_z28
How in the world do you get the stones to focus? I''ve read through the owners manual and I can''t for the life of me get the camera to cooperate. The stone focuses and looks fine until I go to take the pics and then it jumps around and is blurry 19 times out of 20 tries! I''ve got it on the macro mode and turned the flash off, I just can''t get the focus thing figured out. Any advice? I''ve got the S230 model.

Thanks in advance!

Are you getting enough light into the lens of the camera? If you''re taking these pics in the dark, it won''t focus very well. I think you should get a green focus box when the camera has enough light to take the macro pic (IIRC from my CoolPix). Otherwise, there may be a second light on the back of the camera that alerts you to the fact that it doesn''t have enough light.

Also, Lady Disdain''s suggestions of using the timer and tripod helped me immensely.

Also, try holding the shutter halfway down, letting the focus lock (you''ll hear it and it should pop up that green focus box/bracket), and then taking the pic.

Good luck!

I think it might have been my lighting or lack thereof! I wouldn''t say it was dark but I replaced my bulbs in my kitchen with newer brighter ones and low and behold I got focus!

That and I wasn''t paying attention to wether or not the box around the stone was green or um red.

Duh! Now I feel silly.

 

[brandy_z28]

Thanks everyone for your replies!

Resting my elbow(s) on the counter was a big help as well! I''m going to give that pile of books a try too.

 

[brandy_z28]

The fruits of my labor and all of your helpful suggestions...might as well post them, right?

white opals are still difficult to photograph...

 

[brandy_z28]

 

[brandy_z28]

Oh suppose I should add that these opals are from Dan...

 

[brandy_z28]

 

[brandy_z28]

Oyo tourmaline from Dan in incandescent light

 

[brandy_z28]

 

[brandy_z28]

sphene from multicolour

 

[brandy_z28]

mahenge spinel from multicolour

 

[brandy_z28]

 

[brandy_z28]

mahenge with my opal from intergem

 

[brandy_z28]

finally the Bob Kast ruby

 

[brandy_z28]

 

[chrono]

Not bad at all; with more practice and playing around with lighting and angles, the picture might come out clearer. As for the pictures, you did really well with the Mahenge, gem show opal and sphene. The colours are so saturated and the sphene shows a ton of dispersion.

 

[D&T]

Date: 12/7/2009 11:45:48 PM
Author: brandy_z28
mahenge spinel from multicolour

soo glowy!!!

 

[T L]

Date: 12/8/2009 8:48:44 AM
Author: Chrono

Not bad at all; with more practice and playing around with lighting and angles, the picture might come out clearer. As for the pictures, you did really well with the Mahenge, gem show opal and sphene. The colours are so saturated and the sphene shows a ton of dispersion.

Ditto!!

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 12/8/2009 10:05:07 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 12/8/2009 8:48:44 AM
Author: Chrono

Not bad at all; with more practice and playing around with lighting and angles, the picture might come out clearer. As for the pictures, you did really well with the Mahenge, gem show opal and sphene. The colours are so saturated and the sphene shows a ton of dispersion.

Ditto!!

Thanks everyone! That just means I have to take lots more pictures! Practice, practice, practice.

I did lose some clarity when I cropped them down and then resized them. I think I need to play around with better ways to do that as well. I was so proud that I was able to capture the color of the mahenge under incandescents. I''d never been able to do that before with my old camera.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 12/8/2009 10:27:02 AM
Author: brandy_z28

Date: 12/8/2009 10:05:07 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 12/8/2009 8:48:44 AM
Author: Chrono

Not bad at all; with more practice and playing around with lighting and angles, the picture might come out clearer. As for the pictures, you did really well with the Mahenge, gem show opal and sphene. The colours are so saturated and the sphene shows a ton of dispersion.

Ditto!!

Thanks everyone! That just means I have to take lots more pictures! Practice, practice, practice.

I did lose some clarity when I cropped them down and then resized them. I think I need to play around with better ways to do that as well. I was so proud that I was able to capture the color of the mahenge under incandescents. I''d never been able to do that before with my old camera.

Those are fantastic! With even more practice (I have over 10k pics in my "Rings" folder on my laptop), you''ll get the hang of it!

Here''s another hint for you to help eliminate quality loss - just upload your pics straight off the camera (or after cropping) straight to the PS Gallery. It automatically resizes for you so you don''t have to take it into Photoshop!

You will have to log in to post under the Pricescope gallery, though.

 

[Michael_E]

For focusing with these cameras I find that the best approach is to make sure that the article being photographed is in bright, diffuse light on a background. This gives the camera something other than a small item to focus on and the bright light causes the camera to close it''s aperture, giving better depth of field, (meaning that it focuses over a greater range). Bright lights also make the shutter speed faster, keeping the shot from being blurred from small movements. To get diffused light I''ll shoot on a bright overcast day or use my secret weapon. Can you all keep a secret ? O.K. here it is, I use a fuzzy, colorless plastic bowl with a hole cut into it that the lens of the camera just fits through. This works really nicely if the sky is clear or I''m inside and using artificial lighting. One other trick for focusing is to get a pair of reading glasses and watch the display screen on the camera closely. Set up the shot and let the camera focus. If it''s a little off, just hold the focus button down and move the camera back and forth until you see the best focus, shoot and you''re good to go. Make sure to get a decent picture manipulation software for simple cropping, sharpening and color adjustments. Google has a freebie called Picasa that is really great. It''s not Photoshop, but for picture viewing and minor adjustments it is great.

 

[Michael_E]

Here's a sapphire shot taken outside on an overcast day. It's sitting on a stone wall and I had to use the focusing technique of moving it after the camera had focused to get it just right. It's a little dark since I was pretty close to it, but other than that it came out O.K.

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 12/8/2009 12:59:24 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier

Date: 12/8/2009 10:27:02 AM
Author: brandy_z28

Date: 12/8/2009 10:05:07 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 12/8/2009 8:48:44 AM
Author: Chrono

Not bad at all; with more practice and playing around with lighting and angles, the picture might come out clearer. As for the pictures, you did really well with the Mahenge, gem show opal and sphene. The colours are so saturated and the sphene shows a ton of dispersion.

Ditto!!

Thanks everyone! That just means I have to take lots more pictures! Practice, practice, practice.

I did lose some clarity when I cropped them down and then resized them. I think I need to play around with better ways to do that as well. I was so proud that I was able to capture the color of the mahenge under incandescents. I''d never been able to do that before with my old camera.

Those are fantastic! With even more practice (I have over 10k pics in my ''Rings'' folder on my laptop), you''ll get the hang of it!

Here''s another hint for you to help eliminate quality loss - just upload your pics straight off the camera (or after cropping) straight to the PS Gallery. It automatically resizes for you so you don''t have to take it into Photoshop!

You will have to log in to post under the Pricescope gallery, though.

Thank you LTP! Now that you say that I remember you suggesting that to someone else a while back. I will most definitely give it a try!

 

[brandy_z28]

Date: 12/8/2009 2:02:22 PM
Author: Michael_E
Here''s a sapphire shot taken outside on an overcast day. It''s sitting on a stone wall and I had to use the focusing technique of moving it after the camera had focused to get it just right. It''s a little dark since I was pretty close to it, but other than that it came out O.K.

Thank you so much for the tips Michael!

I will definitely have to try that out. That''s a very pretty sapphire by the way.

 

[Gailey]

Michael, is this taken with your new camera? Can you tell us what it is, I forget.

Any chance of seeing a photo of your set up with the bowl (if you still have your old camera that is).

Thanks