# Help



## Benzowner (Nov 11, 2009)

I have a Cannon S2IS camera and when I try to take close up photos they are blurred, either with or without the makro setting on. I have tried several different lighting conditions, with and without flash, but still blurred. Normal snaps are ok










Sunrise of Manhatten










Christ the Redeamer, Rio de Janeiro

What an I doing wrong?










an attempt at my Omega, if I get any closer it all goes blurred


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## Tom Radford (Apr 28, 2009)

Like I said in a previous post, some camera lenses can only focus so close. Even with a "macro" setting. However this camera should focus as close as 0cm, which is pretty damn close! So the reason must lie somewhere else.

I would start with settings. If an image is blurry, its down to two things, either the exposure is wrong, or the focus is wrong.

Lets presume the focus is ok, as the camera should cope with anything, so lets look at the settings.

I dont know this camera at all, but I would imagine its has various scene modes and also manual controls.

Firstly, make sure the scene mode is in auto. This will establish weather the camera is at fault, or you are.

It may be the case you have the camera set on manual mode or Av mode, meaning the camera would either be set at the aperture and shutter speed you set it at, or it will match the shutter speed to the aperture you selected.

So put it in AUTO, this way the camera will decide eveything and give you a starting point to troubleshoot from. Also try with and without the macro setting, it would also be wise to try the same shot handheld without IS, handheld with IS and on a tripod or propped up on some books or something to find out if there is a problem with the shutter.

If the images are still blurry close up in auto mode, then report back here and we shall try something else.


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## Odo (Mar 22, 2009)

Hi Benzowner, looking at your photo it appears that some of it is in focus. The handy letter next to the box shows thst the camera has focused just behind the dial of your watch, hence the blurry efect.

Have just looked at DPReview's write up of the S2IS and they say the closest you should be able to focus is about 10 cms from an object, with the camera on its wide angle setting. It may be worth trying that, zooming out as far as possible then move the camera towards what you want to photograph, keep the shutter half pressed until you lose focus then you know you are at about the closest distance the camera will focus to.

As Tom has said, try it on auto and macro on and off to see if this has any effect. Best of luck and let us know how you get on


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## Tom Radford (Apr 28, 2009)

This camera actually has a super macro mode, allowing focus down to 0cm. That means you can actually focus on a grain of dust on the lens itself, so you should certainly be able to get closer than your picture.

But yes, standard macro on it is 10cm at the wide end but you can get slightly higher magnification from the long end, although you will physically be further away from the subject.


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## stonedeaf (Dec 3, 2008)

Benzowner said:


> I have a Cannon S2IS camera and when I try to take close up photos they are blurred, either with or without the makro setting on. I have tried several different lighting conditions, with and without flash, but still blurred. Normal snaps are ok
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I agree with Odo in that the box behind the camera looks much sharper than the watch suggesting you are either too close or have focused on the wrong part of the subject 

I would also add that you will get best results using a solid tripod and remote release cable if possible, if not then improvise with bean bags for support and use a very steady pressure on the shutter.

The watch dial also appears overexposed, losing detail due to too much flash perhaps although the shadow suggests a very strong light to the left of the subject.:blind:

I can't comment on the capabilities of this particular lens but if correct a zero distance macro capacity is mighty impressive :jawdrop:

Best of luck - keep experimenting and let us see the results :thumbsup:


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

make sure you are not using the zoom when taking a macro shot (if this camera has one) ,move the camera closer to the watch dont try to zoom in on it when using macro mode.


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

just been looking on dpreview and it is capable of some impressive macro shots so it's poss a case of rtm and practice.


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## PaulBoy (Dec 2, 2007)

Aside from the macro / super macro / distance from object issues already covered above imho you shouldn't really be taking a picture of a watch using flash - You need natural light and if that means the shutter speed is anything less than 1/50th then a tripod or other support should be used (a remote release or using timer is a good idea to remove camera shake) - You want the aperture to be the smallest possible too as this means more of the object will be in focus (so f.16 rather than f2.8)

HTH ... Paul :thumbsup:


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## Benzowner (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks for the info guys. When I took the watch photo, I used the flash and realised it was too much light. The focusing square at the centre of the lens was on the watch not on the box. Also, since then, I have tried pictures of other items and when you lightly press the shutter to gain auto focus, it seems to focus the go out of focus. My very limited knowledge of photography, I think has come to the fore. Taking very close up photographs is not something I have done or had need to before and using the camera for other than point and shoot needs to be learned. I will keep trying and hopefully get some of the quality close up shots you guys are capable of. Once again thanks.


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## Benzowner (Nov 11, 2009)

I think I have sussed the problem with the camera. The auto focus beam when taking close up photos misses the object I am trying to take. I need to put a large object at the same distance as object I am trying to take the picture of, hold down the focus, move the large object and then take the photo. This is why the box on one of the earlt pics was more in focus than the watch.


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## Odo (Mar 22, 2009)

Glad to hear you got sorted, look forward to some in focus watch piccies


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## Benzowner (Nov 11, 2009)

Didn't work. If I use the manual focus, the nearest focus is just under 50cms, that it obviously not macro, I think maybe time for new camera. Perhaps a decent DSLR and get the job done properly.


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## Odo (Mar 22, 2009)

Sorry to hear, if you have tried everything with no luck it may be worth investing in some new equipment. The only thing I would say is decide what you want to do with your camera and how often you are likely to use it. A DSLR with suitable lens can give excellent results but they, and suitable lenses, are not cheap and it can be a steep learning curve before you get what you want.

I use a Ricoh R7 for most of my watch shots, it focuses down to about 1 cm and can give some great results, plus it was pretty cheap when I bought it


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

does the camera have multiple focus points you can set? ,if so change it to single focus point, ive just looked up the specs of the camera and it should take very good macro shots, something is either setup wrong or buggered.heres link to shots taken with this camera, on there is a flower macro.

photos


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## Benzowner (Nov 11, 2009)

The problem I have and it may well be my lack of knowledge with cameras, is in taking photos using macro in that I cannot focus them. All the blurb with the camera says it can focus virtually down to 0cm, not for me or am I doing something wrong. I have tried in auto, shutter priority, ISO prioity no luck. In auto, for example, the focus beam on a close up, misses the object being taken, hence I tried the sheet of paper at the same position as the object. Macro photography is not the most importatnt aspect of a camera, apart from posting pics on here, but I seem to have a camera which should be able to take the picture but whether it is my lack of knowledge or the camera, the end result is not what it should be.


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## Tom Radford (Apr 28, 2009)

All lenses struggle to focus on single colour objects as the need contrast to "see", try your paper test again, but with an item that has lots of contrast. You will never be able to focus on a single white peice of paper.

And stupid question, but does the camera have a seperate macro mode that you need to enable and may have forgotten to do? Always start with the simple things!


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## Benzowner (Nov 11, 2009)

I have carried out some more experiments and came up with a reasonable shot of my Omega, it would appear that macro is not able to function correctly when set on auto even thought the book says it does


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