Canon Photoshot SD890IS

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ridgeyman
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Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by ridgeyman »

Hi there I have a canon Powershot SD89IS camera with macro, I'm not very camera savi so I'm asking, on macro what are the best settings iso brightness etc for macro pics of coins & artefacts. I find it ok on coins but artefacts seam to be out of focus. The bit nearest the camera tends to be ok but if its not flat it tends to go out of focus. Please dont baffle me with posh camera talk cuz as I said i'm not very camera savi & probably wont understand. See example, not too bad but I have had to play about with it for brightness and sharpness which tends to make it a bit foggy in my opinion. Thanx in advance. I do use a little tripod & set it to 2 sec delay to avoid shake. :-?
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311. Dolphin enamelled varient brooch. Roman, 1stC AD. Blue enamel. Ref. 53550.JPG
311. Dolphin enamelled varient brooch. Roman, 1stC AD. Blue enamel. Ref. 53550.JPG (248.69 KiB) Viewed 10507 times
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Old Git John
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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by Old Git John »

Ridgy, that is a pretty good picture, just a little shadow, but not very significant.

I also am not a great photographer, using a Kodak bridge camera, (point and pray as it is called on here), I also have a Canon.

On both of them, more often than not I use AUTO which focuses the camera for me You should have that on yours, and should use it for taking shots of your finds, as long as you take them in good light, not too bright causing shadows. As far as possible make sure that the camera is facing directly down onto the subject, (find), on a plain background, white being the best, and NOT glossy photo paper, just simple white paper. You may find that you can press the button part way, and allow the camera to focus, then press it all of the way down to complete taking the picture. Review it on the camera, and if you are happy, go on to do your next one. If not set it up again, and try to focus with a tiny amount of ZOOM, then rely on the AUTO to do the rest.

If you have a college nearby which does classes for adults, it would be worth the few quid such a course in photography would be of great use to you. I have a friend who is 90 years old, and went to night school in his early 80s, he makes my photo's look like a pile of brown smelly stuff.
Out of interest I have an article coming up in the UKDN magazine, covering photographing finds.
If I can be of any help feel free to PM me and we will try to get you up to the level you want.
All the very best, and thank you for asking.
I used to have an issue regarding having an inferiority complex, I no longer have an issue with being inferior.

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IronRon
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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by IronRon »

The focal point the bit nearest, will always be sharper than the rest.
Try side lighting ..to avoid shadows so I have been told

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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by ridgeyman »

Thanx i'll try that although on macro u cant use auto it has to be in manual. But i will try it in auto. Thanx for now.i'll let u know.
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Rich-t
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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by Rich-t »

Looks pretty good to me!

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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by ridgeyman »

Right, took a coupla pic for comparison, first one is in auto which doesn't work on macro. 2nd one swithed to macro, iso 80 2 sec timer with white paper behind camera to reflect daylight, best I can do with my capabilities. Perfect on coins just dodgy on artefacts, perhaps I'm expecting too much from a cheapish camera? :g64: Pic is cauldron foot? 35 x 30mm diam, bronze.
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IMG_0535 - Copy.JPG
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IMG_0541 - Copy.JPG
IMG_0541 - Copy.JPG (73.93 KiB) Viewed 10468 times
344. George VI Shilling (Scotland) 1939. Ref. 344.PNG
344. George VI Shilling (Scotland) 1939. Ref. 344.PNG (411.51 KiB) Viewed 10468 times
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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by Jellytussle »

There's a guide here Click Here

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ridgeyman
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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by ridgeyman »

Thanx i'll check it out l8r.
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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by Jellytussle »

You can download a free program called paint.net from here https://www.getpaint.net/
It's quite complicated if you've never used a digital editor before (but its a bloody sight easier than photoshop!), but one thing that you can do with it which is absolutely brilliant is use the 'Levels' command to get rid of most of the background shadow and the horrible tints you get from artificial light.
Here's a photo straight off the camera
Pre levels.jpg
Pre levels.jpg (324.82 KiB) Viewed 10458 times
and here it is after adjusting the levels
Post levels.jpg
Post levels.jpg (251.52 KiB) Viewed 10458 times
You can do loads of other stuff as well, but that feature alone makes it worth having.

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Old Git John
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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by Old Git John »

ridgeyman wrote:Right, took a coupla pic for comparison, first one is in auto which doesn't work on macro. 2nd one swithed to macro, iso 80 2 sec timer with white paper behind camera to reflect daylight, best I can do with my capabilities. Perfect on coins just dodgy on artefacts, perhaps I'm expecting too much from a cheapish camera? :g64: Pic is cauldron foot? 35 x 30mm diam, bronze.

The second one is super, and shows that you DO understand your camera, pardon me having doubted you before. One hell of a difference between them.
I used to have an issue regarding having an inferiority complex, I no longer have an issue with being inferior.

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ridgeyman
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Re: Canon Photoshot SD890IS

Post by ridgeyman »

Thanx all for your help, leave it with me a bit. :g30: :g50:
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