NicoleB Photography

Some tips for shooting macros - feel free to add your own in the comments section.
Please also ask any questions you have - maybe I - or one of the others can help
You can still sign up for this assignment - go and check it out!

• Get down on your knees or lower. The bug’s eye few usually makes for more interesting shots than the ones shot from top


• Check out the options for macro shots in the menu of your camera. Some cameras have a macro focus. It helps a lot.

• If your camera allows it, get a macro lens. For low budget users I can suggest raynox lenses. They are not the greatest, but they did work fine for me (most of my posted macro shots are taken with my raynox macro lens and my Casio EX-P505). If you have a bigger budget and your camera allows their usage, check out reviews for lenses before you buy them.
  If you don’t know if they work for your camera, go to the camera brand’s website, check for info there. If you still don’t find it, send an email to customer support. That’s how I made sure, my lenses will work on my camera.

• Watch out for the zoom. Most “Point and Shoot” cameras have a Digital zoom. There’s a little barrier between the normal zoom and the Digital zoom. Your pictures might turn out very grainy if you zoom all the way.
  Best way to test it is to shoot more than one frame with different zoom lengths.


• Stay steady. Either lean on something or hold your shooting arm with the other arm. If you are very low, use a little bean sack to steady the camera.
  Depending on the camera you can also use a little, cheap table tripod, just to steady the camera.
• And like with everything else in taking good shots: watch out how you frame the pictures. What does the background look like? Is it cluttered or clean?
  Try different angles and different framings. Play with different crops on your Computer.

(Sorry for the picture quality, but like you can tell, I don’t have a macro lens for my Nikon yet )

Before I left for Kuwait last year I got a few old film cameras via ebay.
I only got to test one of them, but I didn’t manage to get a good picture out of the roll

Anyhow, here’s are 4 of them. The Billy Clack is the one I tested.

The other one with my attempt to put in my first film in such a camera comes at another day

Rheinmetall Perfekta Achromat (DDR)

Agfa

Agfa Synchro Box

Agfa Billy Clack

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Do you have old cameras? Wanna show off?
Gimme links

Rolleiflex - Jonathan Merchant

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Kameramuseum - alte Kameras und Bedienungsanleitungen (old cameras and manuals - in German)

I had a nightmare last night.
I was going to buy a new camera.
I was trying to get the Nikon D300, but all they had there was the D3 (hehe, evil grin).
I tested it and I didn’t like it. The screen was so weird, I couldn’t focus right, it was more like that thing did everything by itself the way IT wanted it.
Is that a warning?

Not that I could afford the D3 to begin with….
But the D300 comes into close range for next year (when I don’t have to spend 300 Dollars more just for buying it in Kuwait )