Guys after looking at some SBS on here and elsewhere, I notice that some of you get in close to view the detail of the tying.

Question is: how do you manage to get so close in without blurring the picture?

I have tried with two digital cameras, one a Casio Exilim and the Other a Sony Cyber-shot and can't bet any where near the definition required, even when I select Macro setting.

What am I doing wrong ??? any help would be appreciated.

Get a Samsung NV7 Kenny

Jim.

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Difficult to say exactly as every camera is different, but make sure you have good light, use a tripod(or improvise) and on most compact cameras I have used I don't use any zoom whilst in macro mode (just get closer to the subject).

There are some great tutorials on fly photography on the forum and if you follow them you won't go far wrong.

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SpottyHors Fly Fishers

I bet you was wetting yourself whilst writing such a witty answer.


Anyway..
Hi Kingfisher, what Sony do you have?

Don't forget that different cameras or, more specifically, different lenses, have different minimal focusing distances. So there is a minimum distance that the lens must be away from the subject being photographed in order for the subject to be focused on the camera's sensor plane. This and the lens focal length determine how much the subject can fill the sensor plane and still be in focus. Also, a higher pixel density will, all else being equal, allow someone to crop in (effectively zoom in) without enlargement via interpolation.

1. read the manual or find one online. it will tell you the minimum distance to use for macro shots. sorry, not trying to be funny just trying to help.

2. use a tripod if you have one or improvise to stabilize the camera

3. depress the shutter button 1/2 of the way down to let the camera focus on the subject. once focused, depress the shutter button the rest of the way down to take the foto

4. use a light above AND below the subject or on each side

5. adjust the white balance to the appropriate lighting. remember that manual, its in there on how to do it

6. if the macro wont focus close enough, switch the camera to manual focus mode and take fotos that way

7. use a plain back grund that is pleasing to the eye. a filthy cluttered tying desk/area is not pleasing

8. go online and get some free foto editing software. photofiltre or photoscape are 2 free ones and are easy to learn and use

9. dont forget to resize you fotos for forum/bulletin board usage. 600 pixels wide will pretty much fill up most brwsers

10. did i mention read the manual

11. 3 megapixel cameras in the right hands will produce fotos as well as 12 megapixel cameras (if my memory is correct, hans weillenman uses or used to use a 3.2 megapixel nikon coolpix 995 camera to take the fotos of the flies on his website and we all kmow how good they look!)

GOOGLE "fly art studio" for a lot more info/tips and tricks

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Fly fishermen have more opinions than the US Supreme Court

I always use a 2 second auto shutter in conjunction with a macro setting. It helps to remove any last trace of camera shake, even after several pints.