New Digital Camera and im having problems

[D.Lesko]

Hi guys. For my Birthday my wife bought me a digital camera, it was the
Kodak DX4530 Digital Camera ,it is 5 megapixel with a 3x optical zoom and a 3.5x digital zoom. It is tripod mountable but does not have the option for manual operation. Is this a decent camera to be taking pictures of figures and armor models?

Ive been trying to take pictures of some of my figures with it but have not been having much luck. I was looking around and saw that Kodak offers a set of : 37mm close-up lenses but they contain lenses for 7x and 10x magnification. Does anyone know of any lenses i can buy that are compatable with a 37mm adapter that have lower magnification? I have a set of lenses for my Canon Rebel that contain 1X, 2x, 3X and 5X close-up lenses and would love to have somthing similar for this camera.

Also, what do you recomend for lighting? Ive been trying to take pictures with a dark background and 2 desk lamps, one being an OTT Light (natural) and the other flourescent. I have been having a difficult time getting the camera to focus in. Can you help me here, how should i set up to take pics? Any help you guys can give would be much appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

[gordy]

Macro is the keyword to look for here, I'm a shutterbug noobie as well.. I may do more harm than good

Without seeing your documentation that came with the camera, i could only suggest looking over the manual for anything concerning "macro"..

and of course google it

 

[D.Lesko]

Hi Gordy, i looked up the specifications of the camera on that link i posted and i found the following: macro/close-up mode: wide - 7-70cm (2.8-27.6 in.); tele - 28-70cm (11-27.6 in.). Also the camera has the following settings: automatic, sport, night, landscape, close-up, movie.

 

[gordy]

that's a start, it looks like you can get physically about 2" to the subject...

some more looking through those links may yeild somebodies personal setup..

as for lighting, i turn off the flash and use my benches' flourescent mounted above, i've found incandescants 'yellow' my pics too much..
they do have macro light rigs, a ring of bright LED's that fit over lenses, but they are pretty pricey. I get satisfactory results without the flash although i do bump up the brightness and contrast a smidge in post processing (Photoshop)

 

[D.Lesko]

Thanks Gordy ill have to try that out. Would you mind if i posted this same message on a few other boards to see if i can get more responses? I know some forums frown on that.

 

[gordy]

heck no! we could use the exposure
planetFigure is unlike other forums PF, is an internet forum, less llike a club forum, always feel free to refer to PF, share the knowledge

 

[Staffan Blomqvist]

try to change the white balance-settings in the camera if the light you are using gives the pictures a color cast.

 

[gordy]

Originally posted by Staffan Blomqvist@Sep 24 2003, 11:27 AM
try to change the white balance-settings in the camera if the light you are using gives the pictures a color cast.

thanks, i'll tinker with that!

 

[panzerfaust]

I'm not sure what problems you may be having but having glanced at the specs of this camera- it appears its really not made to take pictures of things except in a snap shotty kind of way -just straight pictures, not close up stills with a great depth of field. The f-stop only goes to 8.7 (?) and the settings are all auto. I'm afraid you may have to just take the pictures in bright light on a tripod and then crop the images in Photo Shop or whatever program you use.

 

[panzerfaust]

Here's a link for digital photoing
http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/235270