Sony Cybershot

I can't advise you on this specific camera, but having read SuperDave's thread on getting good pics out of a standard thing I'd advise you to learn how to set up the macro lens and make sure the white balance is adjusted as needed. Making a delayed shutter is also important to prevent blurring.

This sort of thing should be in your user manual, and from there it's all trial and error with lighting and stands! Flash is usually too bright - as a coin is a small thing and the field of view will just be overpowered with light. Once you have the right macro and white balance settings, zoom can be used to make sure your coin is taking up as much space in the photo as possible.

I use the most amateurish of things - a stack of PC games to balance the camera over the coin and a mobile phone light. Make sure the camera settings are all good, with the added bonus of delayed shutter so you don't wobble it and blur, and you should be ready to go! There's no need for fancy stuff.

Hope I helped.

As far as I know most cameras also use a universal system of symbols depicting what is what. A flower is macro settings, a lightning bolt flash and a clock-like circle shutter timer. If you can see these buttons on your interface then you could always play around with them and learn how to navigate through the camera's settings.

If you do find the manual, the fiddling you did will help you understand it more.

I don't have experience with the cybershot, but the Macro setting is a must!, followed by setting it at the maximum resolution ( largest size of image). Once you get the closest possible with good focus, take the shot and then crop it to smaller size in your software. Depending on your cameras # of megapixels, you can usually get a good photo when cropped down to forum size.

I wouldn't use the flash that close as most cameras can't prevent over lighting the image. The software is very important and should be able to adjust most parameters including white balance, contrast, color, etc.

Try to prevent camera movement when pushing the button. Use self timer if convenient and a tripod if possible. If you have a microscope, cybershots are often used by focusing down one eyepiece, and adjust the telephoto setting to eliminate vignetting.

Jim

I have a cyber-shot DSC-S650 and it is the flower icon on mine, to get it to auto focus (after you have it in macro mode) before you take the shot you half press the button and it will auto focus and beep once its focused (if it doesn't beep and have a green [] around the picture try backing off of the coin a little) and once it does that just fully press the button and it should be a clear macro shot. Hope this helps