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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,945 |
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Valued Member
344 Posts |
ok so I got a camera finally. Its a nikkon coolpix S3000.
I also built a really stable copystand using galvanized pipes from home depot and some nuts/bolts.
So now the prob is the stupid camera wont stay focused. especially when up close. Ill see it focus perfect on the coin for a split second then it gos off in retard land and instead focuses on the towel behind the coin. Then itll kinda try to focus on both at the same time instead making both blurry.
I have a ton of light
Its in double macro mode
its on timer so I dont move it.
But yet even while it just sits there I constantly hear it focusing and whirling and doing its bs that cameras do... It wont just settle the heck down and focus on the coin.
What do I do?
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Moderator
 United States
14463 Posts |
The auto focus on my camera doesn't focus on the exact center. It uses a spot around 9 o'clock and just off the center. I have tried (with success) taking a picture with the coin centered up and down, but off to the left portion of the image frame. Try yours off to the left or right, and see if the focus works better.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3076 Posts |
One thing about point and shoot camera's...If you want to do coins,,you must have a programable type point and shoot, the s3000 I don't believe is...the programable type have a wheel on top so you can choose what you want the camera to do...with the unprogramable type the camera has the entire option of deciding how to take the picture you want...but that never works with coins.....I recently bought and returned a very new canon point and shoot which did the same thing,,,the cameras engine(CPU) was deciding what I wanted and it was always different every time I turned the camera on...FOR MOST people point and shoot cameras are just fine but for dedicated MACRO or coins you simply can not let the camera choose your settings......
I would return your new camera and rethink your options..get one with the "DIAL" or programable functions...
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Valued Member
 344 Posts |
well I got it because it was cheap. only paid 30 for it and I see them go for 50 or 60 on ebay used. So ill give it a few more trys maybe going off center like Fuzz suggested. If it just dont work ill go find a different one and sell this. |
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Valued Member
Australia
278 Posts |
DSLR all the way!
And get a proper Macro lens and all will be fixed.
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Valued Member
344 Posts |
i dont want to spend 200 plus on a camera gecko
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5832 Posts |
Is there a way to turn off auto focus?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
OK, here's a weird thing I discovered quite some time ago when I had an old Coolpix 950 (which happened to have a really nice macro mode). A lot of these digital camera auto-focus things require vertical contrasting elements. I was taking closeup pictures of random household textures, and for the life of me, I could not get the camera to focus on horizontal blinds. I did some research, and found out that they apparently look for vertical contrasting elements to focus on.
So, try rotating the camera 90 degrees.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
508 Posts |
I have the same problem when zooming in 100%. My only solution is to back out a little. I have read-but haven't tried-that you can place a paper with some text over the coin. The camera focuses on the text, and you move it away before the timer goes off. It might be slightly out of focus above the coin, but better than focusing on the background. You can also try elevating the coin from the background by placing on a sturdy dowel or something.
Let me know if you try either method successfully or not.
-wheatiefan
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Valued Member
344 Posts |
Well I've been experimenting with lighting angles and distances. The camera is quite clear if its backed up 4-6 inches and not zoomed in. Then I just clip the photos to show only the coin. Sense its a huge 12mp one It was able to get all the details scratches and all on a merc dime. Now I tryed super mega luster GEM BU kennedy and a medium luster 49 franklin. Its semi hard to get a really lusterfull coin just right like a 2005 BU GEM, but the medium luster of a 60 year old coin comes out fairly good. [URL="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/97/dscn1241m.jpg/]  [/URL] [URL="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/69/120ur.jpg/]  [/URL] [URL="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/086xa.jpg/]  [/URL] [URL="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/841/085wd.jpg/]  [/URL] [URL="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/15/136xj.jpg/]  [/URL] [URL="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/840/160li.jpg/]  [/URL] |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3076 Posts |
The last 3 pics look good, the others look out of round and the details elongated..
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10038 Posts |
Here is a post I did some time ago for making a macro lens for a couple of dollars. I used it b/c of the same camera-has-its-own-ideas problem. https://goccf.com/t/87306 |
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Valued Member
344 Posts |
very cool Earle. I've actually started to be able to get some quite sharp pics so far, its weird but I had to back up to like 4-5 inches away and it would get in good focus finally on the coins.
However I like the homemade macro lens idea, I was thinking of using a magnifying glass to get the same results, ill try one of them later and see what happens :).
As for why the 2nd picture looks elongated, its because I took it at an angle. I thought it looked really cool though the way the lighting went :D.
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,945 |
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Posted 09/23/2011 03:22 am
