As anyone who has perused, or followed my blog knows: My pictures of my minis suck.
I mean they look like they were taken by someone who lost their glasses and has a bit of a palsy. They're either blurry, distorted, grainy, or a combination therein.
So what I need to know is, what's the most important thing I need to look for in a camera for miniatures?
Is it megapixels? Optical zoom? Digital zoom? Something else entirely?
I want something that I can rely on to take good quality pictures, but not something that is going to break the bank.
Any suggestions?
Before getting a new camera you might look at a small tripod to support the camera. While my mini pics lack the white background of a photo box I got a great improvement by resting the camera on the table the mini was on.
ReplyDeleteAlso check the modes on the camera you have. You want a potrait type mode since the object is not moving and use the macro setting if available(my camera denotes this with a flower).
Well, when looking for a camera that can make good images of minis, you should ensure it has a "digital macro" - with this you can get close to the mini and still get good focus.
ReplyDeleteWhat is also handy is a rather large display (this way you can judge immediately) and halfway decent energy consumption (so the batteries aren't empty every other shot)
I personally am VERY satisfied with my Canon Ixus 65 - easy interface, large display, good battery, and the images are quite good.
Cheers
Klaus
Klaus has it right - the macro function is the key to taking good pictures. Pretty much every camera these days will have one; usually it's a setting indicated by an icon of a flower on the button. I use a Canon Powershot A590 and love it (especially because it was affordable!).
ReplyDeleteThen, when you actually take the pictures, the critical thing is lighting. If you don't have a lightbox, I recommend building one - there's a great tutorial on how to make one for $10 here: http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html
Finally, when it comes to lighting, avoid having to use the flash whenever possible. A flash will flatten out the colors on the miniature. With enough lighting and a lightbox, this won't be a problem.
Also, I recommend using a photo editor once you've actually taken the pictures. The easiest, quickest way is, IMO, Picasa. It's a Google program that lets you crop, retouch, and upload photos to your Picasa web album (which is the same album Blogger uses when you upload photos). The retouching part is the best, though, because it has an "I feel lucky" button which basically applies fixes to a picture based on what it thinks it needs. The "I feel lucky" button usually improves the look of my pictures instantly and makes the colors truer to life.
Hope this helps!