On Sun, 1 Jul 2007 16:54:21 -0700, Rita G wrote:
> And let me add that I know almost nothing about cameras. This
> Fuji S6000 will be a replacement for my Canon A620, which I'm
> unable to get good close ups with.
The Fuji S6000 is a very good camera, but as you know almost
nothing about cameras, and I know absolutely nothing about you (<g>)
let me ask you this. How close are the closeups you've had problems
with, and what it the problem you had with them. Improper focus,
poor depth of field, substandard or uneven illumination, something
else, or a combination of these?
> What I need is a digital camera that will take good quality close up
> shots for old glassware and maybe some coins and jewelry, so I believe
> I'd need a camera with a good macro lens??.......Will this camera fit
> the bill?
No, you probably don't need a macro lens, although they're nice.
They're usually quite good for focusing closely in a very flat
plane, which helps to keep flat objects completely in the best
focus, and that might be good for coins, but it wouldn't be a
particular advantage for glassware or most jewelry.
As acl mentioned, the most critical aspect to producing good
closeup shots of those objects is lighting. You'll probably produce
relatively poor shots if you use only the camera's built-in flash.
There are many expensive lighting tools available, but the good news
is that there's nothing magical about most of this equipment, and
you could duplicate most of it for almost pennies by buying cheap
equipment and materials at Home Depot, Sears, Lowes, etc.
Check out Olympus's tutorials on lighting. You don't need to use
Olympus cameras to benefit from them. Nor do you need to use all of
the equipment that they suggest. Some is fairly expensive, some is
cheap, and as I said, you can duplicate the expensive stuff for not
much money. The important thing is to understand how they are used,
and why you'd want to use them to produce different effects that are
nearly impossible to duplicate using just a camera, with or without
its built-in flash. Here are the titles of a few of the lessons :
> How to Use Strobes with Umbrellas
> Close Up and Macro Photography
> Affordable Product Shots with the First Studio Product Kit
> Sapphire Set in the LiteRoom
> A Close up Look at Macro Photography
> Photographing Watches that Sell
> Shooting Reflective Holiday Spheres
> A Different View On Jewelry Photography
Even though they don't pertain to the closeup photography you're
interested in, I found the first two lessons on Simple Vacation
Portrait Tricks to be quite, uh, illuminating.
And the
principles that they illustrate really apply to all types of
photography.
Last, the S6000 has one of the most sensitive sensors available in
non-DSLR cameras, so that it's better equipped than most to be able
to take advantage of available light. Also, get a good, stable
tripod, and for your purposes, a fairly inexpensive, smaller model
should be more than adequate. Photographers the trek into the
countryside pay big premiums to get lightweight, rigid tripods
because carrying around several extra pounds isn't much fun. Since
you wouldn't need to carry the tripod more than a few feet, you can
get away with using a much cheaper, although heavier tripod. A
tripod that's too weak and flexible may force you to use the
camera's timer delay instead of using just the normal shutter
button, and that can be a real pain, as many cameras require that
you use the camera's menu to set the timer delay for every shot.
http://olympusdigitalschool.com/photo_lessons/index.html >> Stay informed about: Questions About The Fuji S6000 Camera 
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