Canon EOS 550D tips to for macro shots?

[matt17]

Hi all my sister has off-laoded a basically brand new canon EOS 550D however she lost the manual and that has made things quite tricky for trying to get the best shots possible when on the water. On the macro setting it will zoom in and focus on the target, and then un focus its self automatically. Is there something I am missing or forgetting to do, like a setting of such?

I am just a beginner from a compact digital camera to this so any real help would be great.

thanks for the help guys
Matt

[chanlo]

Originally Posted by matt17

Hi all my sister has off-laoded a basically brand new canon EOS 550D however she lost the manual and that has made things quite tricky for trying to get the best shots possible when on the water. On the macro setting it will zoom in and focus on the target, and then un focus its self automatically. Is there something I am missing or forgetting to do, like a setting of such?

I am just a beginner from a compact digital camera to this so any real help would be great.

thanks for the help guys
Matt

Try turning it onto the setting that looks like a flower on the dial on top, it is meant for close up photos... also try turning off automatic focus and use it manually can yield the best results. You can turn it off on the side of the lense it should be sliding button thats has MF on one side and AF on the others, turn it to MF then turn the lense until you focus it.

I have a 600d and i'm still learning how to use it!

[matt17]

Originally Posted by chanlo

Try turning it onto the setting that looks like a flower on the dial on top, it is meant for close up photos... also try turning off automatic focus and use it manually can yield the best results. You can turn it off on the side of the lense it should be sliding button thats has MF on one side and AF on the others, turn it to MF then turn the lense until you focus it.

I have a 600d and i'm still learning how to use it!

Thanks mate I know abut the settings on the top with the flower and all, and I tried putting it in manual but the same thing happened

[special_k]

Try to come a little further away from your target. You are probably too close to it. That would explain why the camera focuses on your subject then loses focus.

Try play with it at home. Choose a lure for example and get really close, you should find that the camera will focus then lose focus. Come out slowly until the focus holds and you will know the rough operating focal distance for that lense.

Let us know how you go

[crusty]

Originally Posted by matt17

Hi all my sister has off-laoded a basically brand new canon EOS 550D however she lost the manual and that has made things quite tricky for trying to get the best shots possible when on the water. On the macro setting it will zoom in and focus on the target, and then un focus its self automatically. Is there something I am missing or forgetting to do, like a setting of such?

I am just a beginner from a compact digital camera to this so any real help would be great.

thanks for the help guys
Matt

With DSLR the lens is the limiting factor for Macro shots.

The minimum focus distance for the lens you have on it will be noted on the lens somewhere.

What lens do you have?

There are a few of options to get closer.
Cheapest - get as close as the lens will let you, then crop the photo afterwards to get closer.

middle option - close up filters - these screw onto the front of the lens (you will see a thread on the front of the lens) and will allow you to focus closer. The ones I own came as a set of three (make sure you buy the ones to fit your lens as there are different diameter lenses.

Next is Macro tubes - these go between the lens and the camera. They are better than the close up filters, but the cheap ones mean you have to manually focus the camera.

Expensive option - A dedicated (well there not really dedicated as they do other photos as well) Macro lens. There is a 100mm Canon Macro lens that I saw a guy using. Great lens but $700ish and no zoom, just a prime.

I bought a Sigma17-70mm lens for my 500D. Its faster than the standard lens, better glass and focuses faster and has Macro in the name. Its not a true Macro but it does OK. Its heavier and less convenient though

After seeing some Macro work on here I bought a Canon 50 EF II prime lens ($100-150) and the Macro tubes (about $10 from Ebay) and tried them. Other than the manual focus (focus as best you can then move back and forwards a bit to get it right, and take plenty of shots), and loss of control of the aperture they are pretty good

[jgarner447]

Originally Posted by matt17

Hi all my sister has off-laoded a basically brand new canon EOS 550D however she lost the manual and that has made things quite tricky for trying to get the best shots possible when on the water. On the macro setting it will zoom in and focus on the target, and then un focus its self automatically. Is there something I am missing or forgetting to do, like a setting of such?

I am just a beginner from a compact digital camera to this so any real help would be great.

thanks for the help guys
Matt

what lens you got ? 18-55mm and 55-250mm ?
you wanna shoot the largest aperture as possible also known as Fstop( keep in mind a LARGE aperture will be a low number F-stop) for example a large aperture will be F2.8 and a small aperture will be F22

If you use the largest aperture available on your lens the smaller the point of focus will be,for example if you focus on a fishes eye with a large aperture it will focus on the fish head but blur the background , thats what you wanna try do with most macro shots , i suggest buying a cheap lens like a canon 50mm F1.8 , you can pick up one of these for $80 second hand and honestly the image quality on these are amazing, there is no zoom on these lenses either , so you wanna open your aperture to F2.0 or F2.8 and get as close as you can to the subject , and keep as still as possible and hope for the best, also i thing to remember the larger the aperture (Lowest F number ) the quicker the shutter will shoot, so you will get less blur and can shoot in lower light conditions without using a flash. also the faster u can get the shutter snapping the lower the ISO you can go , i always try to shoot in 100 ISO this way you get a clearer image, once you go past 400 ISO you will start to notice a grainy image known as "noise"

also ... as chanlo mentioned, try using manual focus if your having no luck with auto focus , but you will have trouble doing this hand held if you dont have a steady hand, tripod use is best when using manual focus ,

i hope this helps you understand a bit, sorry its all over the place with my explanation but im at work and trying to give you as much info as fast as i can

Cheers Jase...

[crusty]

You should be able to download the manual, I would think.

I'd like to get an EOS7d - I wonder if I use that excuse on my wife whether I'll have any joy?

[jgarner447]

Originally Posted by crusty

You should be able to download the manual, I would think.

I'd like to get an EOS7d - I wonder if I use that excuse on my wife whether I'll have any joy?

get the canon 5d mark ii lol , such an amazing camera , too bad it costs an arm and a leg

[matt17]

Wow thanks for all the support guys! think I got the knack of it. Special_k You solved the short term solution to the problem thanks mate. I was holding it WAY too far to the target.

Jase I'm using a 15-85mm lens. Thanks for the advice mate and crusty I might be thinking of looking into buying another lens in the near future...

here's a slight improvement!

[jgarner447]

Sweet I use the 15-85mm lens, they are awesome