I had a friend ask me what to buy for an inexpensive macro setup so he could close-up pictures of the products they make for work. He wanted to be able to get within 1-6 inches of the product, which doesn’t really tell me the magnification he needs, but it gives me some idea that he wants to get closer than most cameras will allow.

I have a very expensive macro setup for my Canon 5d–a Sigma 150mm lens with a Canon ring-flash. That whole setup would run about $4k-$5k, and would be way out of his price range.

The hardest part of macro photography is the lighting, and you really need a ring flash mounted to the front of the lens if you’re not going to setup an entire macro studio. So, I started with the lighting, and found the Nikon Macro Cool Light SL-1 for their CoolPix series of consumer cameras. The best camera that was compatible with that flash is the Nikon Coolpix 5000. To connect the camera to the flash, you’ll need the Nikon UR-E6 adapter. Oh, and you’ll need a CF card for the camera.

All of those components have been discontinued, unfortunately. That does mean that you can find them cheap, though, and the whole setup will cost less than $300–not bad for 5 megapixel pictures at about 1.2″ from the front of the lens. Oh, he’ll need one more thing: a macro tripod. Macro tripods are really just any steady tripod with a sliding head on it to allow you to carefully adjust the distance of the camera from the object. I did find one macro tripod ready-to-go at B&H, without the complexity of finding a separate body and head.

Later, I’ll I plan to describe macro photography and my setup in more detail, but wanted to document this before I lost it.

DPI (dots-per-inch) depends on two factors: the resolution of the picture (“dots”) and the size of the image as you will print it (“per inch”). My website shows the resolution for every picture at the top of the page, as part of the pictures description.
For example, this picture has a resolution of 3072 x 2048:

If you wanted to print it at 3×5, it would be 614.4DPI (3072/5=614.4). Vertically, it would be 682.6DPI (2048/3), but you’d need to crop it vertically to get the 3×5 proportions, so the DPI will be the same once it’s cropped.

Can I add extra pixels in a picture saved im my computer by Photoshop or something else for enlarge or resize it??

Lauro

Brasil

Answer:

Yes, but there’s hardly ever any reason to. When you print the picture, your printer or the printing service you use will automatically scale the picture as necessary. Nonetheless, I have run into printing services that insisted on having the picture at 300dpi (or 250 dpi or 200 dpi).

I use Photoshop Elements, but I think the steps are the same in Photoshop:

1. Open your picture.
2. Click Image, click Resize, and then click Image Size.
3. Select the Resample Image check box (if it’s not already selected). You can select Bicubic from the list. Also make sure that the Constrain Proportions check box is selected.
4. Change the Width and Height in the Pixel Dimensions group to the desired resolution. If you need to achieve a specific DPI, change the Width, Height, and Resolution settings in the Document Size group.
   
5. Click OK.

Photoshop will think for a second and then show your bigger picture. Of course, this doesn’t make your picture any sharper or add any detail–it just makes it bigger and a little blurrier. Photoshop can’t add information where their wasn’t any previously.

Hi Tony!

I’m going to try to make this simple. Retired,love my back yard birds of which some species I had to work on attracting them after reading (Back Yard Birds), Woodpeckers,Finches etc. I got good at this and was flabbergasted when I finally got to see my first woodpecker. This was a big event for me and now I want a camera to go along with this great media center windows xp computer with 20” wide screen monitor. I would like to purchased a middle of the road digital camera that is fairly user friendly and yet has some step up settings for defined photos. With so much software out there which would you advise for me in the type/brand of camera and the softwhere that makes things more simple. I also have the printer that can handle this,a ( all in one photo printer ),pic bridge.plenty ram,photo ink & paper,and a wide variety of supported memory cards of different cameras. It would greatly appreciated if you could help me on this subject about which camera and software.

This is a windows xp media center computer and the monitor & photo printer was in mind with this kind of computer. One more thing, a external hard drive. Would it be wise to have one for photo backup or what would be appropriate and gig size. I liked your simple kitchen photos since I also garden peppers of all colors for my homemade salsa. I also would like to be able to make 8×10 portraits-Pixels ?

Sincerely,JDEME

Print a photograph from a memory card Printing tasks Scanning/Copying/Faxing tasks Troubleshooting

Most digital cameras use a media card to store photos. The Dell Photo AIO Printer 964 supports the following digital media and USB keys:

CompactFlash Type I and II

Memory Stick

Memory Stick PRO

SmartMedia

Secure Digital

MultiMediaCard

xD-Picture Card (up to 512 MB)

DELL – 256 MB High Speed USB 2.0 Memory Key, Part Number 311-4341

DELL – 128 MB High Speed USB 2.0 Memory Key, Part Number 311-4340

DELL – 64 MB High Speed USB 2.0 Memory Key, Part Number 311-4339

Answer:

Heya. Obviously, I like bird photography, too. It’s hard, though, because birds like to keep their distance from people. To make matters worse, birds can fly, and we can’t. Oh, and birds almost never stop moving. Woodpeckers are especially hard because they don’t hang out at feeders, and instead prefer to stand on the sides of trees, usually very high up. (though now that I write this, I find I have several pictures of woodpeckers on bird feeders)

So, you’re not going to be able to walk up to a woodpecker and ask it to hold still. You need a telephoto lens to bring them closer without disturbing them. So, my recommendation for you is going to be similar to the recommendation I gave this guy:

• Canon Digital Rebel
• Canon 70-300 IS telephoto lens

If the $870 price tag of those two items freaks you out, buy an older generation Canon SLR from eBay. Any of the digital Rebels or a Canon 10D would serve you well. They’ll all have a 1.6x conversion factor that will extend that telephoto lens even farther, letting you get closer to the birds.

If you wouldn’t mind spending over $1000, get a Canon 30D instead of the Digital Rebel. The Digital Rebel should be fine for you, though.

Regarding software, Vista Ultimate has some great tools built-in for managing photos. You don’t need to upgrade the whole operating system, though. Adobe offers the Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition for free, and so does Google:

For more hard-core editing, I like Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Well, let me know what you decide on.

Tony,
Moved to Hilton Head SC, which allows for all types of pictures. I was 35mm guy for years. now I am looking at a Canon D30 with a 17-85 lens for walking around and an additional 75-300 for the long shots. do you think I’m on the right track. Used to work up in Cambridge for a few years great subjects, and I really like your pictures.
Regrds
Hank

Answer:

Heya, Hank. South Carolina is a beautiful place.

I’m a Canon guy, and I’d recommend the Canon 30D to anyone. I don’t actually have one, buy I use a Canon 5D as my main camera and a Canon 10D (the D30′s granddaddy) as my backup.

There’s one thing I’d recommend on the lenses: get image stabilization (what Canon calls “IS”). I see your 17-85 is available as with image stabilization, and that’s a good thing, but it’s actually more important on the telephoto lens. Trust me, it’s real hard to take a handheld picture that isn’t shaky at 300mm (almost 500mm with the D30′s cropping). If IS is pushing you over budget, I’d recommend downgrading to the Canon Digital Rebel with the 18-55mm lens so that you can get the telephoto with IS.