“Dale & Liana Hanson” aktoad@gci.net
I have a Mavica FD81 that I bought a couple of years ago. I bought
it with the idea that I would use it to take pictures of the pieces
that I made. I am a hobbyist and not very productive so I haven’t
gotten very much practice. It does have most of the features that you
are looking for, but is not manually adjustable. Everything is
pre-set. You can take pictures down to less than two inches, so the
macro portion of your list is certainly there. I took a short class on
photography of jewelry and found that the key seems to be lighting. I
can get close enough and the pictures are clear enough, but the shadows
and hot spots are hard to get rid of. One of the techniques that I
learned was the use a large translucent plastic jug to enclose the
object. A milk jug with the side cut out for example. It diffuses
the light and reduces both the shadows and hot spots.
One problem with the LCD screen is that it is extremely had to see in
low light. The camera itself works well in low light , but you just
can’t see what you are taking a picture of.
If I had to do again, I may have stepped up to the top of the line
Sony because is has an averaging meter for light and more manual
controls to vary the input. The other powerful tool of course is the
software you can manipulate the image with. Sloppy polishing can
disappear with manipulation. The larger camera also allows you to set
the camera off a little and still zoom very close. In order for me to
get very close up, I literally have to get very close. This again
presents problems with lighting.
“Barbara McLaughlin” trjd@mediaone.net
I have a Mavica FD88, same as Amy O’Connell, I believe. I purchased
that one because of the use of a standard 31/4" floppy, used to be
call a hard floppy. And the fact that the software was in the camera
so I could look at a picture just by putting the disk into the
computer drive. No wires or special disks to purchase. I do not evoke
the email option and can get 30 pictures taken in macro mode with a
manual focus per disk. Not every time do I get great pictures but
most of the time. I also went with this camera because of the size of
the picture for website download capability. Viewers do not want to
wait a minute or more for a large file to download. Hope this helps.
G’day; here are the comments from a few latecomers - these will be
the last PROMISE!!!
For pictures or results from the camera check out
www.taylorriverjewelrydesign.com
Hi, The Nikon Coolpix 990 camera has a time delay feature. You set
everything up, set the 10 second timer and hold your breath until the
picture is taken. No need for a cable release! Karen
“Pam Chott” SongofthePhoenix@pobox.com I have been using the 990
since September and really love it. The autofocus is incredible and I
use the time release for my macros - press shutter once for 10 second
delay and twice for a 3 second delay. Can’t begin to say how great
this camera is and I had a 900 before!
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua Nelson NZ