Help me select a camera

leon.pugh

leon.pugh

Joined
Sep 21, 2006
Messages
317
I need a camera for close ups. Tell me what you use and recomend. Is possible to get high resolution close ups for a budget price say $250. I love to be able to take shots of the edge, 10X maybe ?

Thanks Leon Pugh
 
For 10x magification, you would need a SLR, a micro lens and a bellow. Not sure if the bellow is enough to get you 10x thought. Might need a microscope for that. Lots of lights all around the lens would definately help.

Think you need to add another 0 at the end of that figure.

singteck
 
leon,
What do you mean by hi-res closeups? My limited experience with knife photography tells me lighting control and tripod versatility are probably more impt than whether the camera is $250 or $550.
 
I would like to get photos of the micro bevels to show micro chipping etc. I do not know much about cameras. Is it possible at low prices, sounds like it is not! I am still using a old kodak DC 210. My pictures suck. I would at least like to improve the quality of what I Post and show what my work actualy looks like.

Leon Pugh
 
If you just want profiles, you can put your knife on a flat bed scanner and get a better picture than you ever will with a camera...and scanners are cheap. I know, I've tried it both ways. Here's a knife on a scanner:

2mwuf7n.jpg


It's an antique knife, to be sure, but the scanner picks up every detail as you can see. Of course this doesn't work if you want background settings. Then you are going to have to set up lights and put the camera on a tripod. I would guess the kind of camera you want for that is probably going to start around $1000.
 
What about one of the Digital Blue QX5 microscopes? Connects to the computer, and takes pictures at 10x 60x and 200x (although 200x is a bit grainy). Run about $80.

cbw
 
Coldwood said:
If you just want profiles, you can put your knife on a flat bed scanner and get a better picture than you ever will with a camera...and scanners are cheap. I know, I've tried it both ways. Here's a knife on a scanner:


It's an antique knife, to be sure, but the scanner picks up every detail as you can see. Of course this doesn't work if you want background settings. Then you are going to have to set up lights and put the camera on a tripod. I would guess the kind of camera you want for that is probably going to start around $1000.
Click to expand...


Great idea but you have to check your scanner. My old Epson perfection 600 scanner had great depth of field and could easily handle 3d objects like pocket knives, rca plugs and the like. My new thin profile Canon just doesn't seem to handle anything that isn't flat against the glass. Might be a good idea to test a scanner before you buy it if you intend to use it on 3d items as well.
 
kodak 650 6.1 mp or kodak 701 7.1 mp 10x optical 5x digital = 50x . same camera different mp. I love mine it is the best $200 camera I have seen it rivals much more expensive ones.
 
Thank you very much. I have starte looking into the kodak 650 6.1 mp or kodak 701 7.1 mp 10x optical 5x digital = 50x. I think that may be the best way to go for me.
Leon Pugh
 
singteck said:
For 10x magification, you would need a SLR, a micro lens and a bellow. Not sure if the bellow is enough to get you 10x thought. Might need a microscope for that. Lots of lights all around the lens would definately help.

Think you need to add another 0 at the end of that figure.

singteck
Click to expand...


You can get some mighty good close-ups with a 3 mpixel camera that has macro and a magnifying lens Ken (Ken123 ksskss) took some nice edge pics here http://www.foodieforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=1361&page=2 with a Nikon coolpix. A microscope generally gets you in close enough that you can't tell what you are looking at unless someone tells you.
 
matt321 said:
Here is a link to some really upclose stuff that goes a little beyond the QX5. The QX5 sounds easy though:

http://knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/782537/tp/0/all/1/
Click to expand...

Um, yeah, but you have to be a microscope freak to spend that much on scopes. Most "normal" people aren't as crazy as me. A cheap dissecting/stereo/inspection scope and a $99 eyepiece camera can get you some pretty nice pictures too if you have some other use for the scope besides just looking at knife edges. BTW, did you see my thread comparing the finish from a Shapton 5k, Spyderco ultra-fine, Lansky Sapphire and Naniwa 10k stones? http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/783146/ The pics in there are all through a 25x objective and work out to something rediculous like 1,400x.

A "toy" microscope is great for those who don't want to spend some $ and just want a few edge pics. The QX5 is good... it uses 1/2x, 1.4x and 3.5x objectives in front of a 640x480 CMOS and downsamples the image to 512x384 pixels so it will have the same magnifications as the old QX3, but with the plastic lenses, you'll probably find some distortion in one or more of the objectives (usually the 3.5x objective for the 200x setting)

The Motic Digiscope is another <$100 "toy" scope with glass optics that gives a bit better image. Here is a review of the model 300: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artfeb05/dwmotic1.html

Um, well, Edmund Scientific is selling them at $169, http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3081733&sid=froogle but still not too bad, considering the alternative would be to get something like this http://www.microscopesusa.com/Paragon.html and a 640x480 eyepiece camera like this http://www.drinstruments.com/xq/ASP/pid.122/cat.31/qx/product.htm which would push you over the $300 mark.
 
the mentioned kodak accepts magnification lenses and is on sale at walmart right now for 199 with a 2 gig sd card you can take 1058 pics at 6.1 mp
 
Yuzuha, your point is well taken and good advice about checking out depth of field. Oddly, the scanner that I am currently using...and with which that picture was taken...is a Canon (I got it for less than $100).

I've gone the route for about 50 years with 35mm film photography, macro lenses, etc. My current 2 pixel digital camera doesn't really cut it for close ups, even when set for high resolution. I will have to get a better camera, thank you for giving me an excuse to buy something better ;) In the meantime, I find scanning my knives to be a good solution.
 
hmm.. 10x?

this is the "penetrator" tip of a busse public defender. it's a shot 1:1.

i used a nikon d50 (550.00 body only) and a sigma 105mm macro lens (400.00).

tipok0.jpg



when you say you want to take a picture of the edge, is that all you're gonna do? like, you want it to show microserrations on the blade surface? or are you just wanting to take pics of your knives? b/c macro can be a *very* expensive endeavor. i say that it probably wouldn't be worth it to invest in a whole camera setup and everything for just this one shot of a chipped edge... but photography itself can be a very doable and rewarding skill/hobby.

for 250.00, you are in the low/med point and shoot camera range, and while there are many good ones out there, you'll be lacking in the minimum focusing distance and quality features that make a picture really stand out. i suggest you save your bread and wait for a nikon d40 (new, *very* inexpensive dSLR soon to be released on the market). or send your knives to sharpbycoop, our local pro knife photographer!
 
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