Newbie Question

[Bartooon]

Having tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to photograph butterflies with my Panasonc Lumix (the damned thing will auto-focus on everything except what I want - a leaf, twig, bush, anything except the butterfly and then with lag between pushing the button and shutter activating, it's gone anyway!), I want to upgrade to a DLSR set-up.

Could anyone recommend a good starting camera / lens combination? I can't afford a fortune but, equally, I want one that wil give decent results.

Any advice appreciated!

Many thanks

[Mark Colvin]

The best advice I can give is give it a chance.

I have only had my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ45 a week and have been extremely pleased with the results. Fitted with a close up lens and a steady hand the camera has produced excellent results (and no I don't work for Panasonic).

Be patient and good luck. Mark

[MikeOxon]

I know the problem of wayward AF on compacts only too well! A DSLR is a good solution to this although, if you want something smaller and lghter, the new compact interchangable lens cameras (eg Lumix DMC-G range) might be worth a look - they do seem a bit over-priced at present though.

With a DSLR, remember that electronics and sensors are still improving, so regard the body as fairly ephemeral, while the lenses should last for ever (more or less). With that in mind, it is good to think in terms of what lenses are available for your chosen model. That tends to push you towards Nikon or Canon, for the widest choice of quality glassware. The cheaper bodies in these manufacturers' ranges tend to benefit from the technology developed for their high-end models. The differences are mainly with things like body construction (plastic rather then metal), frame rate, and the use of menus rather than lots of separate controls, while the sensor and electronics remain first-rate.

My suggestion would be to look at the cheaper bodies in the well-established ranges, and to spend as much as possible on good lenses. There is also the second-hand option to consider. Superseded digital cameras tend to drop in price very rapidly and something like a used Nikon D40 is still a very capable camera.

Hope this helps,
Mike

[Gruditch]

Sound advise by Mike.

You can get a good used camera body for as little as £250

http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Secondhand_results.asp = Canon

http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Secondhand_results.asp = Nikon

And a new Sigma 105mm F2.8 would set you back around £390

Regards Gruditch

[Susie]

Having tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to photograph butterflies with my Panasonc Lumix (the damned thing will auto-focus on everything except what I want - a leaf, twig, bush, anything except the butterfly and then with lag between pushing the button and shutter activating, it's gone anyway!), I want to upgrade to a DLSR set-up.

Could anyone recommend a good starting camera / lens combination? I can't afford a fortune but, equally, I want one that wil give decent results.

Any advice appreciated!

Many thanks

I apologise if you have already tried this but it sounds to me like you are getting a little too close to your subject which is why the camera is trying to focus on something else. I have found the Lumix to be an excellent camera but it is even better with the addition of a close up lense. You only have to see the results Sussex Kipper gets with his camera to see what it is capable of.

[Mark Colvin]

Ringlet image produced with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ45.

It can be done!

Good luck. Mark

[Bartooon]

Thanks for the advice everyone - much appreciated,

Mark - I'm so jealous!

In my "defence", my camera is not one of the more recent Lumix models - it is DMC FZ7. I guess the truth of the matter is that I'm a cr*p photographer. Still, I'll hang in there and keep trying.

I'm planning to go on a 3 day DSLR nature photography course run by my local wildlife trust in September (with 1 day specifically aimed at macro photography), so perhaps that will help!

Cheers,
David

[Trev Sawyer]

Hi David,
I'm not sure if your model will accept the close-up lens which seems to be the difference between good and superb shots with the Lumix set-up for butterflies... It would definitely be worth checking this out, before you do anything rash (and potentially expensive ). You may have to scan back through some of the forum posts on this site to see what those who use the system have bought to get those lovely shots which have been posted on UKButterflies. If the additional close-up lens will fit your model, and you follow the information on which settings to use, I'm sure it will "click" (so to speak) and you will be a happy chappie. I have never used a Panasonic Lumix camera, but I have been very tempted to get one as a light/easily-transported camera when I don't want to cart all my DSLR gear around.

Trev

[MikeOxon]

A further thought, David. You might be suffering from the quirky macro mode on some Lumix cameras. (I have a TZ5 and believe that the FZ7 has a similar system)

Macro ONLY works at the two extremes of the zoom range and, at any other setting of the zoom, the minimum focus distance is much greater. At the short end, the camera will focus down to about 5 cm while, at the long end, it will focus down to 100 cm but ONLY if the mode selector is in the 'macro (flower picture)' position. It's easy to forget this and move the zoom, so losing any macro capability!

Mike

[Padfield]

I've never used a Panasonic, but all Canon compacts allow you to set the focus to central spot focus. Then, the camera focuses on whatever is right in the centre of the field of vision, so you just point it, focus, and if desired then move the camera so the butterfly is off-centre, holding the focus down so it doesn't change. I've never had any problems of focusing at all using compacts. For difficult exposures you can also set the exposure to centre-spot, so whites are brought out properly. There are lots of very good reasons for upgrading to a DSLR, but I don't think focus is one of them!

If the target butterfly is so small in the centre of the field that the camera looks past it to focus, then using the digital zoom is useful. It is in fact the only time the digital zoom serves any purpose - it brings the subject up to a size that the camera will focus on.

Guy

[Neil Freeman]

I can't speak for the older Panasonic compacts but I'm using my FZ38 set to centre spot auto focus.
Occasionally it will struggle to focus on something Small Skipper sized against a background of long grass but I find that a second attempt with a slight change of position usually sorts this.

The pic below was taken yesterday and at a second attempt as described above.



Oh....b***er, done something wrong there.
Tried posting from Photobucket and cocked it up.

Here the pic as an attachment whilst I try and see what I did wrong,

Neil.

[Mark Colvin]

Like Neil and Guy I also use centre spot auto focus and occasionally, as Neil states, it will struggle to focus on something small but I believe that this is only down to my ability to hold the camera extremely still on a very small object (I don't use a tripod). The following shot of a small skipper was taken a couple of days ago as the light was going down in the evening and the skippers were settling down to roost. I can't remember if I focused on it straight away but the shot came off. Susie also mentioned the problems with getting too close to your subject. If you do this the camera will definitely go in and out of focus and I have certainly experienced this.

Good luck. Mark

[Pauline]

A Skipper photo taken today using the FZ38.

[John W]

That's a lovely photo Pauline!

I too have a Lumix FZ38, but a lot of my shots with the close up lens seem slightly out of focus. See attached pic for an example. (If you click on the pic you'll see it's out of focus). I'd be grateful for any tips on camera settings and on what I might be doing wrong. I generally take pictures from 12 - 14 inches away, and have AF mode set to the 'single square'. I'm not sure if I should set Focus to AF, AF Macro, Macro Zoom or MF?

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Pauline,

What a great pose. I bet you were holding your breath when you took that shot?

Keep up the good work.

Kind regards. Mark

[Mark Colvin]

Hi John,

I generally take pictures from 12 - 14 inches away, and have AF mode set to the 'single square'. I'm not sure if I should set Focus to AF, AF Macro, Macro Zoom or MF?

Not sure if this helps but on my Lumix DMC-FZ45 I have my AF Mode set to 1 Area Focusing (single square). This is where the camera focuses on the subject in the AF area on the screen. I set Focus to AF. I use a close up lens and providing you are working within the range limits of the lens 12-14 inches should be fine. A steady hand also helps! It might also be worth you looking at your Pre AF setting. I set mine to OFF.

Good luck.

Kind regards. Mark

[Pauline]

Hi John

Thank you so much for the compliment ( and thanks also to Mark). I now have to confess that I have only had this camera a matter of days and have not yet had the confidence to take it off auto! However, there are others on this forum who are taking really cracking shots with this model (Sussex Kipper for example) and I am sure you will gets loads of useful advice. In fact so many members seem to have this camera I am surprised Neil is not doing a side-line in photography courses . What d'you think Neil? I would sign up for sure!

All the best

Pauline

[John W]

Not sure if this helps but on my Lumix DMC-FZ45 I have my AF Mode set to 1 Area Focusing (single square). This is where the camera focuses on the subject in the AF area on the screen. I set Focus to AF. I use a close up lens and providing you are working within the range limits of the lens 12-14 inches should be fine. A steady hand also helps! It might also be worth you looking at your Pre AF setting. I set mine to OFF.

Thanks Mark. What setting do you have for AF/AE lock? On my camera it's the menu item under Pre AF. The choices are AF, AE, and AF/AE.

[Mark Colvin]

Hi John,

What setting do you have for AF/AE lock?

AF/AE but I'm not really sure why. This setting will only come into play if you then press the AF/AE Lock button.

Kind regards. Mark

[MikeOxon]

I too have a Lumix FZ38, but a lot of my shots with the close up lens seem slightly out of focus.

Remember that the depth of field is very small when taking high magnification close-ups! You need to make sure that the camera doesn't move in the short interval between setting the focus and firing the shutter. Quite a tiny movement is sufficient to take the edge off the focus! I use a monopod to help steady my camera.

Incidentally, this is one area where cameras with smaller sensors (like the Lumix) have an advantage over DSLRs; the depth of field for a given aperture setting (f-number) is greater for the shorter focal-length lenses on these cameras.

Mike