Which camera is best for eBay...

[nana-lala1]

listings of close up snaps of small items (in my case coins).

Just bought a Nikon Coolpix & though it has a close up function the pics are blurred.

Thanks nana

[cee-dee]

The best camera is one you find easy to use.

Did you check that it was in focus properly?

Did you take the pic hand-held, rest your hand/arm on something or use a tripod?

This pic was taken hand-held:-

[lucasapple09]

i use a nikon 7600. quite an oldy but a goody! its great for close ups x

[nana-lala1]

Thanks CD & lucas - My pic are taken holding by hand with support.

I've just taken this pic of a Crown coin camera set at 1600x1200 pixels.

nana

[nana-lala1]

lucas - my nikon is a new Coolpix s3300.

Is this item the same as yours: 
301080582565

Its on auction just now.

nana x

[cee-dee]

Just took this, a battered pound coin.

Nikon P80, hand held, room lighting.

[tuckerbigdaddy5ngv]

for small flat items use a scanner

[nana-lala1]

CD, Thanks again - thats a superb pic.

Obviously thats a much superior camera to my toy - The cost is scary, however after having to take early retirement for health reasons I am experimenting with becoming a Business Seller & good pics are paramount to getting prospective bidders interest.

This one is listed just now (from Canada) is it the same as yours & is the camera easy for an amateur to use?

Sorry picking your brain again.

nana.

[cee-dee]

As with everything, the first thing to do is read the instructions for what you want to do, ignore all the other stuff for now.

For the web and ebay, you don't need your pics to have a massive file size so read the instructions with reference to not only the physical size, but the file size and set the camera accordingly.

If you need close-ups, a suitable camera should have a macro setting. Lighting is important, the "best" light is daylight, NOT in sunlight though.

Learning can be tough, the best way to learn is to take lots of pics and learn from the mistakes that are bound to follow. Professional photographers can take a relatively simple camera and produce superb pics with it, they've learned from their mistakes. Identifying the cause of the mistake is key though.

Although you can produce ebay pics "straight out of the camera", a photo editing program is really helpful in that you can correct a slightly skew-whiff pic or crop it so that you've not got too much background.

Initially, the KISS principle is best, more advanced pic taking and manipulating comes later.

My pic of the pound coin was initially skew-whiff and had a lot of background so I straightened it and cropped it. I re-sized my cropped pic to 800 pixels wide then reduced the file size from over 600k to just over 300k.

Depending on your camera....... with close-ups you may not be able to "fill the frame". If you're using the macro setting, if you try to zoom in, your camera may not be able to get the subject in focus, hence the fuzzy pic. Taken from further away with less zoom or much closer with even less zoom may result in lots of background (but the pic will be sharp), hence the need for a photo editing program.

[cee-dee]

I looked at the one from Canada, that's the same as mine. I note there's no battery with it. Customs may stick some import duty on it too........ If you were hell-bent on one, I'd stick to a UK seller.

However, if you can't manage to take good pics with the camera you've already got, if there's nothing wrong with it, a camera shop might be persuaded to have a look at it to ensure it's OK and might even show you how to take close-ups.

[nana-lala1]

Thanks CD 

That was was good succinct advise for me, I have noticed that in certain light (especially daylight) that my pics are clearer.

I forgot to leave the item no in my last post: 
151220546630

I may consider it.

Kindest regards nana 

[cee-dee]

See my post just before yours.

I have 2 other Nikons, I got the P80 as a smaller, lighter camera with a decent zoom. My other two are much bigger and heavier but the lenses are more superior.

I find that I use the P80 all the time because it's easy to use. There's all sorts of functions but I mostly have it set on "Auto" (point-and-shoot).

[5129frederick]

For sharpness, you'd have to go some to beat a Pentax L6.  the focus on Macro is 150%, and the zoom for telephoto shots is, unlike my Cannon gradual, not preset at three.  It cost me over £130.00 new, but I got my money back on the second sale!  Look out for special fratures like taking images of black and white print, and hold the camera as steady as possible before pressing the trigger.  It's built-in "brain" tells it when it's ready.  That's when it goes slightly out of focus for about a second.  The only downside is they are no longer on sale new.  Pentax Optio L6.  It's so good, I bought a second-hand one after I replaced it with my cannon.  For high definition you need as high a pixel count as possible - at least twelve.  Have a look at the items I have up for sale.  Clarity/sharpness is VITAL.  Hope this helped

[5129frederick]

Man, that really is something!  Puts my Cannon to shame.  What's the pixel rating, and how much would a second-hand one set me back?  I've NEVER seen sharpness like that, without the use of special filters etc.  That really is the bees knees!

[nana-lala1]

Thanks frederick - I'll check out your listings now.

Yeah CD's post of coin was very impressive.

[nana-lala1]

CD you've been ever so helpful & I'm so impressed with your pics that I feel that this is the camera for me.

I hesitate to ask you to peruse this one 331120515050 but only at your convenience.

It has a week to go - Theres a lot thats not mentioned re battery & charger etc so I have contacted the seller for some more precise info.

Thanks a lot Jane 

[cee-dee]

As people who "follow" camera technology will probably tell you, the P80 is "outdated" now and the later Nikon "bridge" cameras have a "bigger" zoom BUT..... I didn't like the batteries they used, a change I thought was a retrograde step.

A "bridge" camera is one that's between a snapshot camera and an SLR.

A really useful (essential almost) thing to have is a photo editing program, I use PaintShopPro but lots of people use Irfanview, a free downloadable program.

I note you asked about the manual, it's essential you have one.

[cee-dee]

Just for fun, I took the following pic.

First, I took the pic hand held with room light.I had the camera on "Auto", picture quality "normal" but the image size I left on 10MP. I didn't use "Macro" for this.

With the pic downloaded I cropped the first one and re-sized the pic to 800 pixels wide, reduced the file size and saved the pic.

For the second one, I "undid" the editing and started afresh and cropped the coin tightly. I resized that to 800 pixels wide and reduced the file size before saving. Both were then uploaded to Photobucket.

Not brilliant pics but OK for hand held and room light? (100 watt incandescent bulb)

[nana-lala1]

CD - If I could get close to that quality I would be happy.

There are 2 P80's listed now & I've put watches on them.

You can tell that I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to good photography, but I'm sure that with the practise of continual use & learning from my mistakes that I will gradually become more competent.

I bought a Photoshop disk on ebay a couple of years ago (on 'Petals' advice)but my computer slowed down. I got it on ebay so maybe it was a bad copy. I normally use M/soft picture Manager but the functions are limited.

I'll try the free download you mentioned.

Thanks again for your interest & good advice. 

[cee-dee]

If you do buy one, ensure you get a manual with it, you'd be lost without one.