Get out into the garden and shoot something !

[JohnG]

I've had great fun over the last couple of days trying out the macro mode on my FZ3. Quite pleased with the results for the first attempt.

[seany]

That's what it's all about john, getting out there and enjoying it

Some good tips here john that will be of interest to you. I know the guys using a dslr but some of the tips will do for anybody

http://www.fredmiranda.com/A7_Nori/

[mjw123]

Not bad for a cheap and cheerfull FZ3 John

I've had some stunning results of bees, wasps, hoverflies etc in Macro mode with mine.

[JohnG]

I think I'm going to read up more about macro stuff - thanks for the link Sean
I do enjoy this stuff more than other types of photography at the moment, the problem is I keep looking at the specs of the Canon PowerShot S2 IS which does macro down to zero cm in super macro mode !

[Zone]

Originally Posted by JohnG

I do enjoy this stuff more than other types of photography at the moment, the problem is I keep looking at the specs of the Canon PowerShot S2 IS which does macro down to zero cm in super macro mode !

I feel sorry for the poor squashed insects in JohnG's garden already

[GrahamC]

A little tip (bee macro) most models like you to photo their face and not their ass . Like the shots though.

[JohnG]

I know but the little buggers won't keep still.... now where did I put that superglue

[GrahamC]

Originally Posted by JohnG

I know but the little buggers won't keep still.... now where did I put that superglue

Careful with that stuff, before you know it your like Pooh bear with his paw in the honey pot and with the pesky bee on the end of your shnoz

[JohnG]

All the flowers are now getting past their best and on their way out, but there's still photos to be taken

[RobertP]

Couldn't help noticeing your images look a little noisy - may be the scale they are from the original?

Anyway out of curiosity I tweaked one for contrast and then put it through neat image

I looked at these from work earlier on adsl and they were seriously slow to load. At home on ntl they loaded in a couple of seconds. Wonder if everyone outside ntls network who sees ntl hosted images gets them so slowly?

[JohnG]

I didn't enlarge from the original so the noise must have been from the camera, although I'm not sure what to look for noise-wise !
Mind you the camera is only 3mp so would that be it ?

[RobertP]

Originally Posted by JohnG

I didn't enlarge from the original so the noise must have been from the camera, although I'm not sure what to look for noise-wise !

The noise is obvious in the plain areas - usually the background. It is nothing to do with the pixel count. More a case of how well the sensor works.

Noise is one area where cameras are improving all the time. My Oly 5050 is fine in good light but has some background noise when the light level drops.

In dark situations the noise can still be visible at printed sizes. I have some concert pics from the Oly that are quite grainy.

Not really up on Panasonic cameras so I don't know if yours is performing as expected or not. Were these taken in good light? Exif says f2.8 so I'd guess maybe not. The noise in your pictures would probably not show at printed sizes.

Neat image is a free download (you need to register and pay for it if you want to batch process and stuff) - just Google it.

[JohnG]

I wonder if it's because I shot a lot of the photos yesterday at the long end (420 mm) of the lens ? I basically set the apperture to F2.8 and started shooting, but found the being further away and zooming in isolated the subject more. It also gave me some practice using the autofocus on the FZ3 which I had been struggling with previously.

[RobertP]

maybe its an effect caused by the image stabiliser - I assume it has one?

If you have a tripod and can turn IS off then it may be worth an experiment.

[JohnG]

I haven't got a tripod yet so have to rely on the IS. I'm waiting until I need to order something from ebuyer so I can try one of their cheap tripods.