How did they do that?

Shooting macros is fairly simple - a single 13 watt full spectrum folding Ott light is all that was used for these samples. A tripod helps, especially for critical work. Here's how we shot these sample macros:

If you want sharpness from corner to corner, 2 dimensional subjects like the note in these samples must be perfectly flat - we taped this one down. Equally as important is to be sure the camera is square/parallel to the subjects surface and stays that way when you make height adjustments with your tripod.

Attach your macro filter/lens to the adapter. You must use the LCD for macro work - the optical viewfinder is nearly useless at this range, besides the lens/adapter is in the way. It's also the only way to use the manual focus feature. If color accuracy is important, set the custom white balance ­ it's easy, page 87 in the manual.

Select AV or aperture priority on the mode dial. Then select f8 which is the smallest aperture by turning the main dial (the one in front of the shutter.) This will give you the most depth of field. DOF becomes very small as you increase magnification and you want as much as you can get. In fact, it's nearly impossible to get the dime and note both in focus once you are near +7 diopters (the power of one macro set).

Go to the menu and select single (default is continuous) autofocus. This is the preferred AF mode for most users - and seems to help when the AF is stumbling in difficult situations. Just get in the habit of half depressing the shutter to prefocus when timing is critical.

Zoom to full telephoto. This is the best focal length for macros for several reasons - it gives the most magnification, the least distortion, and gets the lens farther from your subject so it's easier to light.

We used the manual focus feature because we wanted to get as close to the subject as possible with a given macro lens/filter. If you just use the autofocus in Macro mode, it's more difficult to tell when you're actually focused as you approach the minimum distance (giving maximum magnification) to the subject. Press the MF (manual focus) button and a magnified area appears which aids in focusing. Turn the main dial until the minimum distance is displayed (somewhere between 10 and 20 cm) Raise and lower the camera and you can see the focus change in the magnified area. Find the best focus, then raise the camera just slightly and lock. Now press the MF button again, the magnified area will disappear and you can recompose. The reason you raised the camera just slightly, is because now we will switch to the Macro setting (flower icon) to use autofocus and this will insure that the camera is within the focusing range of the macro filter being used. Use the remote (go into the menu and change the wireless delay to 0, and press the self timer button next to the shutter until the clock icon shows in the display), then trip the shutter with the remote ­ that's it.

Another method is to stay with manual focus and use focus bracketing, explained on page 95 in the manual. In this mode, the camera will take 3 exposures, changing the focus slightly between shots. Check your results at 100% and prepare to be amazed.

We used both methods to get the best focus on the $20. note in the sample shots and selected the best result. With a little practice, you will find it's not difficult at all to shoot macro images.