How did they do that?

The following tutorial explains the basic setup for shooting macro images with the A610/A620. While it's possible to to use macro filters handheld, taking photos like the ones on our samples page require the use of a copy stand or tripod, especially with the more powerful diopters.  

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. This becomes more critical as you increase magnification. Equally as important is to be sure the camera is square/parallel to the working surface and stays that way when you make height adjustments with your tripod or copy stand.  With our copy stand, we simply lowered the camera to the surface being photographed until the lens adapter rested completely flat on it, then locked the ball head in that position. 

Before we start, we can program the C or Custom mode of the camera (see page 69 in the manual) to remember the settings for specific jobs like shooting macros. Once programmed, the camera will remember the settings every time the mode dial it turned to C, even after turning it off. Here's how we programmed the Custom mode for this job: Turn on the camera and set mode dial to aperture priority or "AV" mode. Enter the menu, and scroll down to the first item - AF Frame. The AF (autofocus) frame is the small white rectangle seen on the LCD in any of the "creative" modes (P, Tv, Av, M, and C). The camera focuses on whatever is in this box, but there has to be some contrasting detail within the box, or the AF won't work.

When you half-press the shutter, the white rectangle will become green if focus is achieved, or yellow if it isn't. If there isn't anything in the AF frame for the camera to focus on, you need to either move the camera or subject until there is. This isn't always possible, especially when using a tripod or copy stand, so we like to use the "Flexi-Zone" AF frame. Select it by pressing the left or right cursor on the 4-way controller. The default setting is AiAF, but this setting is unpredictable and seemingly arbitrary. Flexi-Zone allows you to move the AF frame around as necessary to an area containing sufficient detail for the AF to work. Whenever you need to move the AF frame, press the EV (exposure compensation) button twice - that's the one with the +/- icon next to it. The rectangle turns green signifying that it can now be moved around with the 4-way controller. Once it's positioned where you want it, it becomes white again when you half press the shutter and behaves normally.

Scroll back up until the 3 icons at the top of the menu are highlighted again, then right cursor to the center (set-up) menu.  Scroll down to the first item and mute if desired.  You may tire of hearing beeps if you're doing this for a while.  (Mute - On is the quiet position.)  If you're working outdoors or anywhere it's difficult to see the AF rectangle change from white to yellow or green, you may want leave the sound on.  If you listen carefully, the camera emits a singe beep when focus is not achieved (yellow rectangle), and a quick double-beep when focus is achieved (green rectangle).  Next, scroll down to 'Power Saving", press the set button which takes you to the next menu.  Since this job took quite a while, we chose the Off setting for Auto Power Down,  then chose the 3 minute setting for Display Off.  This way even when the display turns off after 3 minutes, it could be revived simply by half pressing the shutter. (see page 20).  Just remember that with the Auto Power Down turned off, the camera is powered on until the batteries are exhausted.  Press the menu button again to return to the menu, or press again to get out of the menu.  (Or half press the shutter any time to return to shooting as long as the review/record switch is set to record).

Now you can see all your custom settings on the display. You can press the display button twice to clear almost all the icons if they're distracting or in the way.

The rest of the settings are changed in the "function" menu. Press the function/set button in the center of the 4-way controller. The first item is ISO or sensitivity. Since we're using a copy stand, we can leave the setting at 50. (since we don't care how long the exposures are). Scroll down to the next item on the menu. This is the white balance setting. A submenu appears at the bottom of the display. If your light source is daylight balanced, like our compact fluorescent light, you can select daylight (sun icon). If it's a tungsten source, select the bulb icon. If color accuracy is important, select the custom white balance icon on the far right. (page 56) When you select it a small white square appears in the center of the display. To set the white balance, place something white (paper, cloth, or a photo quality gray card) that fills the view for the camera to evaluate and press the "menu" button. Now the camera is adjusted to the light source.

Scroll down to the next icon, the drive mode. We want to use a shutter delay so we're not touching the camera when the shutter is released. This will assure that the operator isn't blurring the image by moving the camera when the shutter is open. Select the 2 second option from the submenu by highlighting it and pressing the set button.

Press the function/set button again to reenter the menu and select the amount of image compression desired (we wanted the least compression for best image quality, so selected "S" or Superfine. This setting will produce the largest files, so you may want to select a different setting. You may want to experiment with the different compression settings to see which work best for you.

Next icon down is image size. We used the "L" or large which produces the largest image. You might choose to use a smaller image setting depending on your needs. Now we're done with function menu.

Make sure you're still in Av mode and using the right cursor, set the aperture to f7.1. This is nearly the smallest aperture and will achieve more DOF (depth of field) than a larger (smaller f number) aperture. Depth of field in macro mode can become paper thin with the higher magnification macro lenses, so we try to maximize it. You can see how different macro lenses affect DOF on our samples page here - Then we zoom the lens to maximum telephoto. This allows highest magnification, greatest working distance, and lowest distortion. This also minimizes the problem of the lens/adapter blocking the light source.

Now to save all these settings: Press menu and cursor up one click. This should highlight "Save Settings". Press the set button, right cursor to "OK" and press set again. All your settings should now be saved and present whenever you select the "C" mode on the dial.

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. You can flip the LCD out or pop it back into its recess with the display facing out.

For these sample shots we wanted to get as close as possible to our subject with a given macro filter. We used the cameras autofocus because it's easier to focus more accurately than manual focus. Adjust the camera vertically or away from your subject until the image starts coming into focus. (or consult our minimum and maximum distances for various macro lenses here - Half press the shutter to see if you get focus confirmation (rectangle turns green, not yellow) Make adjustments up or down until focus is achieved, then fully press the shutter (remember to wait if you selected the 2 second delay).