Select AV or aperture priority on the mode dial. Then select f8 which is the smallest aperture by clicking on the right side of the 4 way selector. 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 difficult to get both the dime and note in focus once you are near +7 diopters (the power of one macro set). If you're using lower powers such as +2, you might want a larger aperture (smaller number) to intentionally make part of your subject (say, a flower) out of focus. This would give you the added benefit of a faster shutter speed for handheld macro work.
Go to menu and turn the AiAF off - it's been the experience of most users that this focus mode does not work consistently. Then press the function button and select the appropriate white balance or set the custom white balance for the best accuracy. (It's easy, see page 102 in the manual.)
The next item in the function menu is the drive mode. In this case we simply want a 2 second shutter delay (last icon) so we're not touching the camera when the shutter trips.
Then select the ISO speed. We use 50 because it's the least noisy and since the camera is on a stand or tripod anyway, it doesn't matter if the shutter speed is slow.
Lastly, select the size you want. We used the largest (L) size, 2272x1704 and the least jpeg compression, Superfine. (Icon with S in pie shape, select by pressing set after selecting size.)
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.
If you shoot macros often, you might want to save all these settings (most of which will return to default when you turn off the camera) by using one of the "Custom" modes. The mode selector has two of them, C1 and C2. To do this, simply press the menu button (once you have all your settings for macro or any other special situation while in any of the shooting modes - Program, Shutter, Aperture, or Manual), scroll down to the bottom of the list to "C save settings", press right on the 4-way, select C1 or C2, and press SET the settings. Now when you want to shoot macros, just select C1/C2 on the mode dial and when you turn on the camera all your settings will be remembered.
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 usually more accurate than manual focus. We did, however, use the manual focus to find the approximate distance we needed to be from our subject in order to focus. To do this, press the flower icon/MF on the 4-way until the distance scale and magnified central area appear on the LCD. With the lens zoomed to full tele, press and hold the left side of the 4-way until the distance scale stops (about 20cm.) Adjust the camera vertically or away from your subject until the image in the magnified area appears sharp, then press the flower icon twice to return to macro mode/autofocus. Now make fine vertical adjustments until you get focus confirmation - the small rectangle in the center of the display turns green when you half press the shutter. Yellow indicates not focused. Press the shutter fully and the picture is taken.
If you find that camera is shutting down too quickly on its own while you're arranging and composing, you can change this in the Setup menu - press menu, Setup (center icon), scroll down to "Power Saving", click right and either turn off the "Auto Power Down" or set the "Display Off" to more time. If you choose "Display Off", the camera "goes to sleep" to save power, and is revived by half pressing the shutter.
With its articulated LCD screen, the A80/A95 makes macro photography a snap. With a little practice you'll find there's no mystery to shooting macros and you're only limited by your imagination.
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