Good digital camera for fly macro work?

[deefly]

I am in the process of looking for a digital camera for photographing flies for sale on Ebay or other. Its a pretty confusing digital world out there! :shocked: I am wondering if anyone could share some suggestions on their own experiences with these cameras? Any suggestions for certain capabilities? I figure Ill be photographing the flies in the vise. (ie salmon flies) Thanks mucho for any help, Im on the hunt!
Dave [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

[TheCamel]

Dave:
My relatively "old" technology Olympus 1.3 mega pixel D-460 has a macro mode, and I have taken digital photos of tied flies in the vise with good results(background and lighting are the keys to a good fly photo). You don't want too big of a photo file for use on the Internet, so the larger MPG, newer cameras really won't buy much more utility in that regard. Consider a camera which is rated "all weather" and has a good optical and digital zoom, so you can use it on the water.

TheCamel

[Fish_N_Russ]

Nikon cams are known to have great macro lenses. I have a Coolpix 2000 and it takes great closeup shots, and it was only about $200 a year ago. Im sure they make similar models in similar price range. Also I have heard good things about Canon cameras as well.
A good camera shop should have comparison photo's (ie factory display sheets) for each of the brands they have with different settings......that might help you also.

[Billy Tillamook]

I'm a freak [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img] when it comes to buying the "right" camera and electrical equipment... Last year I checked out consumer reports and bought there top rated camera in the 3.2 mega pixel category. It is a Fuji Finepix 3800 paid $399 for it. I too have used it for photos of flies and it is very, very nice. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[Ty]

Sony Cybershot PC-10...... great all around digital adn at 5 MP and $450 great value!

[Tanner]

Do a search on an ifisher who goes by the moniker "Sublime". Last year he posted some beautiful photos of mayflys and stoneflies (The real thing) that he had taken while messing around with the Macro setting on his digi cam.

Try e-mailing him, he could probably give you some good direction.

[Fleetwood]

You might check out those with SLR design. They allow you to see what you will be photographing. They are much easier to focus very small items, close ups, etc.

I have an older Olympus SLR digital that I use to photo graph documents, maps, newsprint etc. It works very well. I also have a standard digital that I use, I can usually get good results, but find that I take a number of pictures to get one that is acceptable.

The SLR design is availble on several brands, usually cost a bit more, but well worth it. Check out the refurbished units on ebay.

While you are setting up to take pictures of flies, get a good quality tripod, a good quality light system, both will make your flies look better.

I might also add the observation that you do not need a camera with a whole lot of high pixe ratings to produce excellent pictures for what you want. A picture for ebay and any email work,at 640 x 480 is about all you need. This is usually a low setting on most of the current camera's.

The higher cameras with 2+ mega pixel are great for making prints, blowing up etc. but even half that will make a nice print on most printers.

I have used digital in my work for about 10 years, I am on my 4th camera, the first one still works fine, just big and slow.

I have also purchased refurbished ones, with full warranty off ebay and have had excellent results. They are used every day by staff and my self.

The old SLR remains my favorite. Good luck with your enterprise.

Curt

[sliverpicker]

I have an Olympus c740uz. It has a nice macro feature that I've used to photograph wildflowers this spring. It does a fine job on flowers, haven't tried it with flies yet.

This camera also has a 10x optical zoom which I've used on wildlife, and I've got some great shots of bighorn sheep with it maxxed out.

sliverpicker