the closer you get to a mini, the more nearby or surrounding objects get unsharp/blurred.

this can be used by intention to make only certain areas sharp.
but most often this is annoying.

the larger the distance, the more things become sharp.
to not loose resolution and get the mini too small, one should use zoom function to get it bigger in the pic.

most often the combination of setting the flower (macro) option on and using a larger distance (appr. 30/40 cm) with zooming in will bring good results.

Cool, thanks Beate. I've only taken about 3 decent pics ever... *Goes to upload three decent pics*

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Thror Clawhammer
Is it sad that I spent hours trying to think of a signature?

Hit the nail right on the head !

Exactly right and exactly what i do

Just remember to hold the camera vvery still or place it on something

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I have noticed that if the camera is brought very close to the miniature (5 cm with my camera) and no zooming is used, it can produce interesting effects. I can focus on the face of the miniature and the parts closer or farther will be unfocused. The effect makes it look like you are close to the person or that the sword is moving quickly. Artistic but not very practical for showing your painting.

-- Pasi

First decent pics are in my gallery - http://www.one-ring.co.uk/phpBB2/album_ ... er_id=1802

Thanks again Beate for making sure I have ALL good pics from now on...

Thror.

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Thror Clawhammer
Is it sad that I spent hours trying to think of a signature?

The tips seem to of helped you alot Congratz

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Er, I have to disagree with some of what has been said already, but I don't want to turn this into a physics lecture...

Going too close with any lens means you are inside its focussing range so yes, it will be blurred. You need to know the precise minimum distance (this may depend on the focal length seting so zooming generally increases the closest focussing distance).

However the question seemed to be more about getting the entire mini and the background as sharp as possible, and that boils down to a combination of:

Depth of field - the smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field, meaning that objects near and far will be in focus over a greater range

Lens type - wide angle lenses have a greater depth of field than telephoto types; tilt and shift lenses have huge depth of field. Lens quality is part of this equation - basically you get what you pay for, so the SLR and medium formats are measurably superior to the all-in-one solutions.

Steady camera - if the camera is moving at all, even due solely to your heartbeat, that minute motion affects the focus and image capture, so a tripod or beanbag or a stack of books will help minimise this shake

Dedicated macro lenses are the best thing for mini photography but they are expensive and true macros are for the SLR fraternity only.

I could do a series of test images if anyone is interested, though they will be limited as I do not yet have a telephoto for the digital camera.

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thx for the tip I think it really works well on unpainted miniatures. I've tried it for a few days now and this worked really fine Results can be found in the WIP-section under my 'diorama'-topic.

I also dont want to start a classroom - but I do have a telephoto lens - would anyone like some examples between the two of us

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