need advice for taking a picture

[GravyTrain]

Hi all. I just acquired a canon s3 and i could use some advice on taking a particular picture. I want to take some pictures of a ring to sell on ebay. I tried a few on the auto setting but they didn't come out very good.

what kind of settings should i use to get the best results? would putting it on a black towel help?

[griptape]

If going outside is a possibility, you'd come out with a much better shot with sunlight than you'll get indoors. Under those conditions I would suggest setting your ISO to 100, aperture priority mode (Av) and getting some shots at f/2.8 and f/8, and using macro mode (and super macro as well if you REALLY want to get up close) and manual focus.

If going outside isn't a good option for you, use the settings above, but use your flash and put a piece of paper (or tissue, or masking tape, whatever is handy) over the flash to diffuse it (you can use a rubber band to hold the paper on there to keep both hands free). Also, as these will be for displaying on the web and not for printing at 8x10 or larger, you could go up to ISO 200 if your shutter speed drops too low to hand hold it without getting blurry pictures.

[GravyTrain]

If going outside is a possibility, you'd come out with a much better shot with sunlight than you'll get indoors. Under those conditions I would suggest setting your ISO to 100, aperture priority mode (Av) and getting some shots at f/2.8 and f/8, and using macro mode (and super macro as well if you REALLY want to get up close) and manual focus.

If going outside isn't a good option for you, use the settings above, but use your flash and put a piece of paper (or tissue, or masking tape, whatever is handy) over the flash to diffuse it (you can use a rubber band to hold the paper on there to keep both hands free). Also, as these will be for displaying on the web and not for printing at 8x10 or larger, you could go up to ISO 200 if your shutter speed drops too low to hand hold it without getting blurry pictures.

thanks griptape. i'll give that a try.

i should be able to take some outside pictures (although it's been very rainy here).

[mes444]

Gravy, Did you try putting it in P mode and using the macro setting so you can get a close up picture?

[GravyTrain]

Gravy, Did you try putting it in P mode and using the macro setting so you can get a close up picture?

no, i just used the AUTO mode because i just got the camera and i don't know what i'm doing yet.

let me ask you this: can i leave my adapter and polarizer on while using macro?

[griptape]

You can leave those on, but there's really no reason to, and you'll lose a stop or two of light.

[mes444]

Gravy, You can leave the polarizer on, but like Grip says, you'll lose light coming into the lens. Try getting a UV filter for everyday use. I always keep my adapter on, so that's why I got a UV, so I can just leave everything alone and take pics.

When you set your camera into macro, try using a lot of ambient light so you don't need the flash. Flash and macro are not the best combination.

And remember, get very close to the ring, because when you are in macro you can't use hardly any of the zoom, just none or a tiny bit. So get close, get where there is lots of light and it should work well.

[Screenclutter]

I would consider using a tripod, and as suggested above, taking pictures using a range of settings, and using the pictures you like.

[GravyTrain]

cool, thanks for the advice.

[ooverdrive]

cool

M mode is cool too.
Try using shutter speeds ranging from 1/60 and above to get blur free images,then set the aperture accordingly.Also keep iso from 80 to 100 for noise free images.