Motion Macro

[Shadeofhisheart]

i cannot say if this question has been asked too many times, but i thought i would get the advice of the experts. i have recently started using the olympus sp-565uz for my photography and its macro is amazing, the only problem i seem to have is motion..anything.

i tried the fulltime AF and using a higher shutter speed but either the shutter still takes too long to catch a picture (unlike the full manual film slr cameras i am used to, where you click and the photo is taken) and the photo i was going for is lost, OR i catch it..but its incredibly blurry, meaning either it was going too fast (like a cat tongue) or the focus just wasnt figuring itself out. sometimes the auto focus is nice..but other times i am actually turned away from a whole shot because my camera cant seem to figure out what im pointing it at. i have never had this problem with film cameras..what am i doing wrong? am i just not using enough light? or is there some feature i am missing.

 

[Stosh]

You'll need to analyze the pics at full res to know what happened. Look for small highlights or point sources of light. If it was blurred from motion, there will be a distinct line or zigzag showing up with those point sources of light or highlights. If it was out of focus, there is no movement shown, only blurriness.

If it's just focus that your camera can't seem to handle, can you switch to manual focus? Start with easier subject and experiment. That's the best way to learn what's wrong and/or get better. Take a pic of a coin or something else that's motionless. Try it at several different magnifications. Try it with more light. See what changes. You'll quickly find out what the real problem is.

 

[Shadeofhisheart]

You'll need to analyze the pics at full res to know what happened. Look for small highlights or point sources of light. If it was blurred from motion, there will be a distinct line or zigzag showing up with those point sources of light or highlights. If it was out of focus, there is no movement shown, only blurriness.

If it's just focus that your camera can't seem to handle, can you switch to manual focus? Start with easier subject and experiment. That's the best way to learn what's wrong and/or get better. Take a pic of a coin or something else that's motionless. Try it at several different magnifications. Try it with more light. See what changes. You'll quickly find out what the real problem is.

that is a good idea..i will have to try that

so far i have managed some fairly nice macro photos, it just seems to be a problem when working with either moving subjects or ones in darker areas, for example here are some photos i took

a good picture i took: http://i47.tinypic.com/2enygl0.jpg
a bad one i took: http://i47.tinypic.com/erh1m8.jpg

but i noticed a problem even outdoors but with some flowers underneath a bush, just the shadow of the bush was too much for my camera it seems

 

[Stosh]

Yeah, the cat pic is definitely movement of some sort. Look at the highlights in the eyes. They are kind of "double" image meaning either the cat or the camera moved in that direction. More light would have certainly helped speed up the shutter.