How to focus quickly in Macro mode?

[marco772]

Hi,

I own a Nikon P530 Bridge Camera which I'm having a lot of fun getting to grips with.

I love using the Macro mode but I'm looking for any tips on the art of making the camera focus on the subject quickly rather than the background.

I tend to shoot in Auto with Macro enabled. As far as I know there's no way of manually focussing in Macro mode, but I could be wrong.

I will generally take about 30 snaps of a subject (mainly insects) and, that way, I will usually get about 20 that aren't sharp enough, a few almosts and a few great shots.

Obviously, I'd like to be able to refine this a little!

When I frame my subject, say a spider, I seem to have to press the focus button halfway several times before it will focus on the spider rather then something in the background. Often this means I miss the shots I really wanted.

My question is, are there any techniques for making the camera focus on the object you want with greater consistency? It seems very luck of the drawer for me at the moment!

I have included some recent photos to illustrate both sides.

I know a dedicated Macro lens is unbeatable but I can't afford the outlay of both a DSLR and Macro lens so all I need to know is how to make the best of what I have!

Any advice/tips would be gratefully received!

Thanks
Mark

 

[Solarflare]

Well in your situation I would try to use fixed focus and focus by moving the camera.

But mostly I wouldnt be surprised that a cheap 42x superzoom camera doesnt offer useable macro. In fact I'm quite surprised that this offers macro at all.

 

[KmH]

When your subject has little scale in the frame when using Auto mode, the AF system thinks the background is the main subject.

 

[marco772]

Thanks, it's the same even if the subject is filling the frame though, all trial and error I suppose, like all learning.

And my "cheap superzoom" was a present from my Dad and not all that cheap to us, but I guess "cheap" is a relative term.