Photographing objects (n00b warning)

dahamsta

I've never been able to take photographs of objects close up; for example I have three small piggy banks here that I want to give away as prizes, but all my photos come out blurred. I'm using a Canon Digital IXUS 400, but I've had the same problem with different cameras so I'm assuming there's a knack I'm missing?

adam

Roen

Every lens will have a minimum distance which it will focus at, it sounds like your going closer than that minimum. Check the manual and see exactly how close you can get. As a rule of thumb, the longer the lens, the further you'll have to be away.

rymus

also, you probably have some kind of macro setting on the camera (usually a flower icon). That should help a bit. Otherwise Roen was spot on. Move back a bit or zoom out a bit and you should be able to get the shot in focus.

elven

would an old fashioned close up filter mess with the af on a compact do you think? It's what I used before I got my tubes and it was cheap and cheerful, let me get just that bit closer...

JMcL

In macro mode this should focus to 5cm (from DPReview page) If macro mode doesn't solve the problem, get your hands on a little table top tripod and put the camera on that.

John