Point & Shoot For Macro reccomendations

[evilsivan]

<p>My father's wife has asked me for a recommendation for a camera that has good Macro ability. She is interested in photographing flowers. They are looking in the $500 range. She told me she wants a camera that will take good pictures as nice as my pictures (a slightly insulting comment, I've been doing photography for 20 years and as you all know its not the camera its what's behind it :() At any rate I am not familiar with PS offering as I am a dSLR man.<br>

I am hesitant to suggest to her to a get a beginner dslr and lens as I am not sure she will bother learning about photography.<br>

Features she would like<br>

-HD video<br>

-Stabilization<br>

-Macro, closeup ability</p>

<p>Thanks for you helps!</p>

<p>Ofer</p>

[bill_tuthill]

Panasonic LX-35 seems the obvious choice here, and costs much less than $500. Not good in low light, but it is competitive with DSLR in bright light.

[evilsivan]

<p>Bill, did you mean "LX 5" or "FZ35"? I can't find "LX-35"<br>

-Ofer</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>I'm sure FZ35 and to that I would add a close-up lens such as a 500mm and introduce her to the concept of rather than going close she using the narrow angle of view of the zoom to get the tight framing ... but point out that she needs to always be between 20 and 13 inches when using this set-up .... while I am quite happy working this way I must admit my wife has difficulty in appreciating what we are doing.<br>

After twenty years I'm sure you are aware that there is no difference in DoF in working this way, but some seem to think you must use a wide angle lens for most DoF.<br>

Alternative model would be the FZ50 again with the CU lens </p>

[bill_tuthill]

Sorry, FZ35. I continue to be amazed by the FZ18, second generation of the line in which FZ35 is fourth. You can magnify macro in the electronic viewfinder to check focus and depth of field. FZ50 is long discontinued, and would have to be purchased used.

[brian_hirschfeld]

<p>Ricoh has some amazing macro</p>

[adm_r]

<p>yes <a href="http://amzn.to/ah10kz">Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35</a> is the choice to go with.Excellent macro mode. If you like macrophotography you'll like this camera. Also at very reasonable price with all the features you require.</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>I could be wrong but generally speaking I think you will find that cameras with close focusing features will only do this a their widest angle of view ... which means that despite coming close they still shoot a lot of the subject. With a x12 zoom and the 500mm CU lens I get a subject about 38mm across filling the sensor. A 250mm CU lens would give about 19mm across... having OIS is probably an essential feature for working this way.</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>I think the HD video will be your deciding factor, the FZ50 only gives me 640x480 in video mode.<br>

I'd like to bet that many photographers are virtually working in automatic mode when they choose Aperture priority since all they are selecting is that and the camera is doing the rest :-) She doesn't need to learn that much because cameras are so well designed these days they can do all the thinking for 95% of the time ... a better average than we used to achieve in pre-digital days maybe . </p>

[evilsivan]

<p>Thanks for your inputs! I will borrow a friend's FZ35 and take a good look at the LX5 too.<br>

Ofer</p>