Internet Horology Club 185
What I use

This topic can be found at:
https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7356029761/m/8653991777

February 14, 2013, 06:14
Donald C. Henderson
What I use
I use my Canon A70 Powershot 3.2 mp camera in macro mode with the flash turned off. Everything else is set on automatic. I think it does a great job and some of the pics are posted here. Personally I think anything over 5mp is overkill and exists mostly due to marketing considerations. Only people who need to print poster sized or larger images need all those megapixels. 3.2 is perfectly sufficient for up to 8X10 size prints and certainly for anything posted on the web.

For cropping, resizing, and other editing I use IrfanView and it does the job very well.
February 14, 2013, 09:05
Dave Turner
I'm using a Fujifilm A370 4.0 mp. It's old and takes good clear pictures, but I can't seem to get closeups as large and clear as I'd like to.
According to you the 4.0 is okay. But I'm wondering if I should replace it or learn how to use it?


Dave Turner
February 14, 2013, 10:41
Donald C. Henderson
If it has a macro feature, you should be able to get as close as 4 or 5 inches from your subject and still get nice clear shots using autofocus. I'm not familiar with your camera though.

I am a big Canon fan since the experience with my A70 camera and my friend's more basic A300 model. Mine was the first to have the imaging sensor go bad suddenly. It was well past the warranty period but in searching the web, I discovered that Canon had determined that a bunch of the 3.2 mp sensors they had purchased from Sony had turned out to be defective and were failing frequently. They had a program in place where you could notify them of the problem and they would email you a prepaid UPS shipping label to use in sending the camera in for a completely free repair with return shipping also paid by them. I did that and had my once again perfectly functioning more than 3 year old camera back in my hands within 10 days of shipping it out. About a year later, the same thing happened to the other camera and it got repaired the same way. You can't beat that for customer service in my book.
February 14, 2013, 20:56
Evan Patton
I use a G12 on macro setting, great camera, but not the best for macro photography. I picked up an LED ring light, but am not very happy with the performance. There is an aftermarket macro attachment, but it's spendy and I'm skeptical how good it is.

I'm looking at getting one of these:
ProScope Base Unit

The ProScope takes different lenses, and I'm thinking the 1x - 10x would be great for most watch photos, and the 30x could come in handy for looking at pivots, jewels, etc. We use them at work for looking at micro-contamination of semiconductor equipment, and they work pretty well. I'm going to try one out tomorrow to see how it does on a watch.