Compact/Portable cameras

In answer to the same/similar questions, I’ve posted several times in the past on WAB, and short of a DSLR with dedicated macro lens, I’d still contend that one of the best combinations available is the Fuji Finepix HS10, (with the addition,when required, of Raynox 150/250 supplementary lenses).

I regularly use my HS10 in preference to carrying the Nikon kit, and have been doing so for about five years now.

It does the job, and it does it well! – Focus down to 1cm in supermacro, full manual/auto/program/aperture-shutter priority control,rotating barrel ring for zoom, 30x optical zoom, rechargeable AA batteries for power, tilting LCD screen, etc. etc.

Review here: – http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/fujifilm_finepix_hs10_review/” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/fujifilm_finepix_hs10_review/

Combined with a suitable small tripod, and the Raynox’s for when extreme macro is required there’s not much fungi-wise that it can’t handle.

Unfortunately no longer available new, but good second hand ones can still be found.

All the pics below were taken with the HS10. (The Leocarpus fragilis with the addition of Raynox 150 supplementary lens).

All my HS10 photos are taken with the camera set on a small tripod, and always using 2 seconds self-timer delay.

My photos are always taken by available light – I never use flash, but sometimes use Lastolite reflectors.

Regards,

Mike.

Wonderful photos with the HS10. Looks like a good option. . . .

I much prefer the HS10 to any of its successors, and mine gets a great deal of use and abuse (I’ve lost count of the times that the tripod has been knocked over, or the camera bag has rolled down a slope etc. etc. – and it still keeps soldiering on. But one day, it will inevitably succumb to these rigours, and fail.

With that in mind, I took my own advice, and earlier this week I bought a another (mint condition – second hand) HS10 as a back-up.

Purchased with all originally supplied accessories, and 6-month full guarantee, from my local camera shop – for the princely sum of £99.00.

That stacking facility on the Olympus TG4 does look useful, and seems to do quite a reasonable job.

When I do any stacking, I almost always use the Nikon D80/Sigma 180mm Macro – but if I did not have that equipment and didn’t want to spend the sort of cash to get it, the TG4 would be quite a tempting option.

This was a two shot stack (manually focussed) using the HS10 and Raynox supplementary lens: –

Click on image to view at full size.

[attachment=0]Physarum album (1).jpg[/attachment]

Regards,

Mike.

Yes, there is definitely more detail on your images. Your lighting looks better too. I don’t have much experience in this area.

What size images are you uploading?

The HS10 has various image capture options, but I keep mine set at the largest and finest jpeg settings, and with the aspect ratio set at 3 – 2 to emulate 35mm (36 x 24mm) film format.

With those settings, images are 3412 x 2274 pixels straight out of the camera.

I reduce them to 1250 x 833 pixels for uploading here. (using Paintshop Pro).

Re the lighting – The Physarum just happened to be situated in a nicely lit spot at the time.

Regards,

Mike.

Just ordered an HS10 from Amazon for £100. Seem a good price! The Canon was at least double this!

What tripod would you use with this? I’ve tried a little flexible tripod – with legs about 4″ long which worked well for those close to the ground jobs, but don’t think it would cope with a heavier camera like this one.

Hi Adam,

If the HS10 you’ve ordered is in good condition, I’m sure you won’t regret the purchase – it’s a superb carry anywhere camera for fungi.

As for tripods, the one I use was originally purchased as a Manfrotto “785SHB Mini Modo”. It’s a very compact lightweight tripod, the legs of which splay out almost horizontally, allowing the camera to go extremely low down.

It has five section legs, and at full height puts the camera at about 4ft above ground level. fully closed up it is just over 13 inches in length.

When new it came with a trigger action ball/socket head, but that eventually wore out, so I replaced it with a slightly more substantial Velbon head from an old tripod that was at that point not being used.

The modification was very straight forward, requiring just a long 1/4″ setscrew, cut to the right length to attach the new head.

With the HS10, I’ve been using that combination, (shown below), ever since.

I wouldn’t recommend the 785 tripods for DSLR kit, as the camera/lens combinations would almost certainly be too heavy. However, for Bridge/Superzoom or compact cameras, they are easily strong enough.

[attachment=0]Manfrotto 785SHB Tripod with Velbon PH175Q Head.jpg[/attachment]
NB: As the photo above was taken with the other HS10 (at full wide-angle setting), the tripod looks quite large. but with the leg sections closed, as in the above shot, the length from end of leg to centre column is just 10 inches.

Unfortunately, the 785SHB (the SH stands for short), is long out of production, and as seems to be the way, the legs on the current models don’t go anywhere near as close to the ground. Progress? – I think not!

Manfrotto did make an almost identical model, the only difference being that it was slightly less compact when fully closed up. That Model was the 785B and as far as I was aware, that also was out of production.

However, I’ve just done a quick websearch, and it is still being advertised for sale here, although there is no confirmation/otherwise as to whether they actually have any in stock.: –

http://www.sheffphotoctre.com/tripods/manfrotto-full-size-tripods/manfrotto-785shb-digital-tripod.html” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.sheffphotoctre.com/tripods/manfrotto-full-size-tripods/manfrotto-785shb-digital-tripod.html

I also saw a couple currently for sale on Ebay.

Size, weight, and feature-wise, the 785 models would be hard to beat. But whatever you decide to get at the end of the day – make sure it can go very low to the ground.

Regards,

Mike.

Got one of the bendy ones – although cheap this looks well made and you can bend it around tree branches etc. The down side is that it’s not extendable so it might be short for some things.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/iGadgitz-Lightweight-Universal-Flexible-Cameras/dp/B00ZIOI57S/ref=sr_1_11_m” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.amazon.co.uk/iGadgitz-Lightweight-Universal-Flexible-Cameras/dp/B00ZIOI57S/ref=sr_1_11_m

Hi Adam,

Obviously you will see how it performs, but the “Large” model’s description says it will support a maximum of 275g., so in all honesty, I doubt whether it will be strong enough to give solid support, (without “drooping”), with the HS10 – which weighs in at approx. 800g, and approx. 900g if you add a Raynox supplementary lens.

Many folk feel that carrying a decent tripod is a bit of a bind, (I used to be of that opinion anyway). However, I soon realised that my shots were suffering as a result, so nowadays, I never set out without. I don’t use flash, and exposure times are regularly in the seconds rather than fractions of seconds, so the tripod is essential, and it needs to perform flawlessly in as many situations as possible.

The 785SHB tripod with Velbon head weighs under 1.2kg. – A mere featherweight.

In comparison, the 055XB/405 head I use with the Nikon kit weighs in at almost 5kg. – Now that one you do notice when carrying it around all day!

Regards,

Mike.

Thanks Mike. You need to click the “large” option on page referred by the link. It actually carries 880g, but I appreciate what you’re saying. I’ll report back

I thought I had done – but was somehow still looking at the description for the small version. 😳

If it will solidly support 880g, then it should be OK.

I’m still inclined to recommend a “normal” type tripod similar to the 785 though, as I think they offer more overall versatility for general use.

Regards,

Mike.

Many folk feel that carrying a decent tripod is a bit of a bind, (I used to be of that opinion anyway). However, I soon realised that my shots were suffering as a result, so nowadays, I never set out without. I don’t use flash, and exposure times are regularly in the seconds rather than fractions of seconds, so the tripod is essential, and it needs to perform flawlessly in as many situations as possible. . . . the 055XB/405 head I use with the Nikon kit weighs in at almost 5kg. – Now that one you do notice when carrying it around all day!

Regards,

Mike.

It’s horses for courses. With the project I’m engaged in the ‘field shots’ are very much a record of the fungus with its habitat – I couldn’t aspire to the quality of Mike’s shots; but having suffered some v. nasty backpain recently which knocked me out of any sort of action* I try to travel as light as possible – a Nikon D40 suffices (I recently bought a lighter Lumix FZ200, but get irritated by the lack of control I’m used to with DSLRs, perhaps I just need to persevere). Using flash is therefore the price I pay, though I do tend to ensure it’s not always at the ‘Full’ setting, so slightly underexposed and then Photoshopped later – I also keep a keen eye on white balance . . . .

When I get back home it’s a different matter, using the Canon MP-E on a copy stand, and taking numerous micro-shots is where I have to put the effort in; one of my composite ‘plates’ can take over 200 shots amounting to some 5Gb of data before stacking and rejecting arrive at the final image generally a 60Mb tiff and a 500Kb jpeg, with the images I have used for the final plate archived as Tiffs – so it can add up to 500Mb per plate 😮 .

Chris

* I can recommend a brilliant osteopath in Huddersfield . . . .

Having seen a number of the finished plates all I can say is it is worth all the effort, simply first class Chris, one of these days I will find a decent excuse to buy an MP-E …..

John