compact for macro

[den]

Hi, my wife is looking for a compact camera for macro shots ,she is not concerened about the brand and its mainly for insects ,ladybirds etc,she will not be blowing the pictures up so pixel numbers are not a issue and she does not want to spendmore than£200 , and she will only be using it for macro so landscapes ,portraits are not a issue. Any help would be apreciated.Thanks

 

[Nawty]

Best thing would be to get her a proper macro lens for your 50D.

Compact macro modes are great for taking pictures of things a few inches big but anything smaller and the really struggle...

 

[den]

Thats the problem , she does not want to use the 50d ,just something small and compact more suited for close ups. I have been looking at the panasonics and they seem to be popular , may take her to jessops for a feel of what may suit her.

 

[RJL2005]

Take a look at the "sticky - Show us your macro rig" thread in the macro forum. I think Alby, one of the best contributors, would say the Panasonic works pretty well.

 

[den]

Thanks , will check it out

 

[Nuffles]

A lot of the Canon compacts have very good macro modes and close focus distances. I know for a fact that the Ixus105 is great in this aspect, having sold them to many customers who wanted it for macro work and were impressed by what it could do. Try to stick to compacts in the low zoom range - the superzoom category you're getting into at £200 won't yield great macro results.

 

[stormcrow]

I did a quick experiment with my panasonic, none of these images has been cropped.

I took this with my Panasonic TZ10 on macro zoom mode.

Nikon D300 with Sigma 150mm

Sigma 150mm + extension tubes

The panasonic does not have the clarity of the Nikon/sigma but it is pretty impressive though. It is tricky to get a focused image though when handholding.