Macro photography is a very nice way to explore the small, but spectacular world we usually walk by…
Modern cameras have great macro capabilities, but it takes some time to master the skills.
Here are a few things to consider:

This is a superzoom in action: very nice and handy - but in a mirror the cam is very present at 2 cm distance…

Here a macrolens is used to get some distance from the object. The cam is a lot smaller now… Watch the small tripod.

Right: that looks good with controlled reflections… but the photographer should have used the self-timer and run away. The picture would have been better with a reflecting surface. Do not run off when you catch insects, though…

Ever had a very nice lens that did not fit to your shiny new SLR camera?
One of the saddest things that can happen…

Most suppliers of SLR’s have their own way to connect bodies to lenses. Of course, they hope to sell their own lenses. But you might like a different one… Caught!

Independent suppliers of lenses create them with many fittings to camera bodies, making them unnecessary expensive.
How nice it would be when there was one standard way…

In this imperefect world it’s good to know that there is some kind of standard, albeit with only a limited number of contributing manufacturers: the four-thirds consortium.

Maybe a wise thing to consider a bit of standardization when you’re going to select a new SLR!

Ever tried to make a set of pictures 360° from the top of a hill or inside a Roman arena? It’s not easy to make the last picture fit to the first… The problem is to hold the camera exactly in the same plane and avoid raising or lowering it.

Many cameras have a “stitch assist” mode to make it easier: the display shows the previous picture, so you can make the two fit together. A problem sometimes is that the exposure is set at the first picture, giving under or overexposed sequels.

A better solution is in hardware: put your camera on a tripod with a perfectly level head. These are for sale, but unfortunately cost quite a bit.
In a great article on worth1000 it’s shown how you can make one yourself. It takes a bit of craftmanship, but I’m sure you will be very pleased with the results!

For more information, click the panorama below:

Digital SLR cameas for a long time have a 3:2 aspect ratio in their images. That means the width compares to the height as 3 to 2. That does not surprise, because we were used to that aspect: all printed pictures had formats like 6″ x 4″ or 15×10 cm. That is why this is still referred to as the picture-format. Popular resolutions (number of pixels in your image) are 3456×2304 (Canon) or 3872×2592 (Nikon).
If you want to print your pictures, this should be you favourite choice.

Compact cameras in contrast used a different ratio: 4:3
This one also has a long history: the first movie equipment, early in the 20^th century had this format. It also got an enormous boost when the PC was invented: earlier and current computer screens have resolutions like 640×480 or 1024×768 and the very nice 1400×1050 flatscreens you can buy now. That’s why this ratio is called (S)VGA.
If you mostly use your pictures on a computer screen, this one is the best to use. By the way, photolabs sometimes offer you the option of 15×11.5 cm prints: use that one for the usual pictures from a compact cam.

A pretty new format is 16:9 which is introduced by modern television technology, often called HDTV.
Several new digicams can be set to this ratio giving resolutions like 1280×720 or 1920×1080. Very nice and very wide indeed.
Now more and more displays have dual functions (computer + TV) this might be a very common ratio for the future! So, if you display your digicam images mostly on such a screen or HDTV, this is the right setting to use.

The very latest BenQ cameras even offer you both 3:2 and 16:9 options for your pictures…