I'd never be a Crusader, but

[Gustavo]

I'd never have been a Crusader, but this guy looks great!!

Movements are great to make up; I definitely have to work the lights, but I don't think this is my greater weakness ... I need help in what concerns equipment;

can anyone
:: please ::
 

give me good hints on cameras (or ways of using them ... I've been using my father's, it's a Kodak EasyShare CX7300, 3.2 megapixels. (Maybe it doesn't help much ) I'll probably have to buy another one. If anyone knows any models which aren't that much expensive, that could recommend me ... But it will maybe take a while, I ... am saving money, actually, to buy a computer. It's more urgent, for the moment! (As well as unescapably more expensive! .)

What an expensive hobby this turned out to be! ... (Because of the photographing part ... Maybe I should abolish this part! ...)

Gus
 

[Timotheos]

Hi Gus

Other people can give you better technical advice, but I'd say any camera for shooting playmobil is fine.  Your shots are a little blurry, maybe because you held the camera too close.  I have an unremarkable digital camera and can easily take clear shots with a little experimentation with the zooming and a steady hand.

But, as for the "you'd never be a crusader" --

Really!  You Europeans don't have to apologize about everything politically incorrect! 

Crusaders were a product of a completely different time and place--

A Germanic people in migration with a religious goal as a pretext.  A lot of crusaders were second sons hoping to find land (no kings went on the first crusade), poor people hoping for better opportunities in the holy land, and unemployed fighting men looking for a livelihood other than banditry (the pope declared the crusade in response to attacks on Christian pilgrims going to Jerusalem and as a measure to deal with the growing problem of banditry in western Europe).

So, a "crusader" is a purely historical entity.  Despite the propaganda and counter-propaganda of our times.

By collecting crusader toys you are not promoting the armed conquest of the Levant by western military powers...

-Tim   

[playmofire]

3.2 megapixels is OK for digital photography.  I have a Fuji Finepix which is 3mp, although it has a technical device to give the equivalent of 6mp.  However, I never use this is 3mp on the fine setting is no problem.

In your photos, the background seems in focus, certainly more in focus than the crusader, and so I think focussing is the problem - you are either focussing on the background or you are working too close for the camera's focussing abilities.  So two questions:

Are you sure you're focussing on the figure?

Is there a macro setting which you should use at close distances?

[Martin Milner]

Apart from focus, camera shake is a problem in macro photography.

Macro is photographing things at close range, as Gordon said, i.e. what we're usually trying to do with our klickies. My camera has a setting with a flower to indicate macro, and likes about 12" distance to focus correctly, which is still further away than you might expect.

To eliminate camera shake, I do two things.

First, set the camera on a timer so the pressing of the shutter button doesn't shake the camera (a bigger problem in modern small digital cameras). I have two options 10 seconds (great to set the camera going and then move into the picture) and 2 seconds. The latter is entirely designed to avoid shake.

Second, steady the camera. Use a small tripod (very cheap) or even cheaper, a book, to stand the camera on.

So - put the camera 12" from the subject, use a timer delay on the shutter, and use a tripod or other means to steady the camera. That way you don't even need to be touching the camera when the shutter goes and there's no chance of camera shake!

I use a Pentax S6 for most of my Playmobil photos.

[arab warrior]

This camera needs to be at a minimum distance of 0.8 metres or 2.6 feet (looked it up)
If you keep that in mind and use a book or two as suggested there's no reason your next photo with this camera shouldn't be near perfect.
Especially for this type of photo you don't need any other camera then the one you have right now, what could help is a little practice, that's all.

Oh another thing you could try is this: be sure to have enough light (sunlight or any lightsource(not too much) and try to avoid to use a flash, better not to use it if you don't have a flash-light that bounces the light of the ceiling and behind your subject.

Good luck