Close focus P&S

I am looking for a P&S under about 150GBP which provides continuos focus
down to about 10-15cm with a (35mm equiv.) focal length of 100mm, or
more. Resolution and noise are not too important since it is going to be
used in doors on a bench top with good lighting for taking photographs
of damaged items between one and 5mm across.

My Minolta Xt does the job well, but it is time I had one for the Lab. I
have looked at a few models, but they seem to have specs. not dissimilar
to:
1.5m to inf any length.
0.5m to 1.5m (LONG)
2cm to 1m (WIDE)

The problem being that the area covered at the closest wide focus is
about as wide as the closest long focus and both are too wide. I could
use digital zoom, or cropping, to take a 3Mp rectangle from a 10Mp
frame. Having full date and time imprinted on the frame would be an
advantage.

I have looked at a few review sites, but whilst they quote the closest
focus the omit to state at what focal length this is obtained.

If anyone can suggest a few models to look at it will be appreciated.
--
Ian G8ILZ
There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
~Ansel Adams

On Aug 18, 11:53 am, Prometheus <Prometh...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
> I am looking for a P&S under about 150GBP which provides continuos focus
> down to about 10-15cm with a (35mm equiv.) focal length of 100mm, or
> more. Resolution and noise are not too important since it is going to be
> used in doors on a bench top with good lighting for taking photographs
> of damaged items between one and 5mm across.
>
> My Minolta Xt does the job well, but it is time I had one for the Lab. I
> have looked at a few models, but they seem to have specs. not dissimilar
> to:
> 1.5m to inf any length.
> 0.5m to 1.5m (LONG)
> 2cm to 1m (WIDE)
>
> The problem being that the area covered at the closest wide focus is
> about as wide as the closest long focus and both are too wide. I could
> use digital zoom, or cropping, to take a 3Mp rectangle from a 10Mp
> frame. Having full date and time imprinted on the frame would be an
> advantage.
>
> I have looked at a few review sites, but whilst they quote the closest
> focus the omit to state at what focal length this is obtained.
>
> If anyone can suggest a few models to look at it will be appreciated.
> --
> Ian G8ILZ
> There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
> ~Ansel Adams

I won't swear to this, but you might want to check out one of the old
Nikon Coolpix 995 models. I recall a friend having one, and his
focused down under 1" (sorry, but I slept poorly so playing with
metrification is not a feature of the day). You can probably pick one
of these up used for under your posted amount...overall, the camera is
a 3 MP. Don't know about the imprinting, but DPReviews has an archived
review that might help. Or did have last year.

On Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:53:53 +0100, Prometheus <Prometheus@127.0.0.1>
wrote:

>I am looking for a P&S under about 150GBP which provides continuos focus
>down to about 10-15cm with a (35mm equiv.) focal length of 100mm, or
>more. Resolution and noise are not too important since it is going to be
>used in doors on a bench top with good lighting for taking photographs
>of damaged items between one and 5mm across.
>
>My Minolta Xt does the job well, but it is time I had one for the Lab. I
>have looked at a few models, but they seem to have specs. not dissimilar
>to:
> 1.5m to inf any length.
> 0.5m to 1.5m (LONG)
> 2cm to 1m (WIDE)
>
>The problem being that the area covered at the closest wide focus is
>about as wide as the closest long focus and both are too wide. I could
>use digital zoom, or cropping, to take a 3Mp rectangle from a 10Mp
>frame. Having full date and time imprinted on the frame would be an
>advantage.
>
>I have looked at a few review sites, but whilst they quote the closest
>focus the omit to state at what focal length this is obtained.
>
>If anyone can suggest a few models to look at it will be appreciated.

The OLY sp350 has an excellent macro mode. It's recently been
discontiuned but I suspect you could still pick one up for ~200US.

In article <1187458542.126783.38800@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.c om>,
Charlie Self <charliediy@gmail.com> writes
>I won't swear to this, but you might want to check out one of the old
>Nikon Coolpix 995 models. I recall a friend having one, and his focused
>down under 1" (sorry, but I slept poorly so playing with metrification
>is not a feature of the day). You can probably pick one of these up
>used for under your posted amount...overall, the camera is a 3 MP.
>Don't know about the imprinting, but DPReviews has an archived review
>that might help. Or did have last year.

The normal focus of the 995 is 30cm to inf., and 2cm to inf. in "macro"
mode, 30cm is not close enough and I suspect that the "macro" is wide
angle. A friend has the Nikon Coolpix 8800 and the "macro" mode couples
focus with zoom so that as it focuses closer the angle increases. I
don't know if this simplifies (cheapens) the lens design or it is done
to force a larger depth of field to avoid disappointing users.

Getting the camera new with warranty support is more important than a
little saving; it's customer support that keeps us in business (and more
expensive than the competition).
--
Ian G8ILZ
There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
~Ansel Adams

On Aug 18, 12:33 pm, Prometheus <Prometh...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
> In article <1187458542.126783.38...@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.c om>,
> Charlie Self <charlie...@gmail.com> writes
>
> >I won't swear to this, but you might want to check out one of the old
> >Nikon Coolpix 995 models. I recall a friend having one, and his focused
> >down under 1" (sorry, but I slept poorly so playing with metrification
> >is not a feature of the day). You can probably pick one of these up
> >used for under your posted amount...overall, the camera is a 3 MP.
> >Don't know about the imprinting, but DPReviews has an archived review
> >that might help. Or did have last year.
>
> The normal focus of the 995 is 30cm to inf., and 2cm to inf. in "macro"
> mode, 30cm is not close enough and I suspect that the "macro" is wide
> angle. A friend has the Nikon Coolpix 8800 and the "macro" mode couples
> focus with zoom so that as it focuses closer the angle increases. I
> don't know if this simplifies (cheapens) the lens design or it is done
> to force a larger depth of field to avoid disappointing users.
>
> Getting the camera new with warranty support is more important than a
> little saving; it's customer support that keeps us in business (and more
> expensive than the competition).
> --
> Ian G8ILZ
> There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
> ~Ansel Adams

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