The Gadget Scientist

Flowers, insects, jewellery and cakes are ideal subjects for close-ups, and it’s the macro feature that makes close-up photography possible.

Without macro turned on close-up photos will be blurry

Point-and-shoot cameras usually have a minimum focusing distance of about 50 centimetres (20 inches). This is why close-up photos look blurry.

Turn macro on for in-focus, close-up photos

  When using macro the cameras minimum focusing distance is reduced to about 15 centimetres (6 inches) and close-up photos will be in focus.

On point and shoot cameras, turn on macro by pushing the ‘flower’ button. Sometimes the button is labelled MF for macro focus. (This can be confusing however, as MF stands for manual focus on some cameras and lenses.)

A flower has become the standard way to represent the macro setting on cameras – presumably because flowers are the traditional close-up subject choice!

On DSLR cameras the ability to take macro shots depends upon the lens. There are specialist macro lenses, but even some standard lenses can take close-up photos. To find out, check your lens and see if there is a flower icon somewhere on it. (Usually it’s a macro switch rather than a button on lenses.)

We hope you enjoyed this Gadget Scientist post based on content from our photo guide book!

If you’re interested in finding out more about The Gadget Scientist Guide to Using Your Digital Camera, take a look at the Gadget Scientist website.