finally about ready to join the digital bandwagon, if only so it will help me list pens for sale better!

what's the cheapest no frills outfit i can get for pen pics? don't plan on art photos here, just want plain pics for people to see the pen. no closeups needed either, although i might try keith's shots via loupe to show nib condition.

My sorry little camera is a Kodak CX6200 which is a 2 megapixel camera with no macro capacity.

By using my loupe and magnifier I have added some macro capabilities to a fairly inexpensive camera.

I plan on picking up an old 35mm camera lense to use as a magnifier as this should improve the image and resolution quality I can get.

there are several decent little cameras that aren't that expensive. I got an Olympus for my daughter for Christmas for about $80. The bay has many examples. There is a too cheap though - even for just sales pics, unless of course you want to do that "grainy, fuzzy look that I know you like to see in other auctions.

I have heard good things about the cheap Fuji but I went with the Olympus because they use a glass lens, not plastic. If i could remember what the model was... Many of the really cheap cameras use plastic lenses and IMO that's just being a little too frugal.

did a quick look-up - the one I got for daughter was a D390 2MP

The answer to this silly question is not obvious to me so here goes... I have a rather unsteady hand these days, how do you use a magnifier in conjunction with the digital camera to take close-ups? I have a lot of trouble with just looking at my nibs through the handheld loupe now. This is a new problem for me. sigh.

I trust you are thinking of the trusty ol' closeup lenses when you speak of a camera lens. These lenses were usually available in sets of three - x1, x2, and x3 which while they marginally degraded the picture, were an affordable way to get closeups before the macro lenses started appearing.

I would recommend trying them for the pen application, as they were inexpensive, lightweight, and easily handled. I could see a very simple adaptor to stick one in front of the digital camera's lens. It would be better if your camera had a TTL viewfinder, but if it is not it's pretty easy to take a few pictures to determine the in focus range, and work with that. At least you're not burning up film and taking the developing and printing time and cost to experiment... It might wreak havoc with an auto focus system, so hopefully you can use presets...

Gerry

Edit typos - sigh.....

Your best bet, Leslie, is to use a tripod to steady the camera. Even if you are using an additional hand-held magnifier, that will help a great deal. Talking a photo through a hand held lens can be tricky in any case, not just with lens movement, but with auto focus and light meter issues. If you're having trouble, I'd recommend a camera with a good macro feature.

Mark C.