: My Cannon G9 camera should be sufficient to take better macro
: shots, but I don't know how to utilize its capabilities and
: welcome advice. I tried using the manual focus, but never really
: got better results. If I move away and zoom in, the auto focus
: seems to not be on the center of the frame, due to the angle of
: the offset of the sensor from the lens. I wonder if any of you
: have experience with the $20-30 "macro 10x" adapters
: for this camera. Would that help me?

I have not used the G9 for macros but I have heard it is really nice for this purpose. The three tips I always give for macro photography are:

1: LIGHTING: is always the most important thing about any photography but especially micro/macro. Window light without direct sunlight is great but to achieve really good results a few little reflectors are necessary. Pieces of white foam board with makeshift stands like on the back of picture frames work great to fill in a bit on the off window side of the watch.

2: MANAGING REFLECTIONS: With watches and other reflective items managing the reflections is important. Here the reflectors are again important. Also, since the camera G9, or what ever, is big and black it will always cause a black reflection. This is easier to manage if the camera is farther away from the watch. Longer focal lengths are needed here.

3: FOCUS: Depth of field is difficult to manage in Macro. Unless the camera faces the watch straight on the whole dial will never be in perfect focus with a normal camera. The only plane which will be perfect is the plane parallel to the sensor. More depth of field is achieved by using manual exposure and making sure your aperture is not wide open. The more closed (higher the f-stop) the more depth of field. The problem with this is that the higher the f-stop, the lower the shutter speed has to be which means more camera shake will be evident. I think it is almost impossible to take good macro's in anything but manual focus mode. Even my really expensive SLRs will try to auto focus on something other than what I want if I let them.

With good lighting and a little bit of intention you can take better macro photos with an iPhone than most people can get with a $6,000 camera setup. Lighting, reflection and focus control is way more important than cameras and accessories. At least to me.

JohnCote