I've been trying to shoot insects, etc. with my 28-55 lens and it's never really in focus when I zoom in to the finished shot. My ancient (Coolpix 3.4 megapixels) took much better closeups. I've read elsewhere about depth of field issues, but I'm stopped right down as tight as I can get. I'm on the macro setting, of course, (what does that even do, I wonder) and far enough back to be able to focus.

I'm ready to send the whole thing back.

Help.

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Originally Posted by TeaSes

I've been trying to shoot insects, etc. with my 28-55 lens and it's never really in focus when I zoom in to the finished shot. My ancient (Coolpix 3.4 megapixels) took much better closeups. I've read elsewhere about depth of feild issues, but I'm stopped right down as tight as I can get. I'm on the macro setting, of course, (what does that even do, i wonder) and far enough back to be able to focus.

I'm ready to send the whole thing back.

Help.

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In order to figure out what might be wrong, I need to know more details:

1) Are you shooting in a RAW format, or are you shooting in jpeg?
2) Are you shooting in autofocus, or manual focus?
3) What ISO are you shooting at?
4) What is your light source?
5) What is your shutter speed?
6) Have you done a focus test with your lens, shooting at a focus grid with manual focus, in both macro and non macro modes?
7) Have you tried a different lens (same model but different physical lens *or* different model lens)?
8) I assume you are checking the focus on your computer, not on the screen on the camera. Are you checking the focus at 100% view, or zooming in closer?

It's not your camera that is bad at taking macro images. You need to check the closest focus range possible with your lens because it doesn't sound like it's one that WILL focus close enough to be considered "true" macro images. If you put it in manual focus and try it that way and can't get clear focus, it's not going to focus automatically either.

The reason your Coolpix was able to focus that close is because the capabilities in a "fixed lens digital" versus those in a "digital SLR" (which is what your D40 is) are completely different. You might ultimately find yourself better off by purchasing a macro lens if you plan to spend time taking lots of macros. The D40 has some excellent reviews for an entry level DSLR. I wouldn't send it back and try not to restrict yourself to just macro if you want to do more photography. I shoot with the Nikon D200 which is a pro-consumer and I LOVE it! I have a home based photography business and it's the only camera I use. I've actually considered the D40 as a second smaller back up camera. Read the manual while the camera is in your hand so you can check out some of the capabilities of it. I think you could find yourself loving it.

Here's a good article that will give you some explanation on the differences in DSLRs and Point and Shoot (fixed lens) Digitals.

Digital single-lens reflex camera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good luck to you.