Good (under £500) camera for Macro/Close up?

[banky]

Hi,

Does anyone have any ideas for a camera good at macro/close ups for under £500. A friend of mine works for a beauty company and they need to take pics of skin close up so they need a camera capable of this.

Any ideas? All help greatly appreciated :)

[reecie]

If they don't mind second hand then the Nikon Coolpix 950 (and onwards) range had (or still has) superb macro ability. You could probably pick up one of the range, I think they finished at the 4mp Coolpix 4500, for under £100 now. The twist body design is also really useful for macro work. You could also get the flash system etc for them to complement macro work.

[John C]

I've had good results with my Canon A610 in Macro (not skin though, I must admit :) ).

The texture on this rose (http://static.flickr.com/41/101315663_fd81c56250.jpg?v=0) might give you some idea of what's possible. I'd guess they'd be shooting at higher shutter speeds than i did here though. (The rose isn't going to move, or get bored :) )

Are they thinking of printing these things in large formats (above A4)? If so, a camera with a higher megapixel count might be the way to go - that would also give more options for cropping the final result.

You should also recommend that they get a decent tripod.

[banky]

What about the Canon A620? That has 7mp, anyone had any experience of them?