Captain Jim Loc: Maryville Tn

My wife needs a small camera for medical shots is her office. Close up of wound care .. easy for her to use .. does she need a ring flash...

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Having been involved with this type of photography I would suggest a point and shoot. They are pretty cheap so they can be easily replaced. They are light so you can use them with one hand and they are fairly easy to use so you can set them and shoot. The only drawback you may encounter, as you hinted at, is the flash, but with a little manipulation you can take great photos.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

With a "point & shoot" (small, simple) camera, depending upon how close you get, you may need something to diffuse the light from the flash to keep the lens shadow from showing up. If you find that a problem, something like this may help: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/535518-REG

Other than that, they are capable of great close-up shots.
The ringlight was originally designed to shoot photos inside a mouth, to help reduce shadows from the lips when photographing teeth. It provides a pretty flat light compared to a normal flash. Because of the lack of shadows, you will have a harder time seeing geographic features in the wound. Sometimes those shadows help show a 3D effect, which can be useful.

rocco_7155 Loc: Connecticut/Louisiana

We use a Canon P&S for all of our wound documentation in the ER. It does great under fluorescent light.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

My Dermatologist (Oncologist) uses a Canon P&S to take pictures of various subjects (in my case, dermatological carcinomas). He has several identical cameras so his entire staff can use any camera. The camera has image stabilization, an important factor for his staff. They will outline an area of identification with a blue watercolor marker, take a picture of the chart cover (with Name, DOB and MRN), head-on, profile and quartering portraits and the outlined areas and another shot of the chart cover. That way, a series of pictures has a beginning and an end. Photos are uploaded to the computer and copied to two storage devices: the office patient data storage computer and a DVD which has a pocket in the patient's chart folder. They take before and after pictures and intermediate step pictures; the after picture of the removal of a BCC from behind my right ear is quite interesting. The doctor has, on retainer, a portrait photographer and together they will photoshop potential cosmetic (plastic) surgery, giving patients a chance to see what that face-lift or nose-job will look like. Interestingly, the doctor has, on his desk, two books of photos (with copies of releases included) showing the results of cosmetic surgery and, in the other, before and after images of non-cosmetic surgery. His system is well thought out, provides him with a record of a patient's treatment and keeps him safe from malpractice charges. He has a PA who will soon begin publication of pictures (close-ups) of all sorts of skin afflictions from actinic keratosis (non-malignant) to highly advanced malignancies such as Melanomas and reconstruction processes. I can hardly wait for publication; my ear is included in the chapter on BCC's.

crimesc324 Loc: West Palm Beach, Florida

If you utilize the zoom function, you can back off quite a distance from the wound site and take the picture with the built in flash with no problem. The biggest problem would be getting the camera so close to the subject that it creats a shadow because the flash is above the lens.

the f/stops here Loc: New Mexico

Everyone is going towards a P&S. Okay, but as a forensic photographer, I've seen a greater percentage of very poor images over acceptable ones from P&S cameras. If you want to keep with small size, my recommended solution is the canon G-12, G-15 or G-16. Why? Excellent glass. Hot shoe ... enables you to use a Gary Fong puffin to diffuse the flash. Fully controllable, just like a DSLR, including "exposure compensation" and "flash compensation" and adjustable white balance, all necessary for excellent courtroom acceptable evidence imagery. Best, J. Goffe

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Try out various point-and-shoot cameras that have a "macro" setting. Although undoubtedly not a true macro, it can be pretty close. I have used a Sony Cybershot for years. Simple and anyone can use it correctly. Sorry for the gross-out for you non-medical folks, but attached is a shot of some lesions of rare pyoderma gangrenosum (Latin meaning: "your skin is on fire and dying" ). This gentleman had these over his entire body. I found a study suggesting successful treatment with compounded triamcinolone with Silvadene cream - it cost the patient a lot of money until I sent his insurance company a copy of the article and a blow-up of this photo - they reimbursed him for all his medication!

Pyoderma gangrenosum

warrior Loc: Paso Robles CA

Why did he or she wait so long???? :cry:

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

My dermatologist now has several Canon P&S for all the doctors, and they work fine. They must all be set to macro. I don't know what model, but it's a typical little Canon P&S.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It's amazing how much can go wrong with the human body and how much of it is beyond medical science.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I bet SB threatened to send the patient to meet the district insurance manager and that he could shake the patients hand!! That is the reason the insurance relented on its hardball-stance (now that is a real medaphor).

In photography for documentation is important to have a method of standardizing distance and lighting thus providing a uniform between client or particular clients progress/decline. While we with our great memories think we can recall, it is better to know based on SOP, standard operation procedure, like any good lab would do.

Using a rod to touch the infected point and then using it on the other patients during the day would certainly increase business and provide lots of experience in curing this condition. If I had these lesions wide spread, I would be chatting with a mortician rather than a dermatologist!!!!

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I bet SB threatened to send the patient to meet the district insurance manager and that he could shake the patients hand!! That is the reason the insurance relented on its hardball-stance (now that is a real medaphor).

In photography for documentation is important to have a method of standardizing distance and lighting thus providing a uniform between client or particular clients progress/decline. While we with our great memories think we can recall, it is better to know based on SOP, standard operation procedure, like any good lab would do.

Using a rod to touch the infected point and then using it on the other patients during the day would certainly increase business and provide lots of experience in curing this condition. If I had these lesions wide spread, I would be chatting with a mortician rather than a dermatologist!!!!

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I bet SB threatened to send the patient to meet the district insurance manager and that he could shake the patients hand!! That is the reason the insurance relented on its hardball-stance (now that is a real medaphor).

In photography for documentation is important to have a method of standardizing distance and lighting thus providing a uniform between client or particular clients progress/decline. While we with our great memories think we can recall, it is better to know based on SOP, standard operation procedure, like any good lab would do.

Using a rod to touch the infected point and then using it on the other patients during the day would certainly increase business and provide lots of experience in curing this condition. If I had these lesions wide spread, I would be chatting with a mortician rather than a dermatologist!!!!

Aldebaran Loc: Florida

I think that the canon ZS 25 a very good camera for your application. I don't think you would need the flash in a well lighted room. Good price of $229 at Costco right now.