Sentosa Underwater World

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Wonder how much these controlled species actually cost. Remembered reading somewhere that they cost appox. A$14K per piece long long time ago. Expensive...yes, no doubt...but still cheaper than LH!

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Sentosa mgt did a good job in keeping these Sea Dragons alive. Remembered seeing them 3 years ago!

[kelstorm]

same ones?? i prefer the leadfy sea dragon (latter pic) than the weedy sea dragon

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Yeah, looks the same 3 sea dragons to me. Think its too costly to have a replacement policy for this. Can't say the same for their reef tanks though. Some corals were half eaten by angels/butterflies and some show signs of having their colours dipped in Clorox solution for that extra touch of whiteness.

[TanGo]

Wow.. Ask AT to put one in his tank lah.. If reproduce then can pass all SRC members one..

[onghm]

Hi Steno,

Nice pics !

May I know what camera r u using ?

Is it a digital camera ?

Was told that digital camera cannot do partial focusing.

That is, subject in focus but background thrown out of focus.

Do not know how true isit.

[TTBoy]

U need the more expensive ones to do that. Like the Canon D60 or Nikon D100. Both cameras uses 35mm lenses.

[Tanzy]

Hi Steno,

Nice pics !

May I know what camera r u using ?

Is it a digital camera ?

Was told that digital camera cannot do partial focusing.

That is, subject in focus but background thrown out of focus.

Do not know how true isit.

It's possible. Most digital cameras have a macro setting for closeups. If you want a blur background, just use a larger aperture and faster shutter speed.

[onghm]

If you want a blur background, just use a larger aperture and faster shutter speed.

That's what i thot. Use the biggest aperture available.

But a friend who owns a G2 said its not possible.

He explained it has something to do with the lens.

Therefore only possible with digital SLR like those TTboy mentioned.

Oops, out of topic

[dodo]

WoW...such a wonderful creature anybody got any idea are these sea dragons as delicate as sea horse? and u were saying it cost A$14K a few years back? mus be very rare hor.....

[Achilles Tang]

Unfortunately, such creatures are protected under CITES.

You will not be able to import such creatures unless you are a research institution, a marine park, Underwater World etc.

And yes... in the black market... they will be more than $10,000 each.

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Dodo,

AT's right...such creatures are protected. Just enjoy it at Underwater World. S$10/entry only

[Stenopus Hispidus]

onghm Posted on Jan 5 2003, 04:12 PM

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Hi Steno,

Nice pics !

May I know what camera r u using ?

Is it a digital camera ?

Was told that digital camera cannot do partial focusing.

That is, subject in focus but background thrown out of focus.

Do not know how true isit.

I use a Nikon Coolpix 5700 digital camera for my shots.

Before that, I was using a G1.

Your friend is partially right. You can open the aperture wide so long as you do not exceed a certain shutter speed. G1, G2 and G3 all have an inherent hardware limitation which clips the aperture at a certain size for shutter speed beyond 1/500 sec (aperture locked at F8 for shutter speed 1/640 sec and above in the case of G1). Check out your own clipping condition for your other Canon G series d.camera in dpreview

The clipping was necessary because the Gs uses an iris mechanism which handles a dual responsibility of controlling both the aperture and shutter speed. In the SLR type D cam like the Nikon D100, Fuji S2 Pro, etc the shutter and aperture are actually independently controlled so they are free of this clipping problem and have the flexibility of using the full range of exposure controls subject only to the attaching lens speed. But you pay big time for cameras like that!

This clipping of aperture was still present in the G2 but was improved a little by providing a few presets instead of a general F8 lock for all shutter speed above 1/640sec as in the G1. I think in the G3, this was even fine tuned further but the problem is still inherent…of course…it uses the same iris mechanism what. Hmmm.

For your query on subject being in focus and background out of focus, any camera can do that actually. Background will just get blurer and blurer the moment your aperture gets bigger and bigger. This applies to all cameras.

For the Canon G1 which I use, you can also do that. Just open aperture to the max so long as the camera do not use a shutter of 1/640 sec for that aperture size you will get similar effect. The exposure setting boundary of f2-f8 & 8-1/500 sec (without the aperture lock coming in) actually covers most situation you will ever encounter in reefing photography cos light is never enough for these kind of themes.

You only face the aperture lock situation of the Canon G series in very bright situations where you open aperture to the max, you will overexpose and therefore have to compensate this overexposure by a fast shutter speed to screen out the excessive light falling on the CCD. But the pissing thing is that the moment you set to 1/640 sec to screen out this excessive light, F8 kicks in (like it or not) and result in underexposure. I find this situation very rare though. Like I said, f2 & 1/500 sec literally covers most shots that you will need for any pix unless you go Pro and want specific effect the shutter and aperture can give.

Canon G series is still a great cam in my eyes in terms of functionality (esp. flip n twist LCD) and have taken lots of good pics with it. Only grouse is the poor macro range.

Oh..Besides tinkering with the aperture, taking close up macro shots will also result in sharp subject on a blur ground but pic would be very narrow bec its a close up.

[pospeh]

Unfortunately, such creatures are protected under CITES.

You will not be able to import such creatures unless you are a research institution, a marine park, Underwater World etc.

And yes... in the black market... they will be more than $10,000 each.

AT, I think you meant to say "fortunately" they are protected by CITES.

Not that I am a crusader or anything, I also try to avoid buying fishes from SE Asia because of the high use of cyanides in collecting these fishes.

I just find it more economical to buy fishes from the US, Red Sea, Australia because the survival rates for those fishes are higher.

[Achilles Tang]

Unfortunately for us... fortunately for them...

Oh well.. who doesn't dream of having a rare creature in our reef tanks. I will spend a bomb ensuring that it gets fed well that for sure!

[onghm]

Hi Steno,

Wow! Many thanks for your detailed explanation.

I was not aware of this "apecture lock" limitation at all.

Thought as long as there is a manual override function, I could pretty much control everything like a SLR.

Will be careful about this if I'm going for digi cam.

Your Nikon 5700 seems like a good camera in the 5 meg market.

Macro @ 3cm sounds good too.

The only other digicam I've come across which is capable of a closer shot is the fuji 602 @ 1cm supermacro.

I was thinking of getting the minolta 7i initially.

Will add the nikon 5700 to my list for comparison.

thanks again

[pospeh]

Do you know if their feeding requirements are any more different than seahorses? If so there is no reason why they can't be captive bred.

[kelstorm]

from what i was told in tasmania seahorse world, (they have those dragons) they have yet to discover their breeding habits and the casualty rate is extremely high despite having catered to their surroundings..