What camera you use to photo your tank?

[tunicate]

Hi All,

My current compact point & shoot is just not giving me good results when I point it at my fishes. I've tried aperture priority setting, manual IOS setting, shutter priority setting, close-up setting, white balance setting; different techniques like moving camera with subject, or fixed position waiting for subject to enter into frame,...etc. And I've pretty much concluded that my current 4 mega-pix point & shoot just isn't up to the task.

I've seen pics of beautiful detail photos uploaded by fellow reefers of their corals & livestocks, and figure some of these cameras would probably reaches into the 4-digit price range. I would like to get a better camera but have limited budget. (I guess you would have already know that since I'm probably the only guy on this island still using a 4MP camera.LOL) I'm not sure if DSLR is a must for aquarium photography, but I notice the market is making available some high end semi-pro compact cameras costing from $600-$900. Would very much like to hear what you have to say about these, & if they have the feature to take decent aquarium photography.

If possible, I would like to find out what you're are using to photograph your aquatic pets. And would appreciate very much if you can also show a photo from your camera with a close-up shot.

In anticipation of your generous feedback,

[Ketchup]

hmmm, i think for corals, small p&s with macro function and waterproof is the best. Just submerge the camera and fire away.

For fishes, you probably need DSLR. The reason is the fishes moves around fast and you need high speed to capture it. So DSLR will perform better as you can set higher ISO and still get very good picture quality.

For FTS, i think any camera will do, even iphones:P

[tunicate]

Thanks for the advice.

I think taking corals photos are ok as long as the camera can reproduce sufficient details.

Trying to freeze frame a swimming fish is most challenging for me. So setting to higher ISO would improve my fish photos?

My compact point & shoot might be able to manually set to higher ISO also. Hmmm...

[Ketchup]

p&s can set higher iso but very grainy so picture quality not that good. Oh, one more thing, u may wish to off your wavemaker/pumps while taking corals... to reduce movement.

[tunicate]

I'll go ahead & list a few current models.

- Canon's PowerShot S95

- Olympus' XZ-1

- Panasonic's Lumix DMC-LX5

- Samsung's EX1

- Nikon Coolpix P300

If any people have use the above model to photograph their LS, I'd be most happy to hear what you have to say about them.

[M3Morph]

Any beginner DSLR will be good enough. If u wan to shot just fishes, stock lens is sufficient. If u wan to shot corals, get a macro lens and tripod.

Cheers

[tunicate]

How about Micro Four Thirds? Do you think they're good enough too?

[tunicate]

Below is an extract from an article "5 Situations When Manual Focus is Better than Auto Focus" by Darren Rowse.

"Shooting Through Glass/Wire Fences

If you’ve ever shot through anything like a window or a mess/wire fence you’ll know how cameras will often get confused on where to focus your shot.

Whether it’s shooting out of a plane window, taking a shot of an image at a museum or photographing animals through fences at the zoo – you might find your camera is confused.

Manual focusing will avoid this completely and allow you to get things just right – focusing upon the subject behind that glass or fence. If you do this in conjunction with a large aperture (which decreases depth of field) and get in close to the fence or glass you might well eliminate it completely from being noticeable in your shot."

I think that may very well be what's happening to my compact point & shoot when I try to photograph my fishes. It just dosen't allow me to manual focus.

[Ketchup]

How about Micro Four Thirds? Do you think they're good enough too?

Micro 4/3 not very good for such usage imo.

[tunicate]

Below are some examples from Micro Four Thirds which I find very well taken.

Olympus PEN E-PL1:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1041&message=36383646

Panasonic DMC-G1:

Panasonic DMC-GF1:

[tunicate]

The Fujifilm FinePix X100 looks good. Lots of manual control, including a more intuitive manual focus on the lens ring. Something that is quite rare on a non-DSLR. But at about $1,200 it's not cheap. A Nikon D3100 kit probably cost less.

[Ketchup]

tunicate... problem with m4/3 is the sensor is 1/2 of the full frame sensor. Also, the AF is very slow, much slower than DSLR. So it's best for portraits/landscape and travel (due to the small size and zoom).

FYI, i owned a Nikon D90, olympus EP1, LX3 and a few other compacts. Most of the FTS i took is with LX3. for corals, i use my waterproof olympus u600 i think..

[tunicate]

Wow.. You're definitely speaking from experience here.

[Ketchup]

Wow.. You're definitely speaking from experience here.

lol, nothing lah... i dont take much aquarium pics..my cameras are mainly for my travel and photography use.. not pro thats why no FF DSLR

[tunicate]

Thanks for all the info & advise bro. Looks like I need to start saving up for my next camera.