How to improve?

[Vanquish75]

Hi all,

I'm currently keeping a reef tank at home and most of the time I've been taking pics of my reef tank... after experimenting for a while, this is somewhat the best pic I've taken with my EOS300D kit lens.

I'm trying to get a sharper pic with more contrast in colours... can anyone advise how I may do it??

I'm actually still lost as to whether to set the ISO high or low, the f-stop, and aperture speed etc etc... somehow manage to take the above shot by fluke...

Pls help... thanks!

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Hi all,

I'm currently keeping a reef tank at home and most of the time I've been taking pics of my reef tank... after experimenting for a while, this is somewhat the best pic I've taken with my EOS300D kit lens.

I'm trying to get a sharper pic with more contrast in colours... can anyone advise how I may do it??

I'm actually still lost as to whether to set the ISO high or low, the f-stop, and aperture speed etc etc... somehow manage to take the above shot by fluke...

Pls help... thanks!

use hyperfocal setting. if in doubt wiki it.

measure the distance from tank 1 end to the other, set the range and f-stop, and shoot.

find the lighting generally dark... try to add more lights in the tank i suppose. and add more water, can see water surface reflection in picture.

*not a fish shooter*

 

[Vanquish75]

use hyperfocal setting. if in doubt wiki it.

measure the distance from tank 1 end to the other, set the range and f-stop, and shoot.

find the lighting generally dark... try to add more lights in the tank i suppose. and add more water, can see water surface reflection in picture.

*not a fish shooter*

How to use hyperfocal setting?? and what's wiki?

The tank measures 5 feet across, which range and f-stop should I use?

The tank has very strong lights as a whole, but I find that when it lightens up, the colours get washed out... How do I get the colours to contrast better?

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Wikipedia

www.wikipedia.org

 

[mysum]

If you want to make it sharper, put your ISO at the lowest setting, use a small aperture (f/16 is a good idea) and use a slow shutter speed to compensate for the small aperture. You will need a tripod. If you don't know why I'm saying all that, you really need to do your homework.

As for colours.. that is something that the lens is very much in control of. Getting a prime lens will help with that.

 

[Adelfin]

If you want to make it sharper, put your ISO at the lowest setting, use a small aperture (f/16 is a good idea) and use a slow shutter speed to compensate for the small aperture. You will need a tripod. If you don't know why I'm saying all that, you really need to do your homework.

As for colours.. that is something that the lens is very much in control of. Getting a prime lens will help with that.

bro. fish move. using the lowest iso and f/16 is likely to give u a mass of colours and nothing else...

try placing more lights in/above the tank, so that u can afford a higher shutter speed.. if possible, add enough so u can lower aperture and get a greater dof, but too much light can change the mood of the photo.. else, like the others said, try getting the hyperfocal distance right...

*not a fish shooter either*

 

[mtunlinn]

Bro. Your pic is a little bit noisy. I suggest

(1) turn on all the tank light. Off the surrounding light. May be shoot at night.
(2) Shoot in raw and adjust the WB & satuation later.
(3) Use Prime lens. Around F8. and tripod
(4) Adjust the ISO according to the shutter speed you want. Max 800.
(5) May be use polarizer.

This is what i can think of. Normally marine tanks have strong lights. I am not a fish shooter either.

 

[Vanquish75]

Bro. Your pic is a little bit noisy. I suggest

(1) turn on all the tank light. Off the surrounding light. May be shoot at night.
(2) Shoot in raw and adjust the WB & satuation later.
(3) Use Prime lens. Around F8. and tripod
(4) Adjust the ISO according to the shutter speed you want. Max 800.
(5) May be use polarizer.

This is what i can think of. Normally marine tanks have strong lights. I am not a fish shooter either.

Thanks to all the non-fish shooters...

Wats a Prime Lens? Would F8 work? Tried the polarizer but its too dark even with all the lights on and I do have some strong lights (total 1600W+ in total)

I should get a tripod but the tank is 42 inches above ground... how to select a good tripod?

 

[miniUltraman]

How to use hyperfocal setting?? and what's wiki?

The tank measures 5 feet across, which range and f-stop should I use?

The tank has very strong lights as a whole, but I find that when it lightens up, the colours get washed out... How do I get the colours to contrast better?

hyperfocal :bsmilie: read this http://www.dofmaster.com/hyperfocal.html#methods

 

[Vanquish75]

Double Post

 

[mtunlinn]

I am not a fish shooter but i love fishes. Ever thought of setting up a marine tank but it doesn't seem to be easy.:embrass:

Back to the topic.... Prime lens have dedicated focal length. Generally they produce sharper images compared to zoom lens. May be you can consider Canon 50mm F1.8(around $130 new). For the tripod, Slik Pro series (300/330/340/400 DX) will be more than enough for your set up. They comes with decent 3 way head as well (less than $150 new).

But if you want to cover the whole tank and everyting sharp, it will be quite difficult considering your tank is 5 feet. Every detail won't be there (partly due to 6 mega cam).

My suggestion: don't try to cover everyting that is inside the tank. May be take some photos from different angles of the tank, showing part of the cabinet/stand and lighting. It will be more interesting. Take some close up photos showing some fishes with the coral background.

p.s if you are getting the 50 mm prime, take note of the space availabe for you to shoot. The room need to be quite big for you to cover the whole tank at 50mm.

 

[Vanquish75]

I am not a fish shooter but i love fishes. Ever thought of setting up a marine tank but it doesn't seem to be easy.:embrass:

Back to the topic.... Prime lens have dedicated focal length. Generally they produce sharper images compared to zoom lens. May be you can consider Canon 50mm F1.8(around $130 new). For the tripod, Slik Pro series (300/330/340/400 DX) will be more than enough for your set up. They comes with decent 3 way head as well (less than $150 new).

But if you want to cover the whole tank and everyting sharp, it will be quite difficult considering your tank is 5 feet. Every detail won't be there (partly due to 6 mega cam).

My suggestion: don't try to cover everyting that is inside the tank. May be take some photos from different angles of the tank, showing part of the cabinet/stand and lighting. It will be more interesting. Take some close up photos showing some fishes with the coral background.

p.s if you are getting the 50 mm prime, take note of the space availabe for you to shoot. The room need to be quite big for you to cover the whole tank at 50mm.

Thanks bro!!

Think you're right.... tried a 50mm today and I need to be some 3-4 metres away from the tank at least, but that is space I dun have... do you tink I should get some 40mm or maybe 30mm?

 

[mtunlinn]

Thanks bro!!

Think you're right.... tried a 50mm today and I need to be some 3-4 metres away from the tank at least, but that is space I dun have... do you tink I should get some 40mm or maybe 30mm?

50 1.8 is the cheapest prime. No 40 mm but 28, 30, 35. You can refer to this thread. http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=131801&page=24

 

[Vanquish75]

50 1.8 is the cheapest prime. No 40 mm but 28, 30, 35. You can refer to this thread. http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=131801&page=24

Would getting a zoom lens with hopefully a lower f-stop help?

 

[mtunlinn]

The lower the F-stop, the thinner the DOF. The subject will be more or less sharp but not the foreground and background. I don't think that is what you want to acheive.

The lower the f-stop, the lower ISO you can use (less noise) and the higher the shutter speed to freeze the fish in motion. You just have to play around with these settings. I think that is the best i can help.

 

[Vanquish75]

The lower the F-stop, the thinner the DOF. The subject will be more or less sharp but not the foreground and background. I don't think that is what you want to acheive.

The lower the f-stop, the lower ISO you can use (less noise) and the higher the shutter speed to freeze the fish in motion. You just have to play around with these settings. I think that is the best i can help.

Thanks for the help bro... to get my thoughts right, if I set the f-stop to be higher, the background becomes sharper?? Den I try to use a faster shutter speed and higher ISO to force the fishes to be captured sharper??

 

[hacknet]

i've tried shooting my arowana and there seems to be only 1 simple rule.


light light light and more light. you need tons of light in the tank so that you can lower your shutter speed. you will want to shoot below 1/80 of a second or even more if possible to reduce blur due to the fish movement.


do remember to scrub the glass to get the clearest picture. i've not tried shooting my entire tank but if you want to do it, you might want to try focusing at hyperfocal distance so everything is in focus.

 

[ortega]

use a flash as the main light (does it affect the fishes?)
set camera on tripod
set shutter speed to freeze fish/water movement
set aperture for more DOF
choice of lens used for more DOF (WA lens)
Noise reduction software

 

[hacknet]

often with flash, you get reflection on the glass and the fish become a washed out colour...

 

[ortega]

often with flash, you get reflection on the glass and the fish become a washed out colour...

even from the top?