The Camera Thread

[ashdavid]

SO lets stop arguing about what the best way to make a shot is and instead share the settings used to make certain shots...

Setting mean nothing without the right setup.

 

[DarthV]

A fast lens means jack in aquarium photography. I have a 50mm f1.2 and its DOF wide open is paper thin, which renders the pics almost unuseable. Maybe if I was shooting from 20 feet away it may have some use , but then the fish would be so small you would not know waht they were. Mo is right when he speaks about using flash to get get the most natural look, b/c how bright do you think the sun is? And stoping the lens down won't help much with AF performance. Get a decent camera and the AF performance will take care of its self.

I don't want to pick fights with you or Mo (or anyone else), but everyone has their own way of doing photography. I've seen your photos, and Mo's as well, and they are excellent. I enjoy using my fast lenses wide open when it suits me. I like using my 580ex flash remotely as well. There really isn't a right and wrong way, just as long as your doing it deliberately, well other than those "oops I did something wrong, but it still looks cool!" type shots It's basically personal preference.


My advice to people wanting to know what setting to use would be to just experiment. Learn to use your camera. Learn a little bit about the hows and whys of photography. Watch how your fish behave. Put that knowledge to use and have fun. It's not like you have to buy film, right?

Some things to know:

Clean your glass (inside and out) before snapping shots.
If you're using flash, find something to use as a diffuser. Don't take shots straight on or you'll probably get some flash flare.
Turn off other lights in the room to cut down on reflections.
Add more lighting on the tank if needed.
Be PATIENT.



And as aside, for AF performance, you do realize the light path of an AF system on an SLR camera does not go through the shutter itself, right? At least on the modern Canon dSLR models, a fast lens gives the AF more light to work with then a slow one and it improves the AF accuracy. AF speed is a mix of the camera and the lens motor. Stopping the lens down is independent of this.

 

[is300zx]

I enjoy using my fast lenses wide open but not for aquatic photography. They're great for night shots around the town, indoor shots of the family, portraits, etc., but not aquatic photography. Fast lenses don't come cheap either whereas a remote flash can be had for a couple of hundred dollars or less. If a beginner comes around asking what he should spend his money on and he's mainly taking fish pics while being on a tight budget, then he would just be better off spending it on a remote flash. For an example, take a look at emanb115's pics and compare them to akskirmish's pics. EmanB115 uses a less than $200 "slow" kit lens and a remote flash while akskirmish uses his more expensive "fast" macro lens and no flash.

As for the AF, you still don't need a fast lens to get the best AF performance. You just need to turn on the tank lights. The tank lights should be enough to assist your camera so it can focus the lens. Also on Nikon cameras there's an AF assist lamp if there's not enough light.

 

[DarthV]

is300zx, true, the speed of a lens doesn't mean it will focus faster than a slow lens. But more expensive faster lenses usually come with better AF motors The difference between my cheap 50mm f/1.8 and the not quite as cheap 100mm f/2.8 macro is quite large. The ring USB ring motor on the macro lens is lightyears ahead of the 50mm. Then again the 50mm prime is around $100 and the macro is $400.

 

[ashdavid]

is300zx, true, the speed of a lens doesn't mean it will focus faster than a slow lens. But more expensive faster lenses usually come with better AF motors The difference between my cheap 50mm f/1.8 and the not quite as cheap 100mm f/2.8 macro is quite large. The ring USB ring motor on the macro lens is lightyears ahead of the 50mm. Then again the 50mm prime is around $100 and the macro is $400.

Not exactly. My Canon 180mm f3.5L is considered very slow but yet it is one of the more expensive lens in its class. So what you are saying is that in general the more expensive lens have better AF motors, not that fast lens have better AF motors.

 

[DarthV]

Doesn't my use of the word usually mean the same as yours of in general?


In the case of your 180mm macro, I would imagine that it's the fact that the focus motor has a longer range that it has to use that probably hurts its AF speed. But yes, usually the more expensive & fast lenses also come with more benefits. Helps justifying spending that much money on them

 

[loach43]

usually the more expensive & fast lenses also come with more benefits. Helps justifying spending that much money on them

As a Nikor VR lens user, I couldn't agree more with 'spensive is better'.

 

[akskirmish]

If you kept the f2.8 and lowered the Tv you would get a better exposure, but my opinion is that these pics are still underexposed. Also something that has not been mentioned is the white balance, if you don't ghet this right pics will look unnatural. Also remember this , an underexposed pic will show noise a lot more than a proporly exposed pic. What camera are you using?

Well I'm going to see about getting alot more light ove my tank and then working on this quite a bit...

My white balance is always set on auto----I'm still learning the difference in light spectrums before I jump into mesin with that...

I use a canon 400D XTI---Nothing special-But once I get this cam figured out-I'll move to the 5D or the 40D

 

[akskirmish]

Hey rally-

I got MSN live-----Care to add me when you get the chance---

I can't figure out how to add you Sir...
Thanks
Ak

 

[powrisal]

i just bought a Nikon d40. any specific settings i should change for aquarium pics?