need photography help

[Rick O]

For several months I've been playing with a digital camera and haven't been able to get any decent pics of my tank. I've tried with and without flash. I've tried macro and auto focus. I've tried with and without a tripod. Most of the pics are blurry and the colors aren't vivid.

So now I'm going to try the 35mm. My question is; What parameters work best? What film speed? With or without flash? I was planning on using my 50mm lens cause it lets in more light. What aperature (sp) setting. I only have 520 watts of flourescent lighting, so I figure I do need the flash or my colors will be washed out.

Any help would be appreciated.

Rick

[FishDaddy]

Rick,
Take the pictures without flash if you can.
The trick is to get enough illumination without glare on the glass. Take pics in the daytime with as much ambient lighting as possible. Using ASA 400 film, you should be able to get enough light. You can use higher speed film but the higher you go the grainier the prints may be. I've not used anything over 400 myself.
Try setting your f stop as low as you can with the camera on auto and see if you can get the shutter speed to 125. The lower f stops give you more depth of field in focusing. The closer you are to the subject, the less depth of field you have. Sometimes its good to back up a bit and then edit and crop the pic. If you can't get the shutter speed up, move the f stop up until you can get the desired speed. Obviously, the higher shutter speed will take care of moving critters blurring or fuzziness due to camera shake. Use a tripod and either cable release or time delay. Another tip for keeping the blurs down is to turn off the pumps while taking the pictures.
Unless you have some real photo lighting, I have used the clamp-on round aluminum reflectors from K/Wal Mart with 150 watt bulbs for extra lighting when photographing still objects. You can move them around to keep glare spots off the glass or even drape a thin handerchief over the light fixture to reduce the glare but these fixtures do get hot!
These are just some general tips, lot of it just takes experimenting.
HTH
Dick

[Rick O]

Dick,

Seems like you and I are on the same wavelength on this. I was thinking 400 ASA but wondered if even that would be too grainy. I had taken some pics with the 35mm in the past using flash and I got "hot spots". Wouldn't I need to use a higher f-stop to let more light in? I only need a few inches depth of field.

Do you use a special bulb in those fixtures. Seems like normal incandescent bulbs make the pictures look yellow.

Thanks. Rick

[tdwyatt]

I use 200 or 100 asa film (the Fugi film seems to work the best, more accurate reproduction of blues and greens than Kodack) and I use 2 strobes to light from overhead at a 10am and 2 pm position. I have on occasion used a strobe right at the glass, and I almost always use a tripod with a 1 m cable release. I am using a 50 macro lense at 1.7 for most of the shots I do, and I am VERY happy with the results. I haven't ventured into digital photography yet, I just scan the photos on the scanner, then crop and play with the resolution until I get what I want.

[FishDaddy]

Rick,
I don't think the 400 would be a problem. Unless you have some "real" photography lighting, there has to be a compromise to get enough light to go without flash supplement. Same with the cheapo lights. These aren't meant to be the main light source but just to pump up the light to the point you can take pics without flash. I've used the soft-white bulbs and reproduced colors from paintings and glazed ceramics just fine. You will always get yellow if there isn't enough light. The only way to get the highest quality pics is with the high priced photo lights and using a light meter.
What I meant about the low f stop is to use the lowest setting you can while keeping the shutter speed high enough to stop the action in the tank.
HTH
Dick
P.S. See there, TD's using those expensive lights!


[This message has been edited by FishDaddy (edited 09-26-2000).]

400 speed should work fine, the new 400 are miles ahead of the old stuff. follow the advice given re: shut off pumps and go for fastestt shutter speed, use an ext cord for the flash if your camera supports it. You may have to have them reprint and compensate for color cast.
I have some photos Raszagil was able to post that were taken free hand wwith my Minolta XD-11, no flash and cheap 400 film with <440 watts on a 55 so it can be done

------------------
I thought I was me, but I was wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[Rick O]

Thanks for all of your advice. Can I go by the camera's internal light meter to determine if I have enough light? Trial and error is gonna be kinda expensive. Especially the error part.

Rick

Rick, the in camera meter should work well. Print film has a lot of exposure latitude, working with slide film would be a lot more difficult to peg the exposure,etc

------------------
I thought I was me, but I was wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[bill-e]

Rick,

What kind of digital camera were you using?

If you're digital camera's capable, you'll be happier with using it vise the film camera. give me the specs on the cam and maybe we can find out what the problem is.


------------------
Bill Esposito
bespo@cereal.mv.com
http//cereal.mv.com/reef
The box said "Use Win 95 or better", I chose better so I run OS/2!

[Rick O]

Hi Bill,

Here are the specs:

Kodak DC120 Zoom Digital Camera Specifications
System Performance
Picture Resolution: 1.2 million (1280 x 960) pixels
CCD Resolution: 836,400 (850 x 984) pixels
Color: 16.7 million colors
Lens: Auto-focus 3x power zoom with macro
Lens Focal Length: 38-114mm (35mm equivalent)
Exposure: Auto or manual exposure with automatic white balance
LCD Viewfinder: 1.6-inch color LCD for review and preview
Built-in Storage: 2 MB stores up to 20 pictures
Removable Storage: COMPACTFLASH slot for optional removable memory card; 2 MB stores up to 21 pictures; 10 MB stores up to 105 pictures
Image Quality Settings: Uncompressed, Best, Better, Good
Focal Distance: Normal-19"(0.5m) to infinity (auto focus); Macro-7.9" -19" (0.2m - 0.5m) (manual focus)
Flash: Built-in sensor (automatic, fill flash, flash off); optional flash sync cable supports external flash
Batteries: 4 AA (included)
Shutter Speed: 1/500 - 16 seconds
Aperture Range: Wide: f/2.5 - f/16; Tele: f/3.8 - f/24
LCD Panel Indicators: Camera ready; data transfer; battery level; memory indicator
ISO Equivalent: 160
Interface: RS 422/232 serial (230 Kbps)
Tripod Mount: Standard
Self-timer: 10 seconds

Some of the pics turn out pretty good and others are bad. I can't really tell what I'm doing different on the good ones though. You can see a sample of the pics here (the acropora pic was not taken with this camera): http://home.mindspring.com/~rogletree/_uimages/

Thanks. Rick



[This message has been edited by Rick O (edited 09-28-2000).]

[bill-e]

Rick, I suspect that you havent dont anything different to get the better shots, just that things were right. That camera should be able to produce acceptable shots. I notice alot of out of focus, very small depth of field, focus on the wrong item, etc... Should be nothing that a beginners book on photography wont cure. I'm guessing you will have similar results with a SLR until you figure out the settings....would be cheaper to learn on the digital.

Hopefully the DC-120 will allow you to set f-stop and shutter speed manually.

I too have to dig out my old photography book to relearn the basics.
Is the zoom on that camera optical or digital? if it's digital dont use it and instead use your photo editor to crop and enlarge the pictures.

------------------
Bill Esposito
bespo@cereal.mv.com
http//cereal.mv.com/reef
The box said "Use Win 95 or better", I chose better so I run OS/2!

[Rick O]

Bill,

I have been using a 35mm SLR for a long time and actually can take pretty good pics with it. But the digital camera is a whole different animal. It is auto focus only unless you're using it in macro mode. My suspicion is that the camera is focusing on the tank glass which can be 20+ inches in front of the coral. The exposure settings are not in numbers like f-stops; they are indicated by + or -. I have tried using a higher exposure to let more light in. As you can see some of the pics are dark. And the pics you see are the best ones. Whenever I do use a flash I always take the picture at an angle so there won't be any glare from the flash. Do you think that it's possible that the tank glass is reflecting all of the light from the flash?

I don't find anything in the book that says weather the zoom is optical or digital.

Rick

[This message has been edited by Rick O (edited 09-28-2000).]

[orange_goby]

I am using a Nikon Coolpix 950 and it gives great pics!! Most pics are taken with no flash and close-up on macro, mostly on a tripod to give better image.

However, below is one pic taken with flash & macro at 45 degrees to the horizontal & vertical and it came out great too.
http://myhome.asia1.com/home/o/orange_goby/ms.jpg

Hi Orange Goby, welcome to our little reef board. It will be interesting to hear your veiws on reefing in SE Asia.
Nice pix, great cam, same one bill-e uses
Raszagil, whatever you do don't look at this picture, the freight will break the bank

------------------
I thought I was me, but I was wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[Rick O]

Hello Orange Goby,

Welcome to The Reef Tank.

Nice pic. I guess I need to consider a camera with at least 2 million megapixel.

Rick