Taking FTS and Macro Shots

[obet_carlos]

mga sirs, can you post here how you take very pictures of your tanks.. ISO, aperture, and shutter speed settings.. i have a canon 550D and i am not able to take very nice images of my tank.. thanks!

[tugasi]

same camera and same dilema

[jup]

f/8, 1/60sec, ISO-800, and then tinker on your on cam white balance, contrast and sharpness
HTH

[mikedown]

what lens would you use?

[obet_carlos]

Im using yung lens na kasama.. 18-135..

[GY2202]

Camera: Canon 550D
Lens: Canon EFS 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM

All lights ON (Display Tank)

Apperture = f/8
speed = 1/25sec
iso = 200

Medium Light (Display tank)

Apperture = f5.6-f6.3
speed = 1/30sec
iso = 400

Low Light (Display Tank)

Apperture = f2.8-f4
speed = 1/20
iso = 800-1600

[GreatBarrierReef]

Obet, same tayo cam.. I have some points on taking reef tanks, i'm not that pro but i have some idea that quite work well. Pabackup nlng sa mga pro...

*turn off your pump.. For a better lps shot.
1. Shoot in manual, manual focus and save it in raw.
2. Set your iso to 200-800. ( you can also try higher iso but will suffer to a grainy output)
3. Always shoot perpendicular to you tank.
4. Use LCD screen instead of the optical view finder( which some of the photogs prefer using optical view finder)

Now... Setting your aperture and shutter will depend on what youre built in light meter tells you.It depends on the environment where your tank is placed. if your in a close room or have open windows that will contribute as additonal lightsource in your tank..

Usually, you can first set your aperture f/8 if you want that some of your background ls to be in focus, using lower number like f/1.8 will give you a shallow depth of field meaning all objects that are not in focus will be blurry, a nice efect if you want that. Set your shutter to 1/50 ( IMO standard should be 1/125 but if you cant get this shutter reading because of the less light source, you can lower it down to 1/50, lower than this will result to a blurry shoot because of hand will surely move before the shutter complete its working.. ) Then focus on the ls and try to half press, you'll see at the bottom the light meter reading, if the red bar is on the left side , it means the shot will be underexpose and if its on the right side it will be over expose otherwise it will be on the correct exposure. Over or under expose doesnt mean you will not get a good shot, it depends on what you prefer.

Take your shot. If its too dark, try set the aperture 2steps lower, if its f/8 try to make it f/6 , then try again, until you reach your biggest aperture opening let say f/2.8, now if its dark for you, try to set higher ISO if its 200, 400,800 and so on.. Now after all that adjustment and the shot is quite dark, it's time to adjust your shutter. If its on 1/50 now, you can try if you can stabilize handling it at 1/30 , if its blurry, you have to used tri-pod or placed it on a table chair anthing you can place your cam and set timer to 10sec. I think that the basic setup for a good exposure.

One thing, you can use bulb settings for much lower shutter speed like 30sec, you can use this if you want to expose a subject on a very low light source like under actinic light. Shooting on bulb will give you a better color and dont forget to use tripod for this.. Hth... Pa comment nrin sa mg pro.. Bka may mali... Tnx...

[arvin]

A tripod is a must, open your aperture to the largest setting available (smallest no), set your camera to auto shutter speed then adjust your exposure and iso until you get a shutter speed of 1/X minimum. X being the focal length ng lens mo. So if your using the longest end ng 18-135, dapat 1/135min. Open all available lights, don't use flash. The more light the better

[karlkat]

Mas luma na model gamit ko. 450D + 24-105mm f4L. (Masabi lang) hehe.
Hindi ko pa nattry mismo sa aquarium pero based sa experience sa ibang subject... sa tingin ko best yung method ni sir arvin pang single subject, say a specific coral sa tank. Kasi kung aperture mo eh f1.8 to f2.8 kunwari, medyo manipis na ang focus nun. So sharp yung subject mo na coral then bokeh na yung mga katabi. Sa tingin ko naman yung mga method na f5.6 to f8 pang tipong full front view kunwari ng tank. Para sharp lahat mula sa nasa harap ng tank hanggang likod. Ingat lang kapag niliitan yung aperture (bigger f#) kasi tendency mo eh bagalan yung shutter speed, then maccapture mo na yung movements and thus blurry (blurred dahil sa motion hindi dahil sa focus).

Medyo OT: sana may magtry ng HDR, baka kakaiba ang results kapag aquarium ang subject. May nagsubok na ba? Pwede ko itry pero kapag setup na aquarium ko, so mga 1-2 mos pa yun hehe.