New To Photography

NYC1225 · Dec 14, 2011

Hey guys, i'm new here. I recently set up a salt water aquarium and with my current camera (Panasonic Lumix point-and-shoot lol) I can't get any great pics. I saw some AMAZING pics on a few reef tank forums, all done with "professional" cameras. This has inspired me to purchase a new camera and dump the Panasonic lol. I had my eye on the Sony NEX-5N, Canon t3i, and the Nikon D3100/5000 since they all fall in my price range. I really like the way the Sony looks/feels. I played around with one for a bit at Best Buy. In terms of how it compares to the Canon and the Nikon's. . .well I have no idea. All I have to go by are the comparisons I find online and they all seem to state the same thing. The Sony's image quality is on par with the Canon and Nikon's. Is this true? Which camera do you guys recommend? Keep in mind it will be used for A LOT of aquarium pics, some indoor shots, as well as many outdoor shots (of vehicles. . .if that makes a difference). -Thanks

Pau1 · Dec 14, 2011

Another thread on which camera should I buy? Uggggh!

SCraig · Dec 14, 2011

Shooting an aquarium is a bit more involved than just "Having a professional camera". It doesn't matter whether it's a point-and-shoot or a Nikon D3 if you try and get shots with a flash on the camera blazing all you're going to get is a blaze of glass in the image. Likewise if you try and shoot one without a flash all you will most likely get is a blur of fish because they move fast. A reef tank will be easier since there isn't a lot of movement but the fact remains: Just because you have a "Professional" camera doesn't mean you'll get the shot you want. When shooting aquariums it's all about the lighting setup.

kassad · Dec 14, 2011

Google Takashi Amano.

While the Nex-5n is a great camera it has no hotshot or sync port to trigger an off camera flash.

DiskoJoe · Dec 14, 2011

yeah just about any of those cameras would be about the same. The point kassad makes about the flash port is very relevant or at least might be to you later on. If you go nikon get the 5100 instead of the 3100. Also sony makes dslr's too which are pretty good prices and decent quality. Lenses are cheaper for sony dslr's to because they do not need internal motors like nikon and canon.

SCraig · Dec 14, 2011

DiskoJoe said:
...Lenses are cheaper for sony dslr's to because they do not need internal motors like nikon and canon.

Not all Nikon lenses have internal focusing motors. I suspect the same holds true for Canon.

Snakeguy101 · Dec 14, 2011

to get a good shot of an aquarium, I use a dome flash sitting on the center brace and point it straight up away from the water. Then I take a large whit styrofoam cooler and set it on top of that so that it is about a foot away from the top of the flash. This acts as my diffuser and produces some very nice shots. Also, check out this website and look through the photos for more ideas: Aquatic Photography Forum

NYC1225 · Dec 14, 2011

SCraig said:
Shooting an aquarium is a bit more involved than just "Having a professional camera". It doesn't matter whether it's a point-and-shoot or a Nikon D3 if you try and get shots with a flash on the camera blazing all you're going to get is a blaze of glass in the image. Likewise if you try and shoot one without a flash all you will most likely get is a blur of fish because they move fast. A reef tank will be easier since there isn't a lot of movement but the fact remains: Just because you have a "Professional" camera doesn't mean you'll get the shot you want. When shooting aquariums it's all about the lighting setup.

I wasn't referring to the fact that a professional camera is all you need to shoot an aquarium, nor did I state that having a professional camera will guarantee the fact that i'll get the shot I want. I just assumed that I would need a more advanced camera to get better quality pics, hence the reason I used quotation marks around the word professional. I only mentioned the aquarium to give you guys information on how I would be using the camera so you guys could give me a better recommendation on which one to purchase.

NYC1225 · Dec 14, 2011

kassad said:
Google Takashi Amano.

While the Nex-5n is a great camera it has no hotshot or sync port to trigger an off camera flash.

The majority of pics I have seen use no flash. . .this a SALTWATER tank with extremely bright lights. Two 14K bulbs as well as two 10K bulbs. I don't see a need for flash. . .maybe i'm wrong but I haven't seen many pics where people have been using flash. . .with the T5 HO or Metal Halide lights I don't see how flash would benefit the shot. . .

Natalie · Dec 14, 2011

All of those cameras are perfectly adequate for aquarium photography and will be able to take some fantastic photos. The actual camera body makes surprisingly little difference for most applications. Find a store that has all three cameras in stock and play around with them for a while, see which one feels the best in hand and which one has the most intuitive setting adjustments to you, because when you need to change the aperture in the blink of an eye, you don't want to be fumbling around with controls. Also, research lenses and more importantly, what sort of flash system you want to get. Because once you buy a camera body, you are pretty much locked into that brand's gear and accessories unless you want to sell everything and start over. Before you start looking into flash systems and whatnot for aquarium photography however, you should probably play around for a while with other types of photography (i.e., outdoor and well-lit indoor) so you can sort of learn the ropes before you invest in thousands of dollars of gear. Getting in over your head when you're completely new to photography can be extremely frustrating - take your time and learn things at your own pace.

Natalie · Dec 14, 2011

NYC1225 said:
kassad said:

Google Takashi Amano.

While the Nex-5n is a great camera it has no hotshot or sync port to trigger an off camera flash.

Click to expand...

The majority of pics I have seen use no flash. . .this a SALTWATER tank with extremely bright lights. Two 14K bulbs as well as two 10K bulbs. I don't see a need for flash. . .maybe i'm wrong but I haven't seen many pics where people have been using flash. . .with the T5 HO or Metal Halide lights I don't see how flash would benefit the shot. . .

Even the brightest aquarium lights are actually extremely dim to a camera's sensor, that is why camera flashes have to be so bright. In the shots taken without flash, the photographer probably used a slow shutter speed, a large aperture, and/or a high ISO (most likely all three). To shoot more active subjects, which would require a higher shutter speed, or macro subjects, which would require a smaller aperture, a flash is pretty much necessary.

kassad · Dec 14, 2011

NYC1225 said:
kassad said:

Google Takashi Amano.

While the Nex-5n is a great camera it has no hotshot or sync port to trigger an off camera flash.

Click to expand...

The majority of pics I have seen use no flash. . .this a SALTWATER tank with extremely bright lights. Two 14K bulbs as well as two 10K bulbs. I don't see a need for flash. . .maybe i'm wrong but I haven't seen many pics where people have been using flash. . .with the T5 HO or Metal Halide lights I don't see how flash would benefit the shot. . .

You probally have a camera currently. What fstop, shutter speed, and iso does it use when you take a picture of the tank. Your right you probably don't need a "pro" camera or even flashes. Those just give you more options. A basic point and shoot mounted on a tripod will give you pretty good results. It's been years since I tried aquarium photography (before I was using a DSLR) I found that my point and shoot mounted on a cheap tripod did well. I main thing was that the exposures ended up being too long to hand hold the camera and fish blurred if they moved. I was running a fresh water planted tank with 4 watts per gallon of lighting.

NYC1225 · Dec 14, 2011

Pau1 said:
Another thread on which camera should I buy? Uggggh!

you DON'T have to read this thread or post any replies if you don't want to. . .just making sure you KNOW that

NYC1225 · Dec 14, 2011

Natalie said:
All of those cameras are perfectly adequate for aquarium photography and will be able to take some fantastic photos. The actual camera body makes surprisingly little difference for most applications. Find a store that has all three cameras in stock and play around with them for a while, see which one feels the best in hand and which one has the most intuitive setting adjustments to you, because when you need to change the aperture in the blink of an eye, you don't want to be fumbling around with controls. Also, research lenses and more importantly, what sort of flash system you want to get. Because once you buy a camera body, you are pretty much locked into that brand's gear and accessories unless you want to sell everything and start over. Before you start looking into flash systems and whatnot for aquarium photography however, you should probably play around for a while with other types of photography (i.e., outdoor and well-lit indoor) so you can sort of learn the ropes before you invest in thousands of dollars of gear. Getting in over your head when you're completely new to photography can be extremely frustrating - take your time and learn things at your own pace.

Thanks for the helpful advice! I think i'll go with the Sony NEX-5N. It comes with a flash, but then there is another optional flash I can purchase. It's actually on sale now for $119 which is not bad at all. NEX Camera Flash | External Flash for α NEX Cameras | HVL-F20S | Sony USA. . .what do you think about it?