Results with new camera: the good and the bad...

[pjr]

Hi guys... getting used to my new DSLR... I got some good pics, but also some bad ones. The camera does a better job with capturing my tank correctly under LEDs. However, I think the true "magic bullet" was nothing technology or technique related, just some luck... it was taking the black background off the back of the tank! It really has helped a lot.

The first are pics of "my little angels" at feeding time. Nothing fancy here.... standard lens (not a macro), just hand held (left the crummy tripod in the drawer), and only in "sports" mode. All LEDs on, pumps off. The blue from LEDs were toned down to true color with Elements (all digital cameras seem to struggle with LED blue).








You will see the width of this angel in the following pic! They are well fed!






I am pretty pleased with the above pics, considering the informal nature of the shots. However, the following two pics were shot in macro mode. Not as pleased. Maybe if I used the tripod I would have been happier, but I am not very satisfied with the detail. I am open to suggestions. Did I buy the wrong camera (hope not!) or do I really need to pop for a macro lens to get the desired detail?

[dputt88]

Can you send me a link to the lens you are using now

[Captain]

woww really pretty! I like the bicolor, worth the risk!

[BeakerBob]

pjr, your pictures are good considering your new entry to dslr and shooting under LED lighting! It appears that you are using a Nikon D5100 with an 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens, extended to the full 55mm range for most of the pictures, no flash used, and Metering Mode of pattern / multi-segment (5).

The first set of pictures with the fish were taken with the following settings (film speed, shutter speed, lens aperture:

FISH
#1 : ISO 800, 1/30 @ f/5.6 very good, especially with camera hand held at this low of shutter speed
#2 : ISO 1600, 1/60 @ f/5.3
#3 : ISO 1600, 1/125 @ f/5.6
#4 : ISO 1600, 1/125 @ f/5.6
#5 : ISO 1600, 1/125 @ f/5.6
CORALS:
#1 : ISO 1600, 1/60 @ f/5.6
#2 : ISO 400, 1/60 @ f/6.3

Some observations, comments and suggestions, mainly for shooting coral pictures (fish pictures have their own set of issues):

Some of the subjects in the fish pictures were either too dark or too bright due to the metering mode used. In other words, the camera metered the scene and averaged the lighting setting to get the best overall picture. If you want to get a perfect exposure on a single subject, you must narrow the focus point down from 5 segments to 1 segment.

The aperture setting of f/5.6 @ 55mm is the widest that the lens is capable of doing and has the shallowest of depth-of-field. I suspect that the camera selected the shutter speed and aperture settings automatically for you. To gain control on the depth-of-field (how much is in focus in the picture) I suggest using a tripod, set the camera MODE to A Aperture-priority auto where the user rotates command dial to choose aperture and the camera selects the shutter speed for best results. Set the aperture to f/8 or higher. Use a remote shutter release or the self timer to trip the shutter because the shutter speed will be really low and you can't hand hold the camera steady enough to get a clearly focused picture.

When shooting macros, the macro function on the camera only sets up the camera settings......it doesn't change the focal length of the lens on a dslr. Basically it will try to focus on a single item, set up the shutter speed, aperture and ISO balance to get a good picture. Your best bet is to use the manual focus or the Single-point AF setting where the user selects focus point using multi selector and the camera focuses on the subject in selected focus point only. This will control what you want in focus. Since the first coral picture did not have anything in really good focus, I suspect that camera shake was to blame or you were too close to the coral for the lens to focus. The lens can only focus to 11".

So, use a tripod, change the camera MODE to A (aperture priority), set the aperture to f/8 or f/11, either manual focus or use Single-Point AF, and trip the shutter with a remote or self-timer.

Try this out and post some pictures for additional comments.

[pjr]

Angels and a clown goby in an sps tank.... someone doesn't like PE lol

Yes, PE for SPS is an issue! Sigh... if I had only known.... 3 Angels and both a Clown Goby and Yellow Goby.

Ok seriously tho, do you not have a background on the tank now..... ..

No background at all! The blue appearance is from the LED lighting.

As for the bad.... They look like there is too much white. I am no camera expert but I would suspect that either the white balance is off, or they are under whiter lights and the camera is showing that more then anyone would like...

I actually have to bring up the white balance in PS Elements, otherwise the pic appears too blue. Maybe I am overdoing it? Or maybe a bit over-exposed?

Can you send me a link to the lens you are using now

Bob nailed it! Nikon D5100 with an 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens,

[pjr]

woww really pretty! I like the bicolor, worth the risk!

Thx! I have had him since November 2004. the bi-color before him (lost in a move) I had for 7 years.

pjr, your pictures are good considering your new entry to dslr and shooting under LED lighting! It appears that you are using a Nikon D5100 with an 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens, extended to the full 55mm range for most of the pictures, no flash used, and Metering Mode of pattern / multi-segment (5).

Bob, thx for the kind words... probably kinder than deserved! You are right on about the camera.

Some of the subjects in the fish pictures were either too dark or too bright due to the metering mode used. In other words, the camera metered the scene and averaged the lighting setting to get the best overall picture. If you want to get a perfect exposure on a single subject, you must narrow the focus point down from 5 segments to 1 segment.

The aperture setting of f/5.6 @ 55mm is the widest that the lens is capable of doing and has the shallowest of depth-of-field. I suspect that the camera selected the shutter speed and aperture settings automatically for you. To gain control on the depth-of-field (how much is in focus in the picture) I suggest using a tripod, set the camera MODE to A Aperture-priority auto where the user rotates command dial to choose aperture and the camera selects the shutter speed for best results. Set the aperture to f/8 or higher. Use a remote shutter release or the self timer to trip the shutter because the shutter speed will be really low and you can't hand hold the camera steady enough to get a clearly focused picture.

When shooting macros, the macro function on the camera only sets up the camera settings......it doesn't change the focal length of the lens on a dslr. Basically it will try to focus on a single item, set up the shutter speed, aperture and ISO balance to get a good picture. Your best bet is to use the manual focus or the Single-point AF setting where the user selects focus point using multi selector and the camera focuses on the subject in selected focus point only. This will control what you want in focus. Since the first coral picture did not have anything in really good focus, I suspect that camera shake was to blame or you were too close to the coral for the lens to focus. The lens can only focus to 11".

So, use a tripod, change the camera MODE to A (aperture priority), set the aperture to f/8 or f/11, either manual focus or use Single-Point AF, and trip the shutter with a remote or self-timer.

Try this out and post some pictures for additional comments.

Great advice Bob.... been lazy and not done much manually, but that will stop immediately! I will try single point AF to start and go from there and send up some new pics. More to come! Many thx!

[pjr]

OK, took a few pics tonite.... Aperture Priority, F11, manual focus, self timer, and pulled out my tripod (POS with a broken leg). Cleanup in Elements to correct white balance, crop, resize, and Unsharp mask.

Pics are acros, no fish. Whenever I shot a fish with these settings, the end result was blur. I even nicely asked the to smile, sit still, even said "cheese" but they would not cooperate. Nasty buggers. I think I'll need a different apprach with them.

Acros:



A. tort:




Green Slimer:

[MizTanks]

Those are insane pics!!

[BeakerBob]

pjr, try jacking your ISO to either 400 or 800. You were shooting at 100 which resulted in a reeeaaalllyy slow shutter speed, like about 1 second. Otherwise, getting better!!

[pjr]

I took a few more pics tonight... cropped a few a little tighter (a la Junior. ). Did try ISO 400 but still blurry fish. I hate to go too much higher else I'll get too much noise.