High Tide Aquatics

New Camera.....

Kmooresf

Kmooresf

Supporting Member
BARcard
Hey all. I did ok in taxes this year, and the frag tank planning was getting on my nerves a bit. So I decided to wait on the new frag tank, and get a new camera.

I bought a Canon EOS Rebel T5i from Costco. It was in a kit that had an EF S 18-55mm IS STM lens as well as an EFs 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II auto focus lens. I yanked it out of the box and started shooting as soon as I got home. Of coarse the tank was dirty, so after a cleaning / water change, etc. I shot some more. I am SUPER impressed with the shots I have gotten on the first day. I have only tried the 18-55mm lens. It is pretty solid, and takes some great shots. Super fast auto focus, and I was finally able to get some IN FOCUS pics of the fish. Ok, not all are in perfect focus, but still impressive. Thought I would share some.

These pics are with the auto settings on the camera. I haven't played with any adjustments......just used what is on the dial on top. I'll be learning more as I go and playing with the video and other lenses and will update as well. SO EXCITED!!

FTS


Purple tang


Starry blenny


Female spotbreast angel


Favia


Bonsai Frag


Harptail Blenny



Melanarus Wrasse (this sucker never stops moving, so I am SO impressed to get a clear image)
 
nice work, what mode are you shooting in? any post-processing software?
I'm a photographer so I can't help but wonder about the method of choice :D
 
HiFidelity said:
nice work, what mode are you shooting in? any post-processing software?
I'm a photographer so I can't help but wonder about the method of choice :D
Click to expand...

I am not a photographer, but I am LOVING it so far. I used several different modes, just trying it out. Most of these are either in Auto with the flash off, or sports setting. Most of the pics are cropped. A couple of them I either lightened or darkened a bit. The first pic of the spotbreast angel I had to lighten a bit as the face was a bit darker. I also darkened up the Bonsai colony pic, as it is very close to the top of the tank and got a little washed out. The Frag pic however was only cropped. All the others I believe are as they were. I don't have a good photo program, just iPhoto. Maybe someday I will invest in some software. I would rather learn to get the correct color from the camera though. Might have to take a class or two. ;)
 
you're on the right track, unfortunately it is not possible to get the most accurate colors from the camera without any post processing, the problem there is that the camera depends on it's pre-programmed white balance presets and none of which were calibrated for our type of lighting so at the least color correcting as well as exposure adjustments are quite necessary in post. Now I'm not saying post process or don't shoot and this is probably something that will come in due time after you become more comfortable with the camera.

I have about $10k or more in equipment so get some practice going and perhaps one day you might want to try out my submersibe strobes w/ wireless trigger on your tank! hehe :p
All my gear is Canon so it's all compatible with your camera.

I do not own a proper macro lens yet since I have no use for it in my profession as I am an architectural photographer (I do much more but today that's my specialty) but as soon as I have one I am going to propose some type of workshop or even free short photo sessions during tank tours, I don't know but that'll be in the future for me.

definitely big thumbs up for such awesome pics

oh by the way, try out shutter priority, it's the "Tv" setting on the round dial on top, this will allow you to choose your shutter speed and camera will automatically select f-stop, you also get manual control over ISO in this setting, don't be intimidated by the terminology I'm throwing at you lol but just give it a try, 60+ shutter speed is where you want to be and feel free to crank up the iso if pics are coming up dark, if you manage to get good shots in this setting you will be learning a lot about the technology in that camera and that sets you up for shooting in M (manual) which is ideally what you want to work towards.

Any questions or technical issues, I am here and I love photography so feel free to pester me with anything you have on your mind. I was literally raised in a dark room back in the 80's where you had to smell some nasty chemicals & operate in complete darkness with film & paper to get a single print, since then I've never stopped and that was almost 30 years ago.

Cheers.
 
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here's a very simple cheat sheet if you are confused by all the iso, f-stop & shutter speed talk, it makes for a nice easy to understand visual;

manual-photography-cheat-sheet.jpg
 
HiFidelity said:
you're on the right track, unfortunately it is not possible to get the most accurate colors from the camera without any post processing, the problem there is that the camera depends on it's pre-programmed white balance presets and none of which were calibrated for our type of lighting so at the least color correcting as well as exposure adjustments are quite necessary in post. Now I'm not saying post process or don't shoot and this is probably something that will come in due time after you become more comfortable with the camera.

I have about $10k or more in equipment so get some practice going and perhaps one day you might want to try out my submersibe strobes w/ wireless trigger on your tank! hehe :p
All my gear is Canon so it's all compatible with your camera.

I do not own a proper macro lens yet since I have no use for it in my profession as I am an architectural photographer (I do much more but today that's my specialty) but as soon as I have one I am going to propose some type of workshop or even free short photo sessions during tank tours, I don't know but that'll be in the future for me.

definitely big thumbs up for such awesome pics

oh by the way, try out shutter priority, it's the "Tv" setting on the round dial on top, this will allow you to choose your shutter speed and camera will automatically select f-stop, you also get manual control over ISO in this setting, don't be intimidated by the terminology I'm throwing at you lol but just give it a try, 60+ shutter speed is where you want to be and feel free to crank up the iso if pics are coming up dark, if you manage to get good shots in this setting you will be learning a lot about the technology in that camera and that sets you up for shooting in M (manual) which is ideally what you want to work towards.

Any questions or technical issues, I am here and I love photography so feel free to pester me with anything you have on your mind. I was literally raised in a dark room back in the 80's where you had to smell some nasty chemicals & operate in complete darkness with film & paper to get a single print, since then I've never stopped and that was almost 30 years ago.

Cheers.
Click to expand...


Wow, thanks for taking the time to give out the info. I will definately be bugging you!! I am gonna try that with the shutter speed. Thanks.

Oh, and thanks for the awesome chart below!!

Kris.
 
Note: It can also be useful to understand what ISO really means.
It is far different for digital sensors then the old film speed.
Note also that "gain" can be either in the sensor, or digital post processing, so
it helps to understand that difference as well.

(There are lots of articles online on that)

One trick: Put a white piece of plastic in your tank, just out of the scene you want,
but in the picture. You can use that for white balancing, then crop it out.
The back of the little cards for chemical tests works well.
Requires special post processing of RAW software though, where you can pick a white balance point.

(PS: I am no photographer, but I have worked on the digital sensor-stuff)
 
Mark, I was so close to talking about all that but I didn't want to overwhelm him. He should get comfortable with the camera before we confuse him with software hehehe...

I am all digital today, really have been since digital became attainable but my Canon FTb "the brick" film camera which taught me how to operate an SLR sits here next to me on the desk, I owe my love for photography to this little classic :)

Grain is not an issue once he advances to post processing, then we can introduce him to lightroom, for now I'll wait for him to come back & ask why his pics look like someone sprinkled salt on them and at that point I will remove the grains for him & show him the finished image, then I assume he will want to learn how I did that and BAM open door, I get to throw him into the vast world of post processing lol.
 
Kmooresf said:
So what is a good software program? Ballpark price for it? Might as well start saving for it. LOL!
Click to expand...

While you are saving up, don't give up on iPhoto. There is lots of power hidden in the Edit/Adjust icon.

Photoshop Elements is a nice app too. Most of the power of the full Photoshop at a fraction of the price.

Now that you have a nice camera, shoot in RAW format!

You've already gotten some great shots. Fish are tough. Little buggers keep moving! :)
 
If you already use iPhoto, and have a Mac, you could consider upgrading to Aperture. $80
It has pretty similar features to Lightroom, but is a bit easier to use, especially
if you are already familiar with iPhoto.
 
HiFidelity said:
you're on the right track, unfortunately it is not possible to get the most accurate colors from the camera without any post processing, the problem there is that the camera depends on it's pre-programmed white balance presets and none of which were calibrated for our type of lighting so at the least color correcting as well as exposure adjustments are quite necessary in post. Now I'm not saying post process or don't shoot and this is probably something that will come in due time after you become more comfortable with the camera.

I have about $10k or more in equipment so get some practice going and perhaps one day you might want to try out my submersibe strobes w/ wireless trigger on your tank! hehe :p
All my gear is Canon so it's all compatible with your camera.

I do not own a proper macro lens yet since I have no use for it in my profession as I am an architectural photographer (I do much more but today that's my specialty) but as soon as I have one I am going to propose some type of workshop or even free short photo sessions during tank tours, I don't know but that'll be in the future for me.

definitely big thumbs up for such awesome pics

oh by the way, try out shutter priority, it's the "Tv" setting on the round dial on top, this will allow you to choose your shutter speed and camera will automatically select f-stop, you also get manual control over ISO in this setting, don't be intimidated by the terminology I'm throwing at you lol but just give it a try, 60+ shutter speed is where you want to be and feel free to crank up the iso if pics are coming up dark, if you manage to get good shots in this setting you will be learning a lot about the technology in that camera and that sets you up for shooting in M (manual) which is ideally what you want to work towards.

Any questions or technical issues, I am here and I love photography so feel free to pester me with anything you have on your mind. I was literally raised in a dark room back in the 80's where you had to smell some nasty chemicals & operate in complete darkness with film & paper to get a single print, since then I've never stopped and that was almost 30 years ago.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Do Canons not have a way to set up custom white balances? I know on my Nikon there are two different ways to get it to do a custom white balance that will go above the 10k that is their highest pre programmed setting. Also I second the lightroom recommendation.
 
Hi Merith,

Lightroom is so much more flexible and easy for white balance adjustments I don't bother trying to get it right in camera, of course I try to get it close but I typically don't spend too much time on WB while shooting. I do use a grey card whenever I shoot under static lighting which means a single click in LR gives you perfect white balance, from there I copy & paste the adjustment to every photo from the shoot and move on.

To answer your question, Canon does allow you to store a custom WB
 
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