# Glare in tank videos?



## pwolfe (Mar 2, 2011)

I've had luck filming the tank with the lights dimmed. In the finished product it still looks bright. Thats my completely amateur advice.


----------



## zeek21 (Mar 13, 2009)

It was good advice to film with the tank with the lights out,some of my best photos were with the tank lights out.


----------



## n25philly (Dec 12, 2013)

Basics of lighting.

White reflects light

Black eats up light

So if you are using your tank light it's going to shine down on the white sand and the light will reflect back which is why it is blowing out. Dimming the lights will obviously reduce it. You like will get best results shooting with the lights off and using your own light. Tank lights aren't designed for photo/video so they are not going to be ideal. Just make sure that your light isn't coming from the same place as your camera as they is what typically causes the glare on the glass.


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Use the same technique when taking photos in snow or on a sandy beach. You have to use manual settings. Point your camera at the sand and take a reading of that. Take note of the fstop and aperture. Then set it manually with those readings. The objects won't be blown out.


----------



## UDGags (Sep 13, 2009)

I have to hang up a black curtain on my 125g around my lights. This prevents the light from washing out the rest of the room and eliminates the glare on the glass.

Lowering the PAR/intensity, different angles, different camera settings never worked for me.


----------



## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

It's called dynamic range, or contrast ratio. The human eye adjusts to varying brightness, and has an enormous DR. Digital camera sensors, on the other hand, not so much. Especially cheap P&S cams with small (1/2.3") sensors suffer from DR limitations, notable in either blown out highlights or dark muddy shadows (or both, when the contrast is very high, like in our tanks).
Exposure adjustments help somewhat, but when you shoot video, auto-exposure constantly adjusts, and you still end up with blown highlights or invisible fish. Turning off the lights does reduce the contrast, but causes other issues, like when the camera sensor is overtaxed and compensates by increasing its sensitivity (ISO) until everything gets blurry and grainy.
Unless you can get a camera with a larger sensor, and better DR, you'll pretty much have to live with that.


----------



## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

not enough light in the tank. and most likely not enough balanced light in the tank. 

shut off all the lights in the same room of the tank. to prevent glare.

find correct exposure that is inbetween the bright plants and fish etc.


----------



## xev11 (Jan 19, 2010)

a circular polarizer filter reduces glare from glass. it works in my photos, should work for video too since it's the same light entering the lens. get any that fits the lense size


----------

