# Photo gear



## jdwebb1 (Aug 26, 2019)

What are people using to photograph their aquariums?

I'm an amateur wildlife and landscape photographer, my gear consists of a Canon 7D, a Canon 7D MKII, Tamron 100-400mm, Canon 15-85mm and a Tokina 100mm macro. I have a remote flash setup, and a macro flash ring also. I'll try the Tokina macro lens when I get my aquarium set up in a couple weeks.


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## anh2.0 (Jun 26, 2016)

Sony A7iii

Macro using neewer 16+10mm macro extension with kinko achromat +5 diopter on a 50mm 1.8.

Simpl but effective.


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## Surf (Jun 13, 2017)

either of your 7D's and the macro should work well for photographing fish. Your macro flash may not be helpful since much of the light might bounce off the glass obscuring the fish. A good overhead aquarium light with all other light sources outside of the aquarium off should work the best Set the camera to aperture priority with a narrow aperture (F8-F22) The narrow aperture will increase focus death of field. Then use a iso sufficiently high enough so that fish motion will not blur the fish. You shouldn't have to buy anything to get good results.


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## Bettatail (Feb 12, 2009)

Surf said:


> either of your 7D's and the macro should work well for photographing fish. Your macro flash may not be helpful since much of the light might bounce off the glass obscuring the fish. A good overhead aquarium light with all other light sources outside of the aquarium off should work the best Set the camera to aperture priority with a narrow aperture (F8-F22) The narrow aperture will increase focus death of field. Then use a iso sufficiently high enough so that fish motion will not blur the fish. You shouldn't have to buy anything to get good results.


+1
I put the flash on top of the tank, actually two flashes with diffusers, arrange the flashes so the light bounce inside the fish tank and leave no shadow area.
I normally set everything manual, cover the windows and make a dark room, only leave enough nature/tank light to see clear enough through the viewfinder. The actual source of light depends solely on the flashes. The shutter speed normally set long enough to cover the actual exposure which is 1/250 according to the flashes, then I pick an ISO, take several shots at different narrow aperture, settle on the best for full tank shot. 

If my subject is the fish, I choose bigger aperture and use a Tamron 180mm macro(PITA, slow and dull focus in the dark).

I never use back drop, the background is naturally dark because the flashes only cover inside the tank.



jdwebb1 said:


> What are people using to photograph their aquariums?
> 
> I'm an amateur wildlife and landscape photographer, my gear consists of a Canon 7D, a Canon 7D MKII, Tamron 100-400mm, Canon 15-85mm and a Tokina 100mm macro. I have a remote flash setup, and a macro flash ring also. I'll try the Tokina macro lens when I get my aquarium set up in a couple weeks.


can you show some of your nature/wildlife photos for our enjoyment? 

I have the same 7D II


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## jdwebb1 (Aug 26, 2019)

Bettatail said:


> +1
> I put the flash on top of the tank, actually two flashes with diffusers, arrange the flashes so the light bounce inside the fish tank and leave no shadow area.
> I normally set everything manual, cover the windows and make a dark room, only leave enough nature/tank light to see clear enough through the viewfinder. The actual source of light depends solely on the flashes. The shutter speed normally set long enough to cover the actual exposure which is 1/250 according to the flashes, then I pick an ISO, take several shots at different narrow aperture, settle on the best for full tank shot.
> 
> ...


Sure, here's my 500px site. I'm 66, retired, and needed something to do, so I took up photography. My health doesn't allow me to get out as much I want, so I took up another...aquascaping!


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## Bettatail (Feb 12, 2009)

jdwebb1 said:


> Sure, here's my 500px site. I'm 66, retired, and needed something to do, so I took up photography. My health doesn't allow me to get out as much I want, so I took up another...aquascaping!


Mr Webbs, those photos are truly breathtaking, hats off to you!


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## jdwebb1 (Aug 26, 2019)

Bettatail said:


> Mr Webbs, those photos are truly breathtaking, hats off to you!


Thank you!


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## butchblack (Oct 25, 2019)

As someone who just retired, my hat's off to you. Those are very nice nature photos. I've been a photo hobbyist since childhood, have worked as a photographer, photo assistant and darkroom technician/photofinisher. I'm looking forward to trying my hand at aquarium photography once I get my 75 gal. tank set up, planted, and stocked.

Have you thought about taking your nature photos and submitting them to a stock agency? While nature isn't a big seller you may be able to a few images.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

jdwebb1 said:


> What are people using to photograph their aquariums?
> 
> I'm an amateur wildlife and landscape photographer, my gear consists of a Canon 7D, a Canon 7D MKII, Tamron 100-400mm, Canon 15-85mm and a Tokina 100mm macro. I have a remote flash setup, and a macro flash ring also. I'll try the Tokina macro lens when I get my aquarium set up in a couple weeks.


Looks like you already have what you need to take great aquarium pics. Generally a good SLR, macro lens and a powerful light source. Look forward to seeing your pics.


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## butchblack (Oct 25, 2019)

jdwebb1 said:


> What are people using to photograph their aquariums?
> 
> I'm an amateur wildlife and landscape photographer, my gear consists of a Canon 7D, a Canon 7D MKII, Tamron 100-400mm, Canon 15-85mm and a Tokina 100mm macro. I have a remote flash setup, and a macro flash ring also. I'll try the Tokina macro lens when I get my aquarium set up in a couple weeks.


I'm using a Pentax KP. I lucked out. I have an old Vivitar close-up lens kit that will fit my 50MM with an adapter and my 60-250/F4 Pentax lens. It should do until I get a macro lens. The KP has a nice feature where I can set both the aperture and shutter-speed and it adjusts exposure by adjusting the ISO. I am going to have to get a new tripod and probably a remote shutter trigger. I miss the old days of screw-in shutter releases.


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## Quint (Mar 24, 2019)

@jdwebb1 Had to laugh at the pleco getting used for lunch https://500px.com/photo/240580191/lunch-by-JD-Webb-Adventurer?ctx_page=4&from=user&user_id=17926109

Think they need more of those birds in FL. Not sure how its gonna eat it though?


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## spartin718 (Sep 22, 2020)

I use an Olympus 60mm macro F2.8. Can also be used for portraits and other things.


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## Bettatail (Feb 12, 2009)

recently add some flashes and try the HSS mode for hummingbird shot.


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## ahem (Dec 27, 2014)

I have camera gear and have not applied it to fish tanks. Are polarizers in the gear bag for this kind of photography? I'm trying to understand how reflections and glare are handled on the surface of the glass (or acrylic in my case).


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## Bettatail (Feb 12, 2009)

I only took pictures of the tank occasionally, not expert but this is what I experienced:

avoid strong ambient or flash light hitting the glass from outside, especially the front.
I place (off camera) flashes with diffusers on top of the fish tank, bigger/more diffuser or umbrella for full tank shot.
you may need backdrop, or the room is dark enough only inside the fish tank is illuminated by the flash. 

use polarizers only if you want to take pictures from the top surface of the fish tank.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

In planted tank speak, Light is the biggest limiting factor for good fish pics. There usually isn't enough of it in most tanks to take sharp pics of moving fish since they usually require fast shutter speeds (1/100+) To achieve those speeds you need a very shallow depth of field (small f number) and/or high iso number. Small f numbers might result in only part of the fish being sharp and high iso numbers makes the pic look grainy. 

Tanks with high lighting have more flexibility sometimes since they can be powerful enough at high setting to achieve the needed shutter speeds without going to low on f number or too high on iso. 

To fully eliminate the light issue, using OCF (Off Camera Flash) as mentioned by @Bettatail is the way to go. The OCF is so powerful and quick it will eliminate the shutter and ISO issue rendering them meaningless as the OCF controls the shot. 

This pic of a 3/4" RCS was taken with an OCF. The shutter speed was 1/160, F10 an an ISO of 100. Without the OCF this pic would have been solid black with those numbers. In fact I could have gotten the same pic with the tank lights off since all the light is coming from the flash and not the ambient light in the tank. The flash is powerful and quick and renders very sharp images regardless of shutter speed.


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## evil8 (Aug 7, 2018)

Bettatail said:


> recently add some flashes and try the HSS mode for hummingbird shot.


I haven't tried flash yet, but this last spring I got a new 150 - 600mm lens.










Bump:


Asteroid said:


> To fully eliminate the light issue, using OCF (Off Camera Flash) as mentioned by @Bettatail is the way to go. The OCF is so powerful and quick it will eliminate the shutter and ISO issue rendering them meaningless as the OCF controls the shot.


I've been thinking about getting OCF for a long time now, but I have no clue what I should get on my modest budget. I have a Canon 80D. Any suggestions? I assume I'd have to set it above the tank when setting up for shots?

Bump:


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

evil8 said:


> I haven't tried flash yet, but this last spring I got a new 150 - 600mm lens.
> 
> I've been thinking about getting OCF for a long time now, but I have no clue what I should get on my modest budget. I have a Canon 80D. Any suggestions? I assume I'd have to set it above the tank when setting up for shots?
> 
> Bump:


Wow a 600mm, that must be fun, longest I have is a 200. Very nice humming bird shot. My camera gear is getting a little dated I'm still shooting with my Canon 60D (was going to upgrade to the 80/90) just haven't done it. I'm using a Canon 580EX II Speedlite. I think it's now the 600, but I know many of the off-brands work very well. Nice thing about the Canon is that the built-in flash will trigger the OCF. Not sure if the off-brands do that or not or if you have to buy a trigger to put in the camera shoe. You can also buy the 580 or other Canon flash used ridiculously cheap. 

Sometimes I put the OCF over the tank, but believe it or not the RCS pic I shot right through the glass on an angle. I've done that many times and got good results.


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## evil8 (Aug 7, 2018)

Asteroid said:


> Wow a 600mm, that must be fun, longest I have is a 200. Very nice humming bird shot.


It's great to shoot with, but it's damn heavy. I finally upgraded from the Canon kit 75 - 300mm. I upgrade cameras from the T3 spring of last year. I stayed with a model I could still use all my current lenses.



Asteroid said:


> I'm using a Canon 580EX II Speedlite. I think it's now the 600, but I know many of the off-brands work very well. Nice thing about the Canon is that the built-in flash will trigger the OCF. Not sure if the off-brands do that or not or if you have to buy a trigger to put in the camera shoe. You can also buy the 580 or other Canon flash used ridiculously cheap.


I'll be looking into that soon then. Thanks! 



Asteroid said:


> Sometimes I put the OCF over the tank, but believe it or not the RCS pic I shot right through the glass on an angle. I've done that many times and got good results.


Interesting!


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## Bettatail (Feb 12, 2009)

@evil8, as @Asteroid mention, a cheap 580ex will work.

Actually the 80d you have, has wireless optical master function on built in flash, your choice of flashes for off camera ttl/manual flashes are 550ex, 430ex/I/ll/lll, 580ex/I/ll, and the 600ex rt.
Some yongnuo models are compatible as Canon ttl slave, 565ex, 568ex, 600ex, 685ex.

There is one downside of the build in flash master function, it is not hss capable, but you can get a old Canon st-e2 ir transmitter, it is also cheap.

Add:
Canon 550ex, 580ex l/ll, 600ex, and yongnuo 568 ll/lll, yn600ex ll, are capable as on camera wireless optical master control, HSS mode also work. So you can get two or more flashes if you like, one as on camera master, others are OCF ttl slaves.


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## ahem (Dec 27, 2014)

Unfortunately I don't have the wonderful 60mm Olympus macro lens in my M43 kit but I have the Pan 30mm macro and the 7Artisans 60mm manual macro seen above with a weird tube they claim can be used for an underwater shot (putting the tube underwater, then lens is not waterproof). I'm not sure how the tube helps with an underwater shot except that maybe it eliminates glare on the surface. 
In my case, the tank is 20" high, so my working distance from the top is long for macro, the 1:1 distance on this one is 26cm from camera or about 10 inches, so I might be able to hit drift wood higher up at close to 1:1. I'm thinking I might want to see what this tube does.


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## Bettatail (Feb 12, 2009)

don't be obsess with the minimal focus distance on a macro lens, I think the concept of 1:1 was originated from 35mm film back in the days, now we are in the digital age, with high resolution picture you can always zoom in and crop, 

don't recommend to use the tube half submerged into the water either, risk is high that your camera get wet(drop in the water). It is much safer to use a off camera flash(with simple diffuser) and take picture on other side of the glass.

you can look into yongnuo flash and off camera flash trigger, price is affordable.

add:
original picture, raw to jpeg.









cropped and edited.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

ahem said:


> ...
> In my case, the tank is 20" high, so my working distance from the top is long for macro, the 1:1 distance on this one is 26cm from camera or about 10 inches, so I might be able to hit drift wood higher up at close to 1:1. I'm thinking I might want to see what this tube does.


Not sure I'm reading this right. You wouldn't be taking the pic from the top looking down, so the distance for your 30 or 60mm would be more likely 10-14" through the glass.


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## ahem (Dec 27, 2014)

Asteroid said:


> Not sure I'm reading this right. You wouldn't be taking the pic from the top looking down, so the distance for your 30 or 60mm would be more likely 10-14" through the glass.


You could be taking a picture from top looking down depending on what angle you want. I guess the side shots are much more often taken though.


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

ahem said:


> You could be taking a picture from top looking down depending on what angle you want. I guess the side shots are much more often taken though.


Yeah, unless you have some prized Koi in your setup, pretty much all shots will be taken through the glass.


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