# Taking "better" pics



## Alastair (5 Aug 2011)

I think settings have to be manual then fiddle about with the macro settings etc


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## dory (8 Aug 2011)

It might depend on the camera. I mean I'm not familiar with this module, but my camera wasn't really fit for macros and they never came out as good as I had hoped.

It is fit for macro, I would also suggest fiddling manually with the settings and trying what looks how. Since we don't know what your settings are atm on auto, I don't suppose we can give you any more specific advice.


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## ceg4048 (9 Aug 2011)

skeletonw00t said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> 
> I use a Nikon D70s but my photo's of my tank always seem "noisey" or "grainy" and i am not sure why.
> 
> ...


Hi,
   Graininess in photos almost always indicate that the ISO setting is high. When shooting outdoors there is more light, so the ISO is set to a much lower value giving better resolution and "cleaner" images. Indoors, the lighting is usually very poor, and inside a tank it's even worse, so in order to keep shutter speeds fast to avoid blurring apertures are set wide open and ISO set to higher values so that more light can enter and strike the sensors. It's entirely possible that you have a feature called AUTO ISO enabled so that when the light falls off the ISO is raised to maintain exposure. This would be consistent with your observations.

As I recall in the D70, AUTO ISO is enabled by default even when you select manual mode, so you have to go through the menus to disable it. Then you can set your ISOto something reasonable like 200 or 400 and take the shot in manual mode. Unfortunately, this also causes an underexposure, but the brilliant thing about digital images is that underexposures are much better than over-exposures. That's why you need an imaging program like Photoshop ($$) or The GImp (free) which will enable you to retrieve the data in the underexposed image.



			
				dory said:
			
		

> It might depend on the camera. I mean I'm not familiar with this module, but my camera wasn't really fit for macros and they never came out as good as I had hoped.


All SLRs are fit for macro because they have nothing to do with perspective. The macro ability is a function of the lens, not the camera body.

Here is a simple tank shot with a D70s, no flash - just tank lighting. The ISO was set to 200, the shooting aperture was f4.4 for 1/5th of a second and the zoom set to 70mm focal length. Although the photo itself is admittedly boring and is nothing to write home about, it's an example of how excellent the D70 is in terms of resolution and color saturation under bizarre lighting conditions. There is very little graininess and the image is sharp and clean.






Cheers,


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## dory (9 Aug 2011)

Oh, I see. Apologies    I don't really understand cameras so much, but I've had this happen and I thought I could help  But yeah, I guess the fact that I don't use SRL's so often speaks for itself


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## BigTom (9 Aug 2011)

Yup, if you want to do full tank shots then set the ISO to 200, set the aperture to around f8-16 and use a tripod to counter the low shutter speed that will result. If you're shooting fish then you will need to use flash to avoid the graininess associated with high ISO, preferably with the flash set up above the tank so you don't have to woprry about reflections on the glass.


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## ceg4048 (11 Aug 2011)

Hi mate,
                 The shot was made with Nikons 18-200mm VR, which is probably the most useful lens for their  DX   size cameras. It's expensive but if you don't need the wide angles, the 55-200mm is just as good. Even so, your kit lens will do pretty much as good a job. The purpose of the shot is to remind you that tank shots are no problem and that it's the photographer that takes the picture, not the camera.

Yes, everthing in photograpy is the reverse of what's intuitive. A shutter speed of 100 means a hundreth of a second so the higher the shutter speed number the shorter the amou t of time the shutter is open. You should also see a number for the sizeof the hole in the back of the lens (aperture). Larger aperture numbers mean smaller hole size.

You probably have the exposure dial set to"A" or "P" which is fully automatic mwwhode where the camera decides the shutte speed and size. The rotary dial on the left should be turned to "M"  which is manual. That way you select the aperture and shutter speed. You use the rotating dials on thr right fron and back to select the combination. Just play around with these and snap the shutter to see the effects. You can always delete. Remember that you have to go into the menus to disable AUTO ISO, then you'll be able to set the ISO with the dials.

Cheers,


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## BigTom (11 Aug 2011)

You should have a little green dot in the bottom left of the viewfinder that lights up when the camera has focus on whatever is under the selected focus point. It can be quite  tricky to spot until you know where it is, try manusal focusing on something until you see it appear. It's much more accurate that going by sight.

You should also have an option somewhere to use the autofocus assist light, which may help in sme situations (might cause issues if it's reflecting off the aquarium glass though).


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## BigTom (11 Aug 2011)

Flashing means its close, constant means its spot on.

In low light, it might not manage a constant confirm.


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## ceg4048 (14 Aug 2011)

skeletonw00t said:
			
		

> I played around tonight with my tripod and all that happened was i got p**d off with it.
> 
> Just can't seem to get good photos - especially not with good light.


Well that's why I mentioned in a previous post that you need an imaging program. Taking good shots of a tank is not easy even for accomplished photographers. You need a combination of tricks to render the photo so that it looks close to what your eyes saw (or to what you imagined you saw). 

You can also try to get more light into the tank for the shot. The most common is to use a flash from above the tank or to use a spotlight or even a torch. You can use a flash extension cord which gives you the ability to move the flash off camera and point it where you need to. With the imaging program you can then adjust the photo to remove the color cast of the flash/torch light.

Here is a comparison of what I was able to do with the last shot in your post using the color correction and light level functions of Photoshop:

Original:





Retouched:





Of course it's not a perfect recovery because I just pulled the low resolution image from your post. You can see that I was able to pull data from the dark areas of the photo, mostly the lower left side, and I was able to improve the overall contrast, so it doesn't look so muddy I don't think the shrimp was in perfect focus, but I was able to sharpen it up a little without making the image look grotesque. 

In any case, image programs are super important for digital photography so you really need to get competent at using them. Of course it's a tremendous advantage in getting the focus and exposure right in the first place so the photos will improve if you can find a way to get more light above the tank for the shots.

Cheers,


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## tyrophagus (14 Aug 2011)

You are better off shooting in raw mode if you want to post process your images especially if you have under exposure. My advice would be to try improve your background lighting. 

If you want to see some great tank shots look at Mark Evans posts on the forum. 

Trouble with jpegs is you have much less margin for error on the original exposure when it comes to adjusting them because they are compressed files that have lost most of the original data. 

That's not to say you can take a poor raw photo and make it better. You have to nail your exposure. 

I'm wondering if I should have stuck my head up over the parapet. I'm sure to get a blahblahblahblahblahblahblahsing from ....


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