help with reef pics

[seanmc980]

I got a friends Nikon D50 with the stock lense,50mm lense and a huge lens .. I can't capture the pics I want to save my life. I have a 28G with 150W MH and PC actinics as well. Can anyone suggest the manual settings for the best picture quality? I got a tripod and can find all the settings.. I got photoshop as well. I just need some basic advise on manual setting if anyone can help. I appreciate it!

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

You should post your bad pictures so we know what you are doing wrong. What is the model numbers of the lenses? i.e. 18-55 f/3.5-5.6; 50mm f/1.4; 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 VR etc.

 

[gregr]

Also, different kinds of pictures require different settings. The settings for full tank shots will not be good for fish shots which will not be good for coral close-ups.

 

[Reef Bass]

And unless you're using identical lighting equipment and tank depth, and the subject is the same distance from the lights, whatever settings I use won't be much use to you.

You could always try some shots on "auto" and see what the camera thinks a good starting point is (iso, fstop, shutterspeed). Then switch over to manual, start with those settings and play with them until you're getting better pics.

If I'm not sure about the exposure I'll snap a pic and then adjust based on what I see. If it's too dark, either open the lens (larger aperature, lower fnumber), lengthen the shutterspeed or crank up the ISO. If it's too light, close the lens (smaller aperature, higher fnumber), shorten the shutterspeed or reduce the ISO. Repeat until content with exposure.