Photo tips really helped!

[Mariner]

After years of trying to take aquarium pics by just pointing and shooting, I finally decided to listen to some of the tips I've been reading online....use a tripod, use the timer, shoot perpendicular to the aquarium, etc. I should have listened years ago. These aren't the best pics in the world, but they are easily the best ones I've ever taken. What do you guys think?
Mariner

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

Not too shabby at all! I can see where the movement of the subject itself is creating a little bit of blur though. Singling out #2 I would:
A) Turn the pumps off, trying to create as little current as possible.
B) Your shutter speed was 1/17 of a second. This surprises me because...well...I didn't expect to see 1/17 as a measurement. 1/15 or 1/20 I would expect but I've never seen 1/17 before lol. Regardless I have a feeling your pumps were off your it would have been a lot worse off blowing around all over the place.
Your Aperture was f/5.2 (another wierd number not usually seen). At this point I expected your ISO to be 148 or something...but it was at 200. lawl

Your lens is a 6.2 - 18.6mm (38 - 113mm equivalent) f/3.3-5.1
You took shot #2 @ 18.6mm (zoomed all the way out). Your aperture therefor had to be 5.1...but it chose 5.2 which I guess is really your max aperture zoomed out.

My point is:
Try zooming in a lot less. You have 10 megapixels which will let your crop a bit later. If you zoom in less, you can use a wider aperture (f/3.3 if you zoom all the way out). This in turn allows you to increase your shutter speed which will help to freeze your coral in motion.

You could also add more light to the coral, which would force the camera to up the ante on shutter speed.

Lastly you could increase your ISO speed...though I wouldn't recommend going above 400 on your camera. ISO 400 will allow for twice the shutter speed of the 200 that you used though.

Summary with a few extras:
1) DON'T use digital zoom. Optical zoom only (with the lens itself).
2) Don't zoom in so much if the coral is moving.
3) You can't actually select your exposure increments so experiment with "Anti-Blur, Sport, Night, Party, and Museum" modes. Do you have a "Manual" mode??? This would be the best one!
The point is to get your shutter speed up. instead of 1/17 you want 1/60 or 1/100. The ISO can go to 1600 but the more ISO the more "film grain".
4) Use all of your lights. Adding flood lights from your garage or a mag light may also help. Be creative.
5) GET THAT SHUTTER SPEED UP UP UP....however you can

 

[Mariner]

Wow, thanks for the great technical analysis and the tips.
I was shooting in manual mode and had selected 200 ISO. The pumps were in fact on, and that made a big difference in the second pic I think. And I was using digital zoom. I did crop the pictures some in a photo editor. I can definitely back off the zoom and just turn off the digital zoom on shots of moving subjects.
As for lighting, the first three pics were in a 75g tank that only has 240 watts of NO fluorescent lighting. The last two were in a 135g taken under minimal T5 lighting before the halides came on. I'll try throwing more light on the subject and see what happens. I didn't use the flash. The camera has several flash settings; would any of them be helpful for this kind of photography?
The camera is just a Fujifilm J10, very low-end, but with some surprising features. I'm excited to finally be able to take pics of decent quality.
Mariner

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

Try the on board flash in all of its modes. Experimenting is just that...if it helps great if it doesn't...at least you know. To get an on board flash to work you have to tilt the camera away from the glass. This will create some distortion. It is a give and take situation.
Never ever use your digital zoom. All you are doing is cropping. Why crop now when you can take your time and crop later?
Use as much lights as you can. Halides are only going to help you!
In manual mode, can you select your "Shutter Speed", "Aperture", and "ISO" independently?

 

[Mariner]

In manual mode, can you select your "Shutter Speed", "Aperture", and "ISO" independently?

No, just ISO. There is also an adjustment for white balance and something called "exp. compensation" -- I'm not familiar with that one.
TIY,
Mariner

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

Oh bummer. I think "Sports Mode" is your best bet but the other modes I listed above have potential for a reef tank. Use the "flower mode" if you want extreme closeups. Remember a blurry flower mode is worse than a sharp sports mode zoomed out a little.
It stands for "Exposure Compensation"
If the camera is making the picture too bright, pushing EC to the left will make it darker.
If the camera is making the picture too dark, pushing EX to the right will make it brighter.

 

[Mariner]

I'm thinking my photo editing software may do just as well adjusting light and dark as exp. compensation. Yes?
FWIW, the other mode choices are baby, anti-blur, landscape, portrait, sport, night, natural light, beach, snow, fireworks, sunset, flower, party, museum and text. I'd guess sport and possibly flower would be good choices...I'll have to try 'em.
Mariner

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14681352#post14681352 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mariner
I'm thinking my photo editing software may do just as well adjusting light and dark as exp. compensation. Yes?

NO! This is totally different. Exp. Compensation can also determine how blurry your image is, your how much of it is in focus. There is no comparison.

You work it the opposite of what you may thing. If you are taking a picture of something white, make it brighter. If you are taking a picture of something dark, make it darker.

A much more practical way to use it:
If you are getting pure white spots in your image called "highlights", where the light was so bright there is not detail to be seen, make it darker.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14681352#post14681352 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mariner

FWIW, the other mode choices are baby, anti-blur, landscape, portrait, sport, night, natural light, beach, snow, fireworks, sunset, flower, party, museum and text. I'd guess sport and possibly flower would be good choices...I'll have to try 'em.
Mariner

Yes I saw all of those, I listed the ones I thought you should try above^^