some photography questions

[mhills16]

Well, from seeing the kinds of cameras some of you are using, there should be some experts on this matter. my question is, i am using an olympus evolt 500, and, i was wondering how you get such zoomed shots in without the appearance of using a flash. i cannot zoom in as close as some of you are, i have a 14-45mm zoom lens and a 200mm zoom lens as well, they are both zuiko. any ideas or do i need a seperate kind of lens? thanks, mike

 

[mhills16]

also, how do you get such zoomed shots to be so focused? do i have the wrong lens for what i am wanting>?

 

[davez104]

A dedicated macro lense would be your best bet. You can buy macro or "close up" filters that screw to the end of your normal lense, they allow your camera to focus on things closer than they would normally be able to.

Dave.

 

[mhills16]

what would be a macro lens you would suggest for my evolt, also , where can i get the filter i need and exactly what is it called, thats my main problem my camera will not focus as close as i want it too!

 

[davez104]

I don't know much about the olympus cameras, sorry. But have a search of some online stores and see if any offer a macro lense around the 100mm mark, that seems to be the most popular length for aquarium use.

As for the filters, we call them close up filters here, but you might have a different name for them in the US. Apparently you do lose a bit of image quality with the filters, but if you can't take the shots you want in the first place then I don't think its going to be an issue. Again, the online stores would be your best bet, just find out the thread size on the end of your lense so you get the right size. The filters will come in different strengths, +1,+2 etc, its probably best to get a set of 3, say +1,+2 and +4. you can screw them together to make +3,+5,+6 and +7.

Dave.

 

[mhills16]

also, my olympus is a 8.0 mega pixel and sometimes i notice in the un focused areas it looks bad, 8.0 mp is enough right? i mean, it is a pretty nice slr, not anything like the d80's but it is a very nice one, what adjustments on the camera can i make to get that to go away/ and by looks bad i mean, like its doesnt have the right texture, maybe its called pixeled? i really dont even know how to use my slr completely, lol, i always just put it on auto.... would love some advice on this too...

 

[davez104]

Have a read up on "depth of field", I think thats what you are talking about. Not everything in your picture will be in focus, especially when you are taking close up shots. The object you are focusing on will be clear, stuff in front of that point and behind that point will be blurry. There is not much you can do about it either. You can use a smaller appeture, which will increase the amount of stuff in focus, but that will require a longer shutter speed, no good for fast moving objects or if you are holding the camera by hand.

Maybe put some of your photos up here, we might be able to help.

Dave.

 

[Robb in Austin]

Shoot in manual mode. Remember, memory is cheap and you can always delete the bad ones. If you are not completely comfortable in manual, try aperture or shutter priority to start. Should be marked with an "A" or "S". Manually focus it for macro work.

Use a tripod, turn the pumps off.

The pixel effect is from probably too high ISO setting. 8MP is MORE than enough for good quality pics. You need to set your ISO to 400 or so, 800 will work too but will cause some graininess.

Read the manual too. It probably has some good pointers.

Check out the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. You have to have some understanding of photography
(if ISO, aperture, shutter make no sense, check out the Digital Photography for Dummies) to get the most out of it but it is a nice read.
Do you have a local camera shop(not Ritz or Wolf) that has beginner classes? Might be worth checking out. Also, continuing education classes at the local college.

That 200mm lens should be able to take some decent "pseudo" macro shots. You might be 3 or 4 feet away from the tank but it will work.

Go out and shoot. Look at the results, make a change in aperture/shutter speed/ISO, analyze the change it made to the picture and repeat. Make one change at a time though. You can even do this in your house taking pics of the SO/kid/pet, etc. Play with it man!

 

[Robb in Austin]

Oh yeah; thank you for your service!

 

[mhills16]

 

[mhills16]

 

[mhills16]

 

[mhills16]

well, here is a couple, i have my iso at 400, tell me where i can make more improvements!

 

[Robb in Austin]

Looking good for full auto.
Some of your shots in the sunset thread ain't shabby either.

How about some coral pics?

As I mentioned earlier, get in the habit of getting out of auto mode though.

Google "rule of thirds" for some composition tips.

Are you doing any post processing?

 

[mhills16]

some, but i need to learn to use that better too. i am going to google that, i need to learn to use this thing the right way lol!

 

[mhills16]

i cropped all those pictures and used my olympus master studio to do it all

 

[mhills16]

i dont have too many corals at this time, i have a very deep tank with a little over 100 lbs of live rock, and until i get another 100lbs of live rock i am not getting anything more than the zoanthids and polyps i have. I gave all my corals other than those and my candy canes away until i get some more lr to get them higher to my lights. I have a nice light fixture, just not enough to penetrate that deep efficiently. I have 48'' t5 HO fixture by coralife, it has two 65w 10k and 2 65w actinic's. SO, coral is on hold until i break down and spend the money for another 100lbs of lr to get them higher. Lol, i did the responsible thing, i knew that with my setup it wastoo deep so i found my corals a good home before anything negative happened to them!

 

[DNickell]

Anybody know what kind of "close up filter" would work with a Cannon Rebel?

 

[BlueCorn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13067290#post13067290 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DNickell
Anybody know what kind of "close up filter" would work with a Cannon Rebel?

If you're going to go that route all you need to do is get one that fits the threads on the end of your lens. I believe the kit lens is 58mm. It's marked, just check it.

It will not give you the same results as a macro lens but it's less expensive.

 

[DNickell]

I just made the switch from my beloved 35 mm cameras to the digital format (I know, I'm a dinosaur) and all the automatic stuff is killing me. My old cameras had an onboard light meter and everything else was fully manual. My motto has always been, "automatic means its out of your control."

I currently have the stock 18-55mm (yes, its a 58mm fit) that came with it and a 100-300mm. I was planning on the macro lens coming next but was wondering if there were other options.

I've spent most of my "learning time" so far trying to find ways to over ride all the automated gizmos. I don't like equipment that thinks its smatter than I am. (Getting the image out of the camera, into my computer and onto paper has also been a real challenge for a Luddite like me!)