Top Down Photo Questions

[TimothyJ]

I am looking at taking photos from a top down position in my tank. I currently have a Nikon D300 body and Nikkor 50mm, 24-120mm and 105mm macro lenses. I recently purchased from Avast Marine, their top-down port hole to protect my lens from water when submerging it. So my question is for my tanks (36" x 60" x 27" tall and 24" x 24" x 12" tall), which of my lenses is best used to get good photos. I tried taking a few the other night and was not impressed by any of them. If my lens selection doesn't house a great option, what others should I look at? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Misled]

Which 105 macro???

 

[TimothyJ]

Which 105 macro???

Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8

 

[Misled]

I know that, is it the one with IF, (Internal Focus)??? Or is it the one where the barrel moves in and out when focusing???

 

[BlueCorn]

What I did was buy an extra lens hood that fit my macro. I glued the hood to a piece of clear acrylic and used a Dremel to trim it after it dried. Instant top-down box.

 

[TimothyJ]

I know that, is it the one with IF, (Internal Focus)??? Or is it the one where the barrel moves in and out when focusing???

It has Internal Focus (IF).

 

[Misled]

Were your pumps turned off. If not turn them off and let things settle for a few minutes.

 

[Tactics]

One way is to shoot photos during a large water change. Turn off all the pumps and you don't have to shoot through too much water. Make sure you also shoot straight down.

 

[JaYbIrD1969]

One of the most important aspects of excellent macro photography is stability. The d300 with the 105 is a pretty heavy combo. For consistant results you should be shooting a minimum of f8. Under reef tank lighting this is going to drop your shutter speed into tripod range, unless youre cranking your ISO, which is what I recommend as the D300 holds up pretty well with high iso. Try to brace your forearms on the tank rim to keep as still as possible. Experiment with shooting in live view rather than view finder, do to the awkwardness of leaning over the tank this can help you to nail your target more often.

It would be easy to build a cam cradle out of pvc that spans the top of the tank that would support your camera right where you want it. Use a remote trigger to take the shot.

Post some of your results and we can check out the EXIF file and possibly guide you better.

Your settup is top notch so you will be able to get extremely high quality photos with the right settings.