Photography equipment guide (1 Viewer)

[flexrac]

Part I: Things to look for when purchasing new camera gear.
Make sure your selected camera has manual settings.
Make sure your camera has a custom white balance that adjust in kelvins (5000k below and above as an example) and not use a color wheel to make white balance adjustment.
The ability to shoot raw is a big plus. Note: Nikon calls it's raw files NEF RAW. it is still raw and most editing programs will recognize it as such.
Make sure you like the way the camera feels in your hand, good way to do this is to stop over at Houston Camera exchange, they have a good selection of cameras for you to check out.
Make sure you understand how to navigate the menu system of the camera, this is one of the reasons i personally went with Nikon, i love the menu and how easy it was for me to navigate it.
The ability to shoot macro is a big must for me, especially if you are using a point and shoot and or a prosumer camera with a fixed zoom lens.
Takes great pictures at iso 400, you can most likely see samples of pictures taken at this setting if you browse dpreview
Video is a plus but not a deal breaker, if you are getting a SLR, it might be cheaper to buy a camera without video and get a good lense, then purchase a small point and shoot with 1080p video.
shooting video with a SLR takes some skills, and you can't shoot for long, but if you get it down packed then you could make some awesome video.

 

[flexrac]

Part II: Lens selections
With so many options to choose from it is really critical that we research our lense purchase carefully, some lens are a no brainer and others are questionable.
good example, if you purchase canon L glass lens then you are investing in top notch glass for our aquarium hobby, canon's 100mm 2.8 macro lens is a great buy, but also costly.
Nikon has several great lens for macro and i personally have not researched them good enough to say which one is a deff great buy, i personally use a 24-85mm F2.8-4 lens and love it.
there are also options outside of nikons, sony's, and canon's brand. two companies that come to mind are Sigma, tokina and tamron.
keep in mind that not all the lens that are made from these companies are great or worth buying. check out the reviews before purchasing.

another option that is out there, are the extension tubes that allow you to magnify you current lens whether they are macro or not. this can be a great money saving tool.



up next, what i would buy in a certain price range, be patient with me, this one will take some time.

 

[mwilliams62]

Thanks Felix. I was not able to try my camera out dumb me forgot to check the batties the night before. I know I have white balance on my camera but never seen kelvins listed before. I have the Fuji Finepix S1800 I know its not top of the line but for the price it takes pretty good pics.

 

[flexrac]

Thanks Felix. I was not able to try my camera out dumb me forgot to check the batties the night before. I know I have white balance on my camera but never seen kelvins listed before. I have the Fuji Finepix S1800 I know its not top of the line but for the price it takes pretty good pics.

yeah, your camera does not have the ability to change the kelvins, you have to use one of the presets and then use photo program to make adjustments. but you do have macro!

 

[mwilliams62]

yeah, your camera does not have the ability to change the kelvins, you have to use one of the presets and then use photo program to make adjustments. but you do have macro!

Yes it has two Macros on it; Macro and a Super Macro. I lost my manual for this camera so I need to go online and get one. There are some stuff on here not sure how to use.

"LOL" Those smart phones sure don't know how to swipe very well... LOL sorry about my spelling last night. Corrected some words "spelling"

 

[soymilk]

I personally would not suggest the 100mm f2.8 macro, unless you have you already have a few lenses already and wanted to throw a dedicated macro into your gear bag. They generally focus rather slow so it might be hard to nail focus on moving objects, really gotta use a large fstop to get enough in focus. It's not something you can just grab and take pictures with. I've had mines for a few years now and its still one of my favorite lenses but it doesn't see much action that much anymore. Shooting at 1:1 is cumbersome, and if you're not shooting at 1:1 then you're not really shooting true macro. Not to mention a lot of other cheaper/versatile options are available if you want close up but don't need 1:1 magnification.

Its good if you have -
Stationary target
Plenty of light
Tripod

Notable Macro lenses
Canon 100mm f2.8 L
Canon 100mm f2.8
Nikon 60mm f2.8 D
Nikon 60mm f2.8 G
Nikon 105mm f2.8 D
Nikon 105mm f2.8 G
Minolta/Sony 100mm f2.8

Sigma 70mm f2.8
Tamron 90mm f2.8
Sigma 105mm f2.8

 

[TiAg]

Can this be stickied?

 

[tektite]

Good idea, done.

 

[flexrac]

That tamron 90 is hot garbage in my opinion, claims to be 2.8, but when i used it; it would range from 2.8-4.
Yes the fstop was set to 2.8. Did not like it at all.

 

[flexrac]

I have decided that rather than post a bunch of camera's, i would be best to have people post there intended purchases here and get feedback. once posted, you can even pm to let me know you posted something. but i will check this often.
Soymilk is very versed in both nikon and canon, so his insight will be very helpfull. kat i onlky know you for canon, but either way you know your stuff, i know your insight will be deeply appreciated.

 

[tektite]

Yes, I'm canon I'll be happy to help people decide what's best.

 

[flexrac]

Nikon DSLR's i would buy.
Nikon D90 -video capability, Nikon's first generation video dslr's.
Nikon D7000-Great low light camera
Nikon D300 (no video) and D300s (video)
the camera's listed above are non full frame camera's that will get the job done, both with aquarium photography and people photography.

Full Frame Camera's (Nikon)
D700
D800-brand new, would not jump the broom on this one until more user feedback is provided. also files will be very large and consume lots of space.

I see no reason for non pro's to go above these two camera's.

 

[flexrac]

I have looked over Nikon's site and all Dslr camera models below what i listed require a diff set of lenses from what the above can utilize, further more they do not offer white balance in the kelvin ratings, so you will have to white balance in post or pickup a expo disc, or do a custom white balance which can be tricky.

with that said, they are all still good camera's, but for our hobby they can be a pain.

 

[soymilk]

I want to point out the reason why the lower nikons would require "different" lenses is because they do not come with a focus motor built into the camera. That means you need to have a lens with the motor built into the lens. All in all this not not a big issue at all. The suffice "AF-S" is the term used on the lens to let you know theres a motor built in. Majority of nikon's new lenses come with built in motors. Older lenses can still be mounted and used, but you lose the ability to autofocus. ANY nikon F lens can be mounted on all the current nikon cameras. This means any lens from 1960s til now can still be used.

The new 35mm f1.8($220) , 50mm f1.8($240), and 85mm($500) f1.8 are fantastic and all come with built in motors. The 70-300mm AF-S is a beast of a lens. Usually 18-55mm AF-S is the kit lens, but if you want to upgrade then the 18-135mm AF-S is a bit better. If you're just starting out and don't have any lenses, then I don't see this a major issue. The newer lenses can still be used with higher end cameras. So if you plan on using older glass then you could get a camera with a built in motor. If you don't mind playing a little bit more for the newer lenses, then you can save money on the camera.

the D5000/D5100 are awesome cameras. You can manually set the white balance on these cameras. So I wouldn't automatically rule these cameras out yet. They are ALOT more reasonable in price as well.

The D5000 shares the same sensor as the Nikon D90,D300/D300s. So you get a lot of performance in a smaller package. Just might not have all the bells and whistles as the higher end cameras.
The D5100 shares the same sensor as the Nikon D7000, Sony A55/NEX 5n. It's arguably the BEST aps-c sensor made right now.


My list of dslrs, These cameras are generally $1000 or below. I figured if your ready to spend more than 1k, then you kinda already have an idea of what you want already.
Sony A37
Sony A57
Canon T2i
Canon T3i
Canon 60d
Nikon D90
Nikon D5100

 

[soymilk]

I also want to say, don't rule sony out either. They make awesome easy to use cameras. In the end of the day no one is gonna know what brand you used to take the picture with. Its all about the person behind the camera. As for picking brands, i would suggest you stick to something your friends or relatives use. This makes it a lot easier to borrow gear.

Also I wouldn't be too fixated on being able to manually set the white balance on a camera. With a few tricks setting custom white balance on a camera is as easy as taking out a white piece of paper or if you're lazy like me... just set the white balance to "shade". Shade is approximately 7-8k, while its not as good as setting it to 10k white balance, its works pretty dang well in most cases. If shot in raw, usually you can still get to the intended results.




This guide so far has just featured DSLRs. Is there any interest in point and shoot cameras?

Premium point and shoot cameras - Canon GX1, G12
mirror-less cameras? - Micro Four Third cameras, NEX, Nikon V1/J1
point and shoots - Canon s95, Canon s100, Sony HXV-9

 

[soymilk]

That tamron 90 is hot garbage in my opinion, claims to be 2.8, but when i used it; it would range from 2.8-4.
Yes the fstop was set to 2.8. Did not like it at all.

is it hot garbage because the f-stop changes as you approach 1:1 or was there something else that you didn't like? A lot of macro lenses do this. the Nikon 60mm does this as well. It has to do with the way the lens focuses and the loss of light because of extension. The t-stops actually decreases the further the front elements extends from the barrel. I've seen good work done with that lens. Its generally pretty affordable at around 250 and gives pretty stellar performance for the price. I think that's the lens dennis uses for his macro shots.

 

[flexrac]

is it hot garbage because the f-stop changes as you approach 1:1 or was there something else that you didn't like? A lot of macro lenses do this. the Nikon 60mm does this as well. It has to do with the way the lens focuses and the loss of light because of extension. The t-stops actually decreases the further the front elements extends from the barrel. I've seen good work done with that lens. Its generally pretty affordable at around 250 and gives pretty stellar performance for the price. I think that's the lens dennis uses for his macro shots.

it also produced soft images handheld and on tripod, also if you used it hand held, you could get blurry pics from vibration when the shutter clicks.
i might burrow it again and try to take some sample pics, i won't go out of my to make it look bad, all i know is the owner don't even use it himself, as a matter of fact, when i gave it back to him, he stated he had forgot all about it. maybe he got a bad one.

 

[oldmantran]

I haven't seen anyone comment on barrier filters used to capture the flourescence in coral. As most have probably seen, taking photos under actinic lighting doesn't work too well. Do y'all use specific lens filters or flash filters to capture the vibrant colors under actinic?

By the way, I'm currently in the market for a new DSLR to upgrade from my Pentax. Considering the Nikon D3100, 5100, or 7000 right now. The cheaper camera body allows me to spend more on lenses. It's actually going toward real estate photography but I'll likely dedicate some funds to aquarium photography as well.

 

[flexrac]

I do not use any filters on my tank, then again i never take actinic shots either. as for your camera purchase, i think the best bet is the d7000, this way any lense purchase you make will work perfectly with any future upgrades you make. plus you get to shoot video too. not knocking the other models, this is just myt preference. plus! the d7000 has better low light capability.

 

[soymilk]

D5100 and D7000 has the same sensor and same picture quality. Feel them both out and see which one you like better. The d7000 feels a lot more substantial and less plasticy, but theres a decent difference in price. $700 dollars vs $1400