Aquarium photography

[cichlidmac]

Hey all, I just bought a cannon eos 20D with a taf 70-300mm lens for 230 bucks on Ebay. I couldn't pass up that price. I was originally going to get a t3i but this price was better. Is this a good camera and will this lenses work for fish photos?

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[Mike Wise]

Although the camera was introduced 9 years ago (April 2004) and its 8mp sensor, autofocus, etc. are no longer 'state of the art', it's still a very good camera. The Tamron 70-300mm lenes are inexpensive zooms and, depending on which model it is, its 'macro' mode really isn't true macro (defined as able to photograph at a minimum of 1:2 ratio). For the money it's not too bad optically, just don't expect miracles. To be totally honest, the close focusing mode of this lens should be fine for adult apistos. Now you just need to practice - a lot. The nice thing is that, being digital, it doesn't cost money to experiment. You eventually may find that you'll want to buy a dedicated flash or 2 for the system. Being able to move the flash off to the top/side can help greatly with exposures.

 

[cichlidmac]

Although the camera was introduced 9 years ago (April 2004) and its 8mp sensor, autofocus, etc. are no longer 'state of the art', it's still a very good camera. The Tamron 70-300mm lenes are inexpensive zooms and, depending on which model it is, its 'macro' mode really isn't true macro (defined as able to photograph at a minimum of 1:2 ratio). For the money it's not too bad optically, just don't expect miracles. To be totally honest, the close focusing mode of this lens should be fine for adult apistos. Now you just need to practice - a lot. The nice thing is that, being digital, it doesn't cost money to experiment. You eventually may find that you'll want to buy a dedicated flash or 2 for the system. Being able to move the flash off to the top/side can help greatly with exposures.

Thanks Mike! I wonder if I can find a question you don't know the answer to.

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[Mike Wise]

Yes, 'life, the universe and everything' - and it ain't 42! On a more serious side, I just got a new DSLR to replace the one stolen while in Peru. I now get a chance to try out my Cactus V radio transmitters, used to remotely trigger flashes off camera. They are designed for non-dedicated flashes, but then I'm 'old school' (my first SLR was bought in a PX in Vietnam in 1968) and tend to be more of a 'strobist' (Google it, if you don't know what this means).

 

[slimbolen99]

I'm not sure about the 75mm to 300mm lense, but I take all my photos using an 18mm - 135mm lens with the lens extended to the 135 range, standing about six to 12 inches away from the glass. When I use a flash, I tilt the camera down at an angle (camera mounted flash) to minimize the flash kickback. But normally, I just put an extra light on the tank and set my ISO around 1600.

 

[georgedv]

Hi Mike, I am glad to hear you got a new camera. Maybe you can practice ( and then posting here) by taking pictures of your fishroom .

george

 

[Mike Wise]

My fishroom?? It hasn't really changed in 30 years - a real mess of mixed all-glass & metal framed tanks covered in algae/duckweed. Sorry, but I don't want to scare everyone!