Actinic Blue Shots - Nikon 3300 dslr
- Thread starter dochow
- Start date
- Tagged users None
BetURWrasse
Dysfunctional Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2014
- Messages
- 1,099
- Reaction score
- 376
- What state or country do you live in
- Georgia
You should be able to set a custom white balance somewhere.
Take a shot of the tank and set white balance with the shot
Take a shot of the tank and set white balance with the shot
Try an 85 filter. It's orange. Amazon and eBay also sell soft gel packs. Pure actinic doesn't process well generally.
Sometimes it's easier to balance the blue and white ratio on the lights.
Sometimes it's easier to balance the blue and white ratio on the lights.
OP
OP
dochow
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2015
- Messages
- 566
- Reaction score
- 177
Yeah I've tried manually white balancing but the camera can't process it. I'll have to fool around with lighting, but some people have stunning photos. I'm guessing I will need a filter of some sort. I'll look into the 85 filter. Maybe see if I can get a pack of filters to experiment with.
Yea. All lights are different.
The blue to white ratio is key.
The blue to white ratio is key.
Lenny_S
Well-Known Member
D-SLRs don't process the shorter light waves in actinic very well. To compensate, try setting your ISO to 200 or 400 and progressively slow the shutter speed down starting at like maybe 1/8 of a second. You'll need a tripod and if you have a lot of active fish you're photographing they will be blurry. But for corals it should be fine, especially if you turn off the circulation for the shots. Good luck.
BetURWrasse
Dysfunctional Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2014
- Messages
- 1,099
- Reaction score
- 376
- What state or country do you live in
- Georgia
When I do it sometimes it takes a couple shots.
Take picture, set white balance, take picture, set white balance, take picture. If it's accurate I leave it but sometimes I need to set white balance again.
Buying a camera like that and then buying a filter kind of defeats the purpose. If I can get it on an old canon T2i you can on that camera
all good info.
theres no red green yellow or orange a dslr is balanced for. a higher end dslr will have better processors to compensate a bit. but shooting in pure 450nm a processor cant compensate for.
by cutting(filtering) the specific nm of the light it removes the higher end frequency and leaves more of the rest of the spectrum. (yes there are more colors in the 450nm than that, spectrometer)
and every camera is different in its spectral response. Thats what makes is "look"
definitely set your WB high and play with that. Ive never had to change the iso to compensate as Lenny suggested but i might give it a shot. theoretically it may work as it changes the color/exposure latitude of the sensor.
a gel set is $5 or $10 to play with before you pop for glass. If you can get a set thats marked with what it is that'll help.
but professionals do use filters and they cost a lot more.
theres no red green yellow or orange a dslr is balanced for. a higher end dslr will have better processors to compensate a bit. but shooting in pure 450nm a processor cant compensate for.
by cutting(filtering) the specific nm of the light it removes the higher end frequency and leaves more of the rest of the spectrum. (yes there are more colors in the 450nm than that, spectrometer)
and every camera is different in its spectral response. Thats what makes is "look"
definitely set your WB high and play with that. Ive never had to change the iso to compensate as Lenny suggested but i might give it a shot. theoretically it may work as it changes the color/exposure latitude of the sensor.
a gel set is $5 or $10 to play with before you pop for glass. If you can get a set thats marked with what it is that'll help.
but professionals do use filters and they cost a lot more.
- Joined
- May 27, 2013
- Messages
- 2,002
- Reaction score
- 747
- What state or country do you live in
- Texas
Take a white sheet of paper and hold or place it under your lights. Manually focus your camera and take and image filling the entire frame. Set that image as your white balance standard. If it doesn't come out correct, then more than likely the paper is recycled and has a brown tint to it. Next thing is that you can print a gray card and use that to take an image of. Gray cards generally work better for white balance. Here is a link on how to create a gray card for free: http://www.diyphotography.net/diy-making-your-own-gray-cards/
Yep. That's how you get the closest WB possible. If you camera lets you lock the Wb do it. Once you find you favorite paper keep it in your camera bag.
The best o course is a photo grey card. Don't know what the 18% grey card goes for nowadays on Amazon.
But this is how we do it on the run. And it works.
Mark75
Well-Known Member
The D3300 can not adjust white balance over 8000k, either manually or auto thus requiring filters for true actinic lighting.
True???
I purchased a D3300 over the weekend and this is what I have read.
True???
I purchased a D3300 over the weekend and this is what I have read.
OP
OP
dochow
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2015
- Messages
- 566
- Reaction score
- 177
Mark I have not been able to white balance with the D3300 manually or automatically. I get the "too bright" message. I've used a white piece of paper which did not work and I've tried focusing on different white's/greys in he aquarium as well.
Some say buy or make a "grey card" and use it under the lights to white balance, but I haven't had a chance to try this yet.
naso tang
Active Member
I don't know if this works the same for nikon, but it should. I like to shoot in raw, and then white balance in photoshop. You can't pick true white because it is too bright as you say, but really any shaded sand works, or greys in frag plugs. Just use the eyedropper in raw to pick your white. It comes out looking pretty natural.
However, this does not work well when you have just the blue channel. I don't know how to get around that, may not be possible...
However, this does not work well when you have just the blue channel. I don't know how to get around that, may not be possible...
Mark75
Well-Known Member
@dochow,..have you manually adjusted white balance to 8000k in the picture menu? After you do this you can click "right" and a grid will come up that allows you to add more orange/yellow/red to help over come the blue.
To my knowledge this is all the adjustment the D3300 has and it still will not over come the blue in anything over a 10k lighted tank.
To my knowledge this is all the adjustment the D3300 has and it still will not over come the blue in anything over a 10k lighted tank.
Going back to post nine.
All cameras are different.
If when you set the Wb to its highest point and it's still too blue get a filter. Or adjust the blue to white ratio in the tank.
The filter pulls the 450nm out to a useable value.
Under you "white" lights. Are you able to make a good exposure?
All cameras are different.
If when you set the Wb to its highest point and it's still too blue get a filter. Or adjust the blue to white ratio in the tank.
The filter pulls the 450nm out to a useable value.
Under you "white" lights. Are you able to make a good exposure?
OP
OP
dochow
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2015
- Messages
- 566
- Reaction score
- 177
Exposure under white lights are fine, however you don't get the same "pop" of the fluorescent colors like you would if shooting under straight actinics.
I've manually balanced under 8k. I tried the grid, sliding to all colors and re-taking pics. Still not working great, the blue is too great to overcome. I'll have to try a filter next, going to try and purchase one on Amazon.
I'm new to the camera so I'm going to try a couple other things today and post a pic.
I've manually balanced under 8k. I tried the grid, sliding to all colors and re-taking pics. Still not working great, the blue is too great to overcome. I'll have to try a filter next, going to try and purchase one on Amazon.
I'm new to the camera so I'm going to try a couple other things today and post a pic.
No I get the tech pretty deeply.
Are the whites and blue led.
If you get good exposure under the white. Bring up the blues till you get the pop. Won't be the full pop. Yet.
The filter will help. A swatch pack with the gel info is best. Then you can look for the same glass filter with the same NM filter in properties.
I'm big on using the preset Wb or scrolling up to the highest over pulling a Wb of paper or grey card because of the way the processor scews the color mix in the matrix and then compensating with either a filter or lighting to compensate for the spectral imbalance.
Are the whites and blue led.
If you get good exposure under the white. Bring up the blues till you get the pop. Won't be the full pop. Yet.
The filter will help. A swatch pack with the gel info is best. Then you can look for the same glass filter with the same NM filter in properties.
I'm big on using the preset Wb or scrolling up to the highest over pulling a Wb of paper or grey card because of the way the processor scews the color mix in the matrix and then compensating with either a filter or lighting to compensate for the spectral imbalance.
