Best Camera for Reef Photography!?!?

diamondreef · Jan 22, 2014

I am really interested to get some ideas as to which cameras to look into saving up for lol...
I like to take close ups of corals..mostly zoas and want it to capture the colors and details no problem.

Any suggestions?

pics with your camera would also be helpful

Thank you
Ashley

MrDJeep123 · Jan 22, 2014

Just about any DSLR will do. But don't be cheap on the lens.

SlammedVQ35 · Jan 22, 2014

A lot of people use the Canon T3i, seems like a nice camera for the $$. Just get a good macro like diamond said. I have a nikon d5100 with a 100 mm macro

PatW · Jan 22, 2014

It comes down to $$$$$. If you want true macro photography, you will want a 105 macro. Nikon, canon, sigma, Tokina and tamron all make good macro lenses. For serious work, you want a DSLR. It should be either Canon or Nikon. The DSLRs come in a wide range of prices.

Also, it sure helps to know what you are doing. A good photographer can wring out the best from their equipment. If you do not know what you are doing, spending $$$$$$ is not going to buy success.

You might go to digital photography review and do some reading.

I have no idea of what your goals are. You might well be thrilled with a decent point and shoot. If that is the case, it is futile to buy more.

Flameback Pair · Jan 22, 2014

What does DSLR stand for?

DSP · Jan 22, 2014

Canon 70D my friend just got one and its amazing, amazing video to with auto focus

Rob&Gab · Jan 22, 2014

if you wanna get your hands wet like i do. get a underwater sony camera. works reat and pictures come out beautiful. its not only about the camera. its about how you take the phone and if you know what your doing. the camera i use is a sony carle zeesi series and it was 350$ when i bought it for my girl a few years ago. camera is awesome and its HD, so you dont always have to buy a 1,000$ camera + a 900$ macro lens to get good shots

do your research before pullling any types of triggers.!

hope you pick out a good one!

MrDJeep123 · Jan 22, 2014

powers2001 said:
What does DSLR stand for?

Digital Single Lens Reflex, some say digital SLR others say DSLR. Mirror and prism type system used in conjunction with digital sensors and a whole bunch of other technical details that most unfortunately don't care about.

DSP · Jan 22, 2014

Checkout the reverse macro lens, you can take a stock lens and turn it into a macro lens and it performs better then a real macro lens but a little harder to use from what Iv heard

PatW · Jan 23, 2014

DSP said:
Checkout the reverse macro lens, you can take a stock lens and turn it into a macro lens and it performs better then a real macro lens but a little harder to use from what Iv heard

A reverse macro technique can be used. You can get a special fitting that will allow you to reverse a standard lens like a 55 mm and focus up close. However, it is very much a jury rigged approach. You are stuck with manual focus and your maximum f stop. The max f stop means you are dealing with a slow lens with poor resolution. People who deal with macro photography use lenses that are designed for that purpose.

I would not suggest trying it. There are better jury rigged solutions like diopter filters and extension tubes.

revhtree · Jan 23, 2014

As others said, the lens is key!

rworegon · Jan 23, 2014

PatW said:
It comes down to $$$$$. If you want true macro photography, you will want a 105 macro. Nikon, canon, sigma, Tokina and tamron all make good macro lenses. For serious work, you want a DSLR. It should be either Canon or Nikon. The DSLRs come in a wide range of prices.

Also, it sure helps to know what you are doing. A good photographer can wring out the best from their equipment. If you do not know what you are doing, spending $$$$$$ is not going to buy success.

You might go to digital photography review and do some reading.

I have no idea of what your goals are. You might well be thrilled with a decent point and shoot. If that is the case, it is futile to buy more.

First let me say don't count out the Pentax bodies either. They are top shelf and oftern less expensive than comparable Canon or Nikon bodies. As far as a Macro lens, All the listed manufactures do make top notch glass but don't limit yourself to the 105mm focal length. The Sigma 70mm Macro was rated as the sharpest Macro lens by one of the top photography magazines. Many people also go for the 100mm. Dont forget that the listed focal length is for a full frame camera, most DSLR's have an ASP-c sensor. What that means to us is that the 70mm focal length is equal to a 105mm focal length on a full frame camera.

With all that said, buy whatever body feels good in your hands and is within your budget. Most and DSLR is capable of taking fantastic photographs. The key is the lens. A cheap body with a great lens will produce better pics than an expensive body with a crappy lens. Spend hour money on glass instead of the body. The sensor in the camera body will eventually fail and need to be replaced. They are, after all, simply an electronic light sensor with a limit to the number of shutter activations it will fire. The glass on the other hand can last a lifetime.

diamondreef · Jan 23, 2014

Thank you guys so much. It's going to take a while to save extra money for that I think lol

64Ivy · Jan 23, 2014

Don't forget the tripod. Even the best camera/macro lens combination will produce crap if it's not sharp.

Stoneyman · Jan 23, 2014

Hey everybody. I have a nikon slr. I also take iphone pics and a pocket nikon point and shoot. Ive tried unsuccessfully to get good tank shots. They keep coming out super blue. I admit the tank has a strong blue to it. But it comes out way too pronounced in the photos. Hoping somebody had suggestions on settings or tips how to get a more true representation of the tank. Thanks !

PatW · Jan 24, 2014

Stoneyman said:
Hey everybody. I have a nikon slr. I also take iphone pics and a pocket nikon point and shoot. Ive tried unsuccessfully to get good tank shots. They keep coming out super blue. I admit the tank has a strong blue to it. But it comes out way too pronounced in the photos. Hoping somebody had suggestions on settings or tips how to get a more true representation of the tank. Thanks !

Now you have gotten specific. You have a white balance problem. So what is white balance? White balance is the ability of your camera to make white objects appear white instead of having a color cast. If you have taken photos in doors under tungsten lights, you will notice a definite yellow cast. Many consumer DSLRs have settings like clouds, sunlight, shade, tungsten lights that adjust the cameras reading of color to correct white balance. Most DSLRs have an ability to adjust white balance, you can take a white object usually a white card but even a piece of paper or plastic object will work and tell your camera that the object should look white. The camera will adjust.
You can also shoot in RAW which allows you to set white balance in post processing using a raw processing software application.

But white balance settings only do so much. I do underwater photography. Red colors exist because red objects reflect red light. If no red light is around, then you can not tell if an object is red or not. The water column adsorbs all of the red light in the first 15'. So if one is deeper than that nothing will look red. At 70' only blue and green light remain. So to shoot color underwater, one has to take down a light source to restore the color spectrum. I have taken photos of fish at depth against what looked like grey backgrounds. In the flash photo, the backgrounds have been a garish red and orange from encrusting sponges.

Your aquarium lighting is probably strongly blue. Many popular led lights are dominated by blue lights as are many fluorescent lights. You can fix this by using a full spectrum light. You can use a flood light. Or you can use a flash.

Your problem is a lighting problem and not a camera problem at all. Cameras take images based on the light they have. If the light is blue and nothing but blue no camera can fix it no matter how expensive. Fix the light and your cell phone camera might give you shots that you love.

rworegon · Jan 24, 2014

Most DSLR's do have a manual white balance seting. The white card will work, many times a grey card is used. What I do is ignore the whitebalance on the camera and shoot in raw, then adjust white balance in post processing.
Take a look at the following Photos. The first is straight out of the camera:

before by rworegon, on Flickr

And now after adjusting the white balance in camera raw, a raw processing software that comes with any version of Photoshop:

after by rworegon, on Flickr

This was a quick shot I took while discussing reff photography with a fellow club member. It took me about 5 minutes to do this, including download the files from the camera to the computer, adjusting the white balance, and saving the processed files back to the computer.

The camera's sensor sees blue light reflecting off anything thats white or in the highlites. Adjusting the white balance to a higher kelvin fixes this.

joshporksandwich · Jan 24, 2014

nikon with 60mm macro lens. Next time you guys come over I can show you hot to use. Lens was $200 on CL and you can find camera for around $250 also on CL. You can also just get an used camera and use macro rings and you can get your feet wet.

robbrouse · Jan 24, 2014

Dont rule out a use one.. Some people upgrade every time a new camera comes out.. You can get good deals on last years models. Get a good lens and take your time and enjoy...

benny z · Jan 24, 2014

i also use a 60mm macro lens. using an aging canon 50d body, but i don't care! still love it. my only reason to upgrade would be for a newer model that shoots video.

the 60mm doesn't have as much "reach" into the tank as the 100mm does, but i have several friends with the 100mm which i can borrow if needed.

the 60mm also works out pretty great as a walkabout and portrait lens - i'm always using it to shoot random stuff, and my baby girl.