Camera Suggestion?

[Slayvoff]

Once I get a tank up and running of course I will want to take incredible photos. Can anyone suggest a great camera for close ups of corals, fish, everything? Prob going with 2x Radion XR30 lights if that matters at all.

As far as cameras/photography goes, I have nothing and I know nothing. I have always used phone camera for any and all photos. I don't really know any technical language as of right now like different mm lenses, "macro", or anything at all. So if I could get pretty basic suggestions that lay it out clearly I'd appreciate it.

Don't know about budget but certainly under $1,000 - well below I hope!

 

[brett_schn]

Used Sony a6000 and quality e mount lens. I use mine for all kinds of photography and it has even been used in a short film that my friend made

 

[rtparty]

I just spent weeks researching cameras. I asked a lot of professionals their opinion and watched almost every YouTube video I could find. I also read article after article, review after review. Every time I thought I had one picked out, I would second guess myself and watch more videos. I also asked d2mini his opinions on multiple cameras.

In the end, I came up with my own personal list of must haves. Fully articulating touch screen, WiFi, good lens options, good battery but most importantly: best pictures for my budget. It came down to the Sony a5100 and Nikon d5500 within my budget and experience with a camera. I also had to weigh in what my wife wanted since this camera was for her as well. She loves photography and had never had a "good" camera. She did want manual controls available so the a5100 was ruled out eventually. It checked almost every other box but she wanted more control. So we ended deciding on the Nikon d5500. We are beyond happy with our choice and have already taken family pictures with it.

For us, the 5500 fell in between total beginner (d3400) and advanced amateur (d7500). The 7500 was also out of our budget so that made it easy to check off the list.

Here are some models to check out that were all in the running at some point.

Canon T6/T6i/T6s
Nikon D3400/5300/5500/7500
Pentax K2-50 (or something like that)
Sony a5100/6000
Nikon J1 (whatever Nikon's mirrorless is)

You need to set a firm budget IMO and go from there. A good macro lens isn't cheap either so plan that in. A refurbished Tamron 90mm for Nikon is $240. Brand new it is closer to $400 and the Nikon macro lens is $900.

A tripod is also a must for me when taking pics of the tank. So add that in if you want crystal clear pictures.

If you know nothing about cameras and don't want to dive into that world, the Nikon 3000 series and Sony a5100 are great choices. Sony is much more like a phone. Point, tap screen and shoot.

For tanks though, I followed Dennis' advice and got a good high ISO camera that takes unbelievable RAW photos (for my budget.)

Hope that helps a little

 

[sh4rkbyt3]

Good points rtparty. I shoot with a Nikon D7100 after having gone through 3 other previous Nikons in the 3xxx and 5xxx series. I shoot mostly landscape but will be tuning for aquarium soon .

One of the most important points of any DSLR IMO is to actually learn to shoot your camera in ANY other mode but Automatic! The reasons for this are plenty but the most important is being able to understand what your camera is doing and why. This enables you to tune in on whats the best settings for certain picture types. There's no harm in starting off in Auto Mode if you're an absolute beginner but there's also no more satisfaction than knowing that YOU took your best picture possible when YOU are in control of the camera. Leaving the camera in Auto Mode makes you a slave to it's settings, most work pretty well, where as different conditions can make it impossible to get a quality picture in the Auto setting.

Whatever type or brand of camera you decide on according to your budget and needs is up to you. But please by all means learn how to get out of Auto Mode as quickly as possible. You'll curse me now but thank me later ! I promise. It doesn't hurt to look at your settings and write them down in Auto Mode either, it helps you to begin to understand some important things early on.

At first it's going to be plenty confusing learning the triangle (which you'll understand later) and then add in different lenses and types. The list of components rtparty listed above are what I would definitely consider "absolute essentials"! One thing I would add though is also a good lens cleaning cloth on hand at ALL times! And also learn to shoot in RAW mode as he said and get out of .jpg when you can. The file size is bigger but there is no degredation in the data, there is some loss in .jpg over time.

There are a lot of "how to" books and "Dummies" versions but to be honest there is only one book I've ever recommended to help people get out of auto mode and control their own cameras. If the OPS want to remove this post it's fine, I'm not trying to sell a book as much as help people in what I know works for most. I have no affiliation to this person in any way. This book was recommended to me and was the best and easiest to understand in the quickest manner.

~BEYOND AUTO MODE A Guide To Taking Control of Your Photography by Jennifer Bebb~

I highly recommend Chapters 1-4 and then whatever interests you.