Dslr camera for a newbie

SuncrestReef · Jan 11, 2020

Pete Horwath said:
Great vPhotos' what Camera, lens, filter are you using for these?

See reply #12 above. No filters, I just set the white balance to 10K.

Mrsadat · Jan 23, 2020

SuncrestReef said:
See reply #12 above. No filters, I just set the white balance to 10K.

Those shots you took are AWESOME I have the same camera body need to save up for a great lens. That lenses is pretty expensive but I guess you get what you pay for.

SuncrestReef · Jan 23, 2020

Mrsadat said:
Those shots you took are AWESOME I have the same camera body need to save up for a great lens. That lenses is pretty expensive but I guess you get what you pay for.

The Nikon 105mm macro is also an amazing lens for coral photography, much less expensive, and much easier to handle since it's not as bulky as the 200mm. See https://www.adorama.com/nk10528afvru.html

Mrsadat · Jan 23, 2020

SuncrestReef said:
The Nikon 105mm macro is also an amazing lens for coral photography, much less expensive, and much easier to handle since it's not as bulky as the 200mm. See https://www.adorama.com/nk10528afvru.html

Thanks a lot for the great advice

Mrsadat · Jan 31, 2020

Hey sorry to bother you I took your advice, I ordered the lens that you recommended and was wondering do I have to use a filter as well to get good shots or do I just have to adjust the apture and other key components?

Megan Mathis · Mar 1, 2020

Coral Frenzy said:
Great pics!!!

These are beautiful!

greennd79 · Mar 8, 2020

How about the sigma 105 macro lense?

Jeeperz · Mar 8, 2020

@SuncrestReef will the $300 40mm macro for a Nikon 5600 be useful? We don't have that kind of money to spend on a lens, although I know good lenses are not cheap. Any tips you can provide for a DSLR newbie? I use a point and shoot Lumix with Leica glass but my GF just got the Nikon 5600 and it's got more going on than I can figure out.

SuncrestReef · Mar 8, 2020

Jeeperz said:
@SuncrestReef will the $300 40mm macro for a Nikon 5600 be useful? We don't have that kind of money to spend on a lens, although I know good lenses are not cheap. Any tips you can provide for a DSLR newbie? I use a point and shoot Lumix with Leica glass but my GF just got the Nikon 5600 and it's got more going on than I can figure out.

I haven't personally used the Nikon 40mm macro, but in general terms any macro lens will be able to produce better up-close detail than most standard lenses. However, I'd recommend you first get to know the basics of using the D5600 before investing in additional lenses. There are many great tutorial videos on YouTube that are definitely worth spending some time watching. Just search YouTube for "Nikon D5600 tutorial".

For coral photography, I highly recommend learning how the manual settings of the camera work and using a tripod. Remember to always keep the lens perpendicular to the tank glass to prevent distortion due to the glass prism effect. And with most aquarium lighting, you'll want to adjust the camera's White Balance so your photos don't look overly saturated with blue light.

Once you're more proficient using the camera with the included lens, you might consider renting a macro lens just to try it out for comparison before committing to a purchase. Many local camera stores have a rental program, but if you can't find a local shop there are also some online vendors who will rent lenses.

Good luck!