Bridge cameras???

[Death Pony]

Not all olympus.. sorry i take it back.. What camera is that? With what lense?
Nice macro shot
But he doesn't want to spend much money lower level olympus don't seem as good as canons or nikons from my experience..

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Hahaha, that actually made me laugh. It's an Olympus E-5 with a 50mm macro. Well worth the money invested, especially for wetlands photography.

Yeah, lower end Olympus camera tend to be a little lacking. All of their attention is on the CSCs and a single DSLR. Their lenses are so expensive, though! The continuous range aperture in the zoom lenses is unrivaled, so well worth the investment. I do have to agree that the new Canon G series is magical. It's incredible what they did with a little P&S. Plus I love the old school control knobs.

A dedicated macro lens will have a fixed focal length (prime lens). The main purpose of this was for forensic purposes, but other photographers discovered them and that's how we got here today. This looks like a decent macro to start with. Not too expensive, so I'd start saving for it now.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/12140-USA/Canon_2515A003_50mm_f_1_4_USM_Autofocus.html

I agree with Jose, lighting is essential. If I can plug a light into a wall, I like using the CFLs I use for my Drosera terrarium. Their full sun plants, and the bulbs put out 1,400+ lumens, so there's plenty of light to use faster shutter speeds. Underexposing by -1 never hurts either.

 

[Acubillos19]

That is one nice camera forsure! Up at the level of nikons D300 and the canons 7d is no joke.....
Great suggestion on the 50 mm that is always something i recommend on the dslrs..
But never thought of putting a speed light on top of the tank.... Or
Terrariam lights on the side of the tank to get photos... Have to try it out..

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[jcardona1]

But never thought of putting a speed light on top of the tank.... Or
Terrariam lights on the side of the tank to get photos... Have to try it out..

It's the only way, in my opinion, to get a true high-quality photo. To achieve a tack-sharp image with full clarity throughout you need the following settings:

1. Very fast shutter speed (I usually shoot at 1/200th)
2. A small aperture for maximum Depth of Field sharpness (I use f/11 to f/16)
3. Lowest ISO possible for max image quality (I use ISO 200 on my Nikon)

That's why I tell people forget about buying a fancy macro lens or a fixed aperture zoom lens and put the money towards one or two speedlights. Shooting at the settings I described above without a speedlight would result in a pitch black image. Sure, you could shoot at f/1.8 or bigger with an expensive lens but the picture will look like crap. Big apertures are not ideal when shooting fish unless you only want the eyes and mouth to be in focus. When I shoot fish I want the entire fish to be in sharp focus. Only way to do that is with a small aperture and lots of light overhead.

I could get better results with a $100 plastic kit lens and a speedlight than you could with a $1000 macro lens

 

[jcardona1]

And I actually put together a slideshow presentation on aquatic photography for a local club meeting. The link is here for those interested

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...o-to-Aquatic-Photography&highlight=powerpoint

 

[jcardona1]

And here's an example. I shot this photo with the Nikon D40 (Nikon's cheapest entry-level camera), the $80 plastic 18-55mm kit lens and a SB600 speedlight over the tank.

Here's the full-size link http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5262/5601760234_8d861510df_o.jpg

 

[muskieboy]

I'm now looking into a canon 20d. I know it has a faster shutter speed so I assume this is going to be much better for aquarium photography compared to the 350d, right?

Thank you for the link jc I found it very helpful.

 

[muskieboy]

So I just bought a canon 350D for $50. I'll post some pics in the photo lounge once i figure out how to use it.

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[Death Pony]

$50?!?! You just stole that camera!

I don't really do fish photos anymore, mostly plants and invertebrates now, and they're usually outside.

 

[muskieboy]

Haha I know and it came with 3 batterys, a battery grip and a 2g cf card. It also has a really low shutter count, around 4000. He even delivered it lol.

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[Fat Homer]

^ damn, you would think the camera was haunted or something considering how cheap the seller was selling it for


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