help

[yorkie54]

Hello all new to all this. I have a d60 i keep marine fish in a reef system. Would really like to take some photos of its inhabitants in close up. Any helping choosing a lens (macro) would be appreciated.Have heard of people using a 50mm with tube or rings any good?
paul

 

[yorkie54]

well thanks for all your help is this how treat newbies was looking forword to this forum huh

 

[parkmoy]

As a newbie, I've had nothing but great help on this forum. Why don't you give people a chance to reply before rushing in with all guns blazing?

I wouldn't be surprised if the tone of your post puts a lot of people off replying.

 

[plasticboy]

No info on the lens as im a canon user but when i had a reef tank years ago a macro was only any good for taking pics of corals etc(relatively still creatures). Especially if you have adequate flow in the tank most fish have to make an effort to get anywhere and I found it easier using my 18-55 zoom at the time with an off camera flash pointing down into the hood of the tank.

Chasing perc clowns around the tank with a 100mm macro soon had me reaching for the zoom

 

[singlespeed]

This is a bit of a specialist area of photography, and I am sure the majority of people here (myself included) will never have contemplated, let alone tried this. So thats probably the reason for no replies earlier.

With the narrow depth of field when using macro lenses or macro extension tubes, you would probably struggle keeping focus on anything which moves more than 1-2mm in the time you compose and click the shutter. Even if you turn off the pump(s), the fish are still going to be moving in 3 dimensions.

I'm guessing your tank will be 30 - 60cm from front to back, therefore, a relatively short close focussing distance would be handy as it would allow you to get closer to the subject, though macro would probably be more hastle than its worth to begin with. shooting through glass at 90 degrees can give lots of refrections, so aim to shoot at 30ish degrees and make sure theres no bright lights that are going to reflect towards you. If your lens can focus close enough, a flexible rubber lens hood against the glass may minimise reflections still further, even at 90'.

Oh and welcome

 

[Dangermouse]

I know nothing about macro or close up shooting but Im pretty sure when the likes of Alby come online maybe then you will get the help you need and no body is deliberately ignoring you its jus a specialised subject we know b****r all about, patience mate

 

[yorkie54]

This is a bit of a specialist area of photography, and I am sure the majority of people here will never have contemplated, let alone tried this. So thats probably the reason for no replies earlier.

With the narrow depth of field when using macro lenses or macro extension tubes, you would probably struggle keeping focus on anything which moves more than 1-2mm in the time you compose and click the shutter. Even if you turn off the pump(s), the fish are still going to be moving in 3 dimensions.

I'm guessing your tank will be 30 - 60cm from front to back, therefore, a relatively short close focussing distance would be handy as it would allow you to get closer to the subject, though macro would probably be more hastle than its worth to begin with. shooting through glass at 90 degrees can give lots of refrections, so aim to shoot at 30ish degrees and make sure theres no bright lights that are going to reflect towards you. If your lens can focus close enough, a flexible rubber lens hood against the glass may minimise reflections still further, even at 90'.

Oh and welcome

thanks for your reply i do know its possible, as have seen loads of pictures of fish and corals taken with macro and it does produce some stunning shots

please all accept my apology for my rant just a bad day

ps yes the tank is 60cm front to back

 

[singlespeed]

Have you had a go with the kit you have already (18-55mmVR)?

 

[yorkie54]

Have you had a go with the kit you have already (18-55mmVR)?

aye have taken lots of shots some not to bad but but they are not sharp enough.I have seen much better posted on the marine forum i am a member of.But none of them on a d60

 

[singlespeed]

aye have taken lots of shots some not to bad but but they are not sharp enough.I have seen much better posted on the marine forum i am a member of.But none of them on a d60

Now you need to work out why the shots aren't sharp. Is it a focusing issue or camera/subject movement. Or a bit of both. Post up an example with the exif data still attached. Just get a picture hosted on the internet (flickr or photobucket are ideal) If the pic is 600x800 pixels or smaller, use the insert image icon. If the pic is larger than 600x800, use 'insert link' to link to the picture to stay within the forum rules for image size.

Heres an example I found on Flickr 'Yellow fish' with a D60 and 18-55VR kit lens. It is quite a good capture, but you can see that the ISO has been bumped right up to 1250 and the shutter speed is also prety slow too at 1/30sec. The apparture would be nearly wide open at f5.3 for the 35mm focal length used.