Taking fish pics...looking for camera settings

slowest is fastest

slowest is fastest

Member
I can get decent pics of my coral with my tripod and camera (Olympus C-730UZ) but my fish pics(thousands...yes thousands) are always grainy or out of focus.
I would appreciate anyone who has sharp clear pics of their fish taking a look at the camera settings they were shot under and posting here for a reference point. Specifically...
ISO
Shutter speed
Aperture
F-Stop
Flash/no flash/external flash (hot shoe etc)
Type of camera used (after all I may need to upgrade :))
Lighting on the tank at the time of the pic
White balance adjustment if any(ie corrected for the blue light or cloudy setting used etc)
Thanks in advance,
SiF
 
solonfairy

solonfairy

Member
main thing for taking pics of fish is film speed. anything in motion is gonna need an ISO of around 800 to turn out clear
your f-stop will all depend on the lighting in your tank and you focal point. usually 2.8 or 3.2 is a good place to start
for white balance... cloudy or shade is a decent preset mode, but if you have manual mode... get something pure white, put it under your lighting, look thru your camera and adjust the WB until the object looks white under your lighting, then go take pics in the tank.
 
solonfairy

solonfairy

Member
also... manual focus does wonders when shooting corals and reef landscapes... you can tell the camera exactly what you want to focus on (camera usually focuses on the closest thing)
in this shot.. i wanted to bring out the corals in the distance... so i manually set the focal point for "deeper" in the shot
 
solonfairy

solonfairy

Member
i dont pretend to be a camera expert.. i am learning something new everyday... but those are some points i have picked up to this point
a few others:
turn your pumps off- rippling water affects lighting, also keeps particles suspended that can screw up the focus when they pass in front of the lens
keep the glass as clean as possible... focusing thru film algae will distort anyshot
for shots thu the glass... keep the lens angle flat with the glass... shooting thru glass at an angle also will distort
use a tripod with a timer or remote shutter switch.... simply pressing the shutter buttom can shake the camera enough to screw up your shot.... tripod keeps the camera steady and the timer or remote shutter keep your fingers from shaking the camera
take tons of shots of the same subject with different settings. find out what works for you under the given conditions.
i am not a fan of speed flashes built into the camera. if you need more lighting.. shine some ambient lighting at your tank at an angle (straight on will put a reflection back into the camera)
underwater shots are awesome... takes out a lot of the difficulties of shooting thru glass. just barely submerge the lens underwater (i suggest using and add-on lens to to further keep the camera electronics as far from the water as possible)
good luck
 
slowest is fastest

slowest is fastest

Member
SolonFairy
Thanks for the tips. I have had some luck with coral pics...it was just the fish that was (is) giving giving me trouble.
I will try reducing the f-stop and turning the ISO up to 400 (my max
)
I also hace a remote for my camera but it has a 2 second delay...most of the time I lose the shot by the time the camera goes off. Sounds like it is time to upgrade cameras.
Thanks
SiF
PS here are a few of my coral pics.
 
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