Recommendation for Good Camera

[saltnewbie]

Hello all. I was wanting to get a camera that I could take awesome pictures of my corals with. I am looking for something that will show the true colors of the items in my aquarium. I would also like to be able take pics of my fish without having to worry about the focus being off due to the water movement. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[TheOtherGuy]

Well there are lots to choose from. I would consider the Canon Rebel Series (XT,XTi), Canon 20d, Canon 5D or the Nikon D Series (D50,D70s,D80, D200). All of these cameras are DSLRs and so the sky is the limit on lenses and other equipment. Photography can be another expensive hobby but it does not have to be.

What is your price range?

[Brett Wilson]

What is your budget?

Cheap: (less than $500)

The best 'coral only' camera I have taken pictures with and can vouch for is the Nikon coolpix 4500. It just happened to have a REALLY GOOD macro lense (and it worked very well in auto mode). It wasnt very good as a general use camera, just awesome at really good looking huge macro shots of corals and fish. It's not in production anymore but you can find them on ebay. I have yet to get my hands on any out of the box camera beat it's macro abilities for the price. I never actually owned it, it was my friends, so any pictures I took with it were that of a newby.

http://www.brett-wilson.com/images/reef/linked/DSCN1502.jpg
http://www.brett-wilson.com/images/reef/linked/DSCN1203.jpg
http://www.brett-wilson.com/images/reef/linked/DSCN6955.jpg
http://www.brett-wilson.com/images/reef/linked/DSCN1279.jpg
http://www.brett-wilson.com/images/reef/linked/DSCN1255.jpg


If your budget allows I'm sure some of the newer cameras, particularly DSLR's, would take some pretty awesome pictures with a macro lense :)

[caferacermike]

I have a Kodak EZ share 6.1. It is a great camera. Does awesome macro shots. The only thing I don't like is that I take miserable whole tank shots. That's why I never upload any. The lighting in my tank washes out any pic attempts unless taking a specific macro. All you see is a 4' long white box where my tank should be. I really wish I had the ability to add colored lenses to help block out the spectrums.

[JeremyGlen]

I hear you on that one. I have the Kodak dx7630. I love it, except that I cannot set a white balance so everything is too bright in the pics.

[ratboy]

My mom was in town and was showing me her new camera at the pool. It was waterproof to ~15' and took great pictures of the kiddo underwater and on land. Later that night I figured since its waterproof Id try some tank pictures. I searched the menus and it had 3 underwater settings. These are a few pictures I took just by sticking my hand in the tank and snapping pictures. I didnt do any color adjusting or photoshop (ok I cropped them) but the colors still look dead on compared to my tank. I think she said she paid like 400$ for it.

--Erik

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1225

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c264/eswansiger/zos_blastomusa1.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c264/eswansiger/greenstar1.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c264/eswansiger/derasa_clam.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c264/eswansiger/mycedium.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c264/eswansiger/mandarin1.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c264/eswansiger/frogspawn.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c264/eswansiger/clowns1.jpg

[tony]

an old post (my 12th ever on maast, awwwwww the memories)

but still some good info


http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=79036&hig hlight=#79036

[caferacermike]

Ratboy I'm hooked. Those have to be some of the most "honest" pics I've ever seen. Not that I'm saying some peoples pics are faked, it's just that lighting and filters can really add "pop" to corals that just isn't there in real life. I think I'll be out $400 next week.

[ratboy]

Yea I wanted to go buy one too after taking those pictures... I have a kodakDX4900 with a separate zoom and macro lens kit. Its a few years old and takes decent tank pictures but Ive taken hundreds of pictures with it but only had 1 or 2 that look anywhere near as good as the ones I took with that olympus. I bet you could use that camera for diving too if you used it with one of those ziplock bags with the lens port in it...