a question about flash

[ozadars]

Hi everybody,
I bought olympus c-350 (called d-560 in usa) and i get some nice photos w/ using flash but when i use flash the colours of the fish, rocks and everything dont look very good but when i dont use flash the photo becomes very blurry even while i m shoting a tube worm! I couldnt get any good pictures w/o using flash... how can i take good shots w/o using flash? Or is this because of my camera because it takes good shots w/o flash when i m not shooting my tank
(sorry for my bad english)

Take Care
Selim

 

[Anonymous]

I'll shift this over to our equipment and techniques forum, as it deals with both equipment and technique! :-D

I'm not familiar with your particular model of camera, but I can relate to the woes of using a flash for tank-shots. It definitely helps freeze the movement of the fish, but makes it look flat and washed out.

I've gotten some of my best shots w/o flash, but with lots of patience. If your camera has the ability, you need to set your shutter speed higher when you don't use the flash. For tank shots I usually run around 1/125 of a second. Even then I'll get a lot of blurred shots, but I've found that if I go much higher the shots will be uselessly dark.

Just be prepared to take dozens of shots for every good one. I'd say for general photography, I am able to use about 50% of my photographs. For sports photography, that number drops to about 25% useable. For aquarium photography, I'm lucky if one in twenty is a useable shot. :|

 

[ozadars]

Do all the cameras have shutter levels? I mean can you change shutter levels at all cams?

 

[Anonymous]

Not all. Many (most?) lower-end cameras do not. Those are the types that are more what's called "point and shoot" cameras. They're designed for people that mostly do snapshots.

 

[ozadars]

I dont know if my camera has but its better to have because i paid 380 Euro
I am gonna search for it, thanx

 

[ozadars]

In a website about olympus c-350 i saw this but dont know what it means;

shutter spead: 2 - 1/1000 sec.

What does this mean? This means i can change shutter levels or is it stable?

 

[Anonymous]

Can the shutter speed on the Nikkon coolpix 775 be tweaked?

 

[TS]

ozadars, that means the camera can change it- whether it allows you the same liberty, not sure, but see if you have a "shutter priority" mode.

Now, back to the crux of your problem- you're going to find that just "raising the shutterspeed" isn't going to fix your problem. The REAL problem is, there's not enough light available for a fast shutter without the flash.

What you have to do is get rid of as much motion blur as possible- buy a tripod, cut your pumps, try to photograph your critters when they're not in motion.

Tough? Absolutely. But that's what makes it so fun.

HTH

Travis

 

[ozadars]

Thanx TS, also will turning on all the lights in the room help me?

 

[Anonymous]

Now, back to the crux of your problem- you're going to find that just "raising the shutterspeed" isn't going to fix your problem. The REAL problem is, there's not enough light available for a fast shutter without the flash.

This is basically a different explanation of the same thing I was talking about. When you don't use your flash, your camera is automatically setting the shutter speed lower (slower) so that the sensor in the camera gets enough light to make an accurate exposure. What that means is that the shutter doors on your camera are open for a longer period of time. If something is moving while the shutter is open, it will register as a blur on the sensor. That's why when you work with a lower shutter speed (without flash), you get a good deal of motion blur.

When you set the shutter speed lower, you still have to get enough light into the camera. As I've mentioned, I've found that with my particular tank lighting setup I can set shutterspeed priority in my camera and go to about 1/125sec and still do okay for most shots. If the fish is in shadow or something, though, then I'm basically done for.

What you have to do is get rid of as much motion blur as possible- buy a tripod, cut your pumps, try to photograph your critters when they're not in motion.

Tough? Absolutely. But that's what makes it so fun.

Agreed 100%. Shooting sessile (non-moving) parts of your tank is easy, especially with a tripod. Shooting fish is next to impossible with a tripod unless you've got a really good ball-head. I always shoot my fish hand-held--I try to stay balanced, have a good grip on the camera, shoot at a high resolution and frame wide, then crop in photoshop. Still, as I mentioned earlier my percentage of good, workable shots is pretty low. It does get a bit better with lots of practice, but I still don't blink an eye if I take 50 shots and only get 2 or 3 good ones.

-John

 

[Anonymous]

Thanx TS, also will turning on all the lights in the room help me?

In my experience, having the room lights on doesn't usually make that much of a difference. Figure you've got 2 or 3 75 watt bulbs in a room, and in your tank you might have hundreds or even thousands of watts, concentrated in a very small area. Plus, having room lights on might produce glares on the glass. When I shoot my tank, I usually do it at night with only the tank lights on in the room. Plus it helps a tiny bit because the fish can't see out as well and don't get spooked quite as easily by your movement in front of the tank.

 

[TS]

I'm with sharkyy, I find it's always better to have the room lights out.

However, I have had good luck shooting fish in a tripod (even my cheapo one) just by keeping all the joints loosened up. Helps eliminate some of the movement back and forth, which is a major cause of focus issues, especially when shooting at the low f-stop numbers we need to get the speed for fish shots.

T

 

[Anonymous]

I'm with sharkyy, I find it's always better to have the room lights out.

However, I have had good luck shooting fish in a tripod (even my cheapo one) just by keeping all the joints loosened up. Helps eliminate some of the movement back and forth, which is a major cause of focus issues, especially when shooting at the low f-stop numbers we need to get the speed for fish shots.

T

Good point. I've tried this once or twice and my percentage of clear shots does usually go up, but I always end up pulling my tripod over trying to pan too quickly or get the camera to the other end of the tank or something. :lol: