My New Canon XTi

[Cougra]

This weekend I picked up my new camera. I got the Canon EOS Rebel XTi (400D) with a Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 Macro lens for my general purpose lens instead of the kit lens. I also got a 4GB CF memory card and a UV filter for the lens. I still have many more things to pick up but my credit card isn't looking too healthy so I'll have to wait a couple months before buying more accessories for the new toy.

Unfortunately my marine tank isn't too photogenic at this point in time. These photos were just some test shots as I was starting to play with the camera to figure out what I'm doing. While I still have a lot to learn about the camera and getting the most out of it I'm fairly happy with these ones!

I hope you don't mind a couple freshwater fish for substitutions...

[boozeman]

cool

[kyle1284]

what does it look like without the flash?

[blue_eyes53813]

Nice pictures Michelle. I got the same camera a couple weeks ago and it is so fun to use. I posted a few pictures in my tank thread, if you wanna see them. I want so bad to figure out the close(I mean close) macro shots with it, But am having troubles. Im sure its something I am doing wrong. But good luck and keep the pictures coming.

[boozeman]

I recently attended a reef photography workshop and learned a few things... most important is to always set your white balance before shooting, the auto setting rarely yields a good shot of a reef because of the MH lighting being too blue.
going manual without the camaras speed flash yields the best results.
keep the lense parallel to the aquariums front glass, never shoot at an angle.
always use a tripod, if none available keep elbows tucked in close to body and hold breath before shooting.

[goldenmean]

Very nice pics - of the fish especially.
more pics please!!
I have asked Santa for the same camera and the Tax return fairy for a macro lens.

[tbittner]

Vicki, are you saying you aren't happy with the Rebel XTi? That is the one I'm leaning towards so information at this point, before MY purchase , would be greatly appreciated. What lens did you get?

I gotta say that Michelles pics are very impressive.

[blue_eyes53813]

Originally Posted by tbittner

Vicki, are you saying you aren't happy with the Rebel XTi? That is the one I'm leaning towards so information at this point, before MY purchase , would be greatly appreciated. What lens did you get?

I gotta say that Michelles pics are very impressive.

I am very happy with the camera, I got some different lens for macro shooting and Im not use to them yet. It is an awesome camera.

[boozeman]

you can also play with color saturation and contrast settings to make pictures really 'pop' [photo taken with nikon D80)

[Cougra]

Thanks for the complements everyone. I'm still learning a lot with this camera and these are just me trying to figure out what I'm doing. I definately have a lot of photos that are really dark and a lot that are really over exposed but I'm slowly getting the feel of the manual settings. Although the lens I have is a "macro" lens I purchased it more as a good general purpose lens and will get a Macro Prime lens at some point in the future.

going manual without the camaras speed flash yields the best results.

I can't see how you would get any sort of decent fish shots without using the flash. I can see this working for corals but not for something that moves in any way.

I'm still playing around trying to get used to depth of field settings and shutter speeds. I'll leave the contrast, saturation etc alone for now until I understand some of the more basic techniques a little better.

[boozeman]

I am still learning myself....it was mentioned that you could use the fstop to control the aperture instead of the flash. it was also suggested that you can get a separate flash (instead of the one built in) and remote trigger it over the tank...that will be what I ask santa for xmas

[brikeibur]

Make sure your lens speed is set to something fast enough to catch the fish not moving......you will need to open your aperture more in order to get a well lit shot by doing this though. Hope this helps.....it is a whole other ballgame taking photos of an aquarium. I LOVE photography and do it as a hobby, but until recently I had never taken aquarium pics.....it is way harder to get great shots. I have a Canon Rebel XTI though, and I LOVE it. My only problem is that I am needing a macro lens. I have a good zoom and 'normal use' lens, so I really, really need a macro, but the problem being that the one I want is like $500-$600, a 100mm Macro.
Hope some of this helps....and congrats on the new camera Cougra. I think that once you get the hang of it you will LOVE it. They are great cameras capable of many things, but still fairly easy to use.

Stacy

[Cougra]

Boozeman: The Speedlite 580 II (or something like that) Flash Gun is on my list for Christmas as well but I highly doubt I'll be getting it since my camera put my budget into a bit of a shamble!

Stacy: I love photography as well and took over 10,000 pictures with a P&S that I hated (and still hate) for a long time. I figured that since I got such good use out of a camera I hate I may as well try getting one that I think I'll love so here I am. I do have to admit though that I find it a lot easier taking photos of fish then I do anything else because that's what I focused on the most to date. I can't wait to try the camera for landscape shots and wildlife shots because that's where my heart truly lies!

[ScubaDrew]

Hijacking! Booz - you mentioned white balance, and Cougra you mentioned XTi.

I'm trying to get the white balance on my XTi correct. On my other point and shoot Canon, I select white balance point at what I'm going to eventually take pictures of and hit the manual white balance button. That is all, the color looks excellent.

On the XTi - if my memory serves me correctly, I am to take a photo of a bright white object under the lighting I'm planning on shooting under. Then go through some menus and select that image as my white balance adjustment image and finally shoot my photo.

My question is - what is everyone using as a bright white object? I head someone putting a coffee filter in the tank and taking a photo of that. The problem is the lighting changes so much between the front center of the tank and the sides I feel like I'd need many photos of coffee filters.

Is there an easier way?!

Drew

[boozeman]

most people use the sand.....but if the tank is BB then use a piece of PVC