Need a General Idea

[mezzacam]

Hey, My name is Cameron, and bla bla bla. I'm from Australia, I love keeping fish, and love taking photos of them just as much!

Problem is, I only have a 3.2 megapixel camera, And try as hard as i might, The shots will never turn out to be as great as i'd like.



So, By the end of the year i am hoping to upgrade.

I don't overly know to much about the cameras etc, But i do prefer Canon's.

Canon EOS 300D is the camera i'm liking, as it isn't overly expensive (Compared to the others?) And looks like it'd get the job done for me.


Now comes the part that i have no idea about.

What accessories would i need to buy for the camera, to be able to take nice pictures of my fish.

(Flash, Lens etc etc) As i really don't know to much about all that?


Can anyone give me a rough idea?

Thanks in advance, Cameron.

[Obliviou$]

What are you using now? MP doesn't matter that much these days.
But there's no doubt that upgrading to 300D will be a huge upgrade.

I would recommend looking into the XT (350D) if you can afford it. By the end of the year it's more likely to drop more in price.

Are you going to use the camera for aquatics only?

If so, the first investment must be a flash, I think it's 420EX, 550EX or a 580EX. Each of these flashes are more powerful than the previous one, but also more expensive. Go with your budget. ST-E2 transmitter would be a nice investment aswell. It will let you operate the flash wireless (hihi, nikon doesn't need it).

The second investment would be a better lense.
60mm macro or 100mm macro are some great Canon lense, but I think they're pretty expensive, especially the 100mm because it's L-glass. Not sure about the 60mm though. (L-glass beeing the finest Canon lenses)
You could also go for a 105mm Sigma or a 90mm Tamron, which are also great macro lenses.

If you buy a bad macro lense, you're having bad luck. There's a lot of crappy lenses out there, but few of them are macro lenses.

If you have allready pushed the budget to the limit, you could go for a 50mm f/1.8, which is supposed to be a great aquatic lense. And it's CHEAP!

Cheers,
Alex

PS: I'm a Nikonian, if I get corrected, listen to the other fella.

[mezzacam]

The camera i currently own is a Canon PowerShot A70 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom


Heh.... It sure is advanced stuff... :wow:

This is the best picture i have ever taken with it,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/mezzacam/cacatuoides.jpg


I have no idea what setting i used to get it, But it would have to be the crispest one i have ever managed to snap. No add ons to the camera (Lens or flash) Only tank light, and onboard flash.

And then probally this one, lol.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/mezzacam/Krib.gif

--------


As for the 350D,

The lowest price i have found for it (In Australia) is $1399.00 for the Canon EOS 350D Body Only.

The lowest i found the flast kit for was $600.00, 580EX Speedlite Camera Flash for Canon.

$347.99 for the Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter

For the lens, $639.00 Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 Macro USM

Or the 50mm lens, $138.65 Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens.


(1) $2638 all up for the Camera body, Flash and 60mm Lens.
(2) $2986 all up for the Camera body, Flash, Transmitter, and 60mm lens.
(3) $2138 all up for the Camera body, Flash, and 50mm Lens.
(4) $2486 all up for the Camera body, Flash, Transmitter and 50mm lens.

And yes, The camera will mainly be for aquatic photography.

My price range would probally be around $2500, So option (4) is looking alright, Hopefully by the end of the year, everything has become even cheaper, and then i might be able to afford option (2)!

But we'll have to just wait and see.

I think i'll be an annoying regular here :P I spent about 3 hours last night just looking through the aquatic photography section. Wow~! I'm mesmerised by some of the photos in there!

Cameron.

[phishphorphun]

Cameron, I think option 4 is a good choice. I haven't bought a macro lens yet. But I shoot all my fish with the 50mm 1.8d and find it quite adequate. The remote flash is a real must for better aquatic shots.

About your above photos. May I suggest a very simple way to get the best out of your onboard flash. Tape a piece of tissue, white copy paper or napkin over the flash. It serves as a great diffuser and will knock down the overexposure and reflection you are currently getting. However, take precaution and leave a small space of air between the paper and flash so you don't scorch the flash lens. Experiment with the different paper types until you get the best exposure.

Also I noticed on #2 the reflection on the bottom of the tank. Providing a substrate on the bottom of your tank will prevent the light from above in the shot.

Good luck and keep sharing your shots.

Bobby

[benny]

The Canon 300D is an out of production model. It may not be available new at the end of the year. Looking for a used one might be your only option then.

Cheers,

[mezzacam]

Well it looks like i will probally go for the 350D.


I will try the tissue paper tip ;) Cheers.

Thanks for your ideas and opinions ^^

Now i just have to keep my eyes and ears open. :)

[Schnauzer]

Do a review on the places with the best prices . When I bought my 20D I was luckey to have a lot of help from people here . Sometimes the place with the best price is a place you want to stay away from .
Good luck mate .

[Molino]

If you really wanted to save some money you could just get a used flash which can be used as a slave and use your existing camera to trigger the slave flash. You can set up a reflector (aluminum foil) to deflect the camera flash upwards towards the external slave flash. To see how refer to the following link by one of our memebers (Finz):

http://home.comcast.net/~jimkphoto/fishphotos/opticalslave.htm

Some external flashes have a slave function built in so you would not need the "hot shoe slave module" mentionned in the above article.

I think there was/is a member of this forum who posted a lot of great shots taken this way with something similar to a Canon A70, I just can't remember who... Anyone remember who that was?

Otherwise if you did want something more flexible, and money is not a big deal, I highly recommend DSLRs. I'm much happier with my new 350D than my old digital camera B-)

And nice Cockatoo by the way!

[meriadoc]

mezza - where are you getting those prices from? I used to live in australia, and may have some tricks up my sleeve ;)

rebel XT kit, flash, 50mm and 1gb compact flash card : $2559.01 incl gst.

couldn't find the transmitter on the site where i looked, but you may be able to get away without using it for now...

[Obliviou$]

(1) $2638 all up for the Camera body, Flash and 60mm Lens.
(2) $2986 all up for the Camera body, Flash, Transmitter, and 60mm lens.
(3) $2138 all up for the Camera body, Flash, and 50mm Lens.
(4) $2486 all up for the Camera body, Flash, Transmitter and 50mm lens.

And yes, The camera will mainly be for aquatic photography.

My price range would probally be around $2500, So option (4) is looking alright, Hopefully by the end of the year, everything has become even cheaper, and then i might be able to afford option (2)!

But we'll have to just wait and see.

I think i'll be an annoying regular here :P I spent about 3 hours last night just looking through the aquatic photography section. Wow~! I'm mesmerised by some of the photos in there!

Cameron.


Well in that case, welcome to APF :)
#4 sounds good, man Australia is more expensive than Norway :eek: Don't forget you need a mem card aswell!
Usually when you register with canon you get a 256mb mem card for free (at least in norway), but I think you will need more.

[benny]

I think there was/is a member of this forum who posted a lot of great shots taken this way with something similar to a Canon A70, I just can't remember who... Anyone remember who that was?

That would be kaiser? I'm very impressed by his use of external light source with his compact digital camera too.

Cheers,

[mezzacam]

I just used a site called www.staticice.com.au

It's a site that searches all Australian sites that sell electronic goods, to find you the best price.


I used this as a rough idea as to what i would be expecting to pay, (Maybe in a years time, when everything is cheaper)

Also what site were you looking at to get that price?

And yes, Australia has a HUGE markup on Electronic products, It's horrible. :( But, it's a beautiful country to live in. (Not that i've ever gone overseas :P)

I'll have to try find some of Kaisers pics? ^^

Cameron.

[Obliviou$]

No doubt, you get your moneys worth down under. I mean what beautiful wildlife you have to photograph!

[mezzacam]

If you can find it! Lol! When i get a new camera, I'll have to go to a wildlife reserve and take some snaps of some native critters and plants ^^