Olympus D-490 zoom

[The Kapenta Kid]

I've got an Olympus D-490 zoom which is about 4 years old and I think is a predecessor of the current C-360--they look kinda similar except that the new model is 4 megapixel while the D490 is 2 megapixel.

I've had a lot of fun with it and it takes neat pictures but I wonder if it is any use for aquarium photography (I'm pretty new to aquaria too).

It has no hot shoe so you can't have off-camera flash.

The shutter speed spec is 1/2 to 1/1,000 sec but you cannot set it manually.

I can take nice available light tank shots of plants, rocks, even snails!! but anything that moves faster is blurred. Maximum ISO setting is 400.

Are there any possibilities, or do I just need to buy a new camera?

Thanks

[benny]

If you like, you can try adding a few slave flash on top of the tank. Your on camera flash will trigger them off and you may be able to just it for quite a while more.

But if your budget allows, why don't you consider a new camera. You will get better white balance control, color fidelity and contrasty pictures with the new cameras.

Cheers,

[The Kapenta Kid]

Thanks Benny,
When I have the cash I'll probably buy an Olympus C5000 which was mentioned somewhere else on this forum. It seems to be about the only one in the 250-300 price range that has all the basic features (manual focus, aperture, shutter, good macro, hot shoe) that appear to be necessary to take a reasonable stab at shooting decent aquarium pix.