Picture this: What type of camera do you use to take pictures of your reef tank?

[Peace River]

Picture this: What type of camera do you use to take pictures of your reef tank?

How do you capture pictures of your tank? Do you use the cell phone in your pocket or do you go for your DSLR? Have you ever used a tripod or a top-down porthole adapter? Maybe you are just getting started with aquarium photography and are trying to figure out why all of your images are nearly unrecognizable when you are just trying to get an ID of a hitchhiker, coral, or fish. Wherever you are on your journey in aquarium photography, please tell us about what camera you use to take pictures of your reef tank and feel free to share any tips!

December 2020 Photo of the Month winner; Photo by @Reeffraff

Reef2Reef has several articles on aquarium photography such as: “Your Guide to Aquarium Photography; Getting the Basics” as well as photography and videography sections of the forum. Feel free to dig in for more info about getting great pictures of your tank!

 

[Kathy Floyd]

I have a Samsung A53, getting better, but nowhere near some of the great shots I have seen people post. Would love to hear how people take great pics.

 

[Fish Styx]

I use my phone (S21 Ultra) with the Icecap photo lens kit. It takes great pics, but like I talk about in my build thread, the lens array on the phone is too large to cover completely with the kit. This makes it nearly impossible to zoom.

I just ordered a 4k videocamera and assorted plastic filters for making videos. So l plan on taking stills from that to see how they turn out.

 

[Poseidon03]

I'd also love to hear. I have a larger tank, so I can't ever get good closeups of corals.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

I've been shopping for a camera! Will be watching this thread closely for suggestions.

Also if anyone can recommend a good place to get used photography stuff (cameras, lenses, etc.) that would be awesome. I am taken aback by some of the prices of new cameras!!!!

 

[Freenow54]

Have a Pentax digital. The big plus is that I can still use all of my Lenses. I Take Multiple pictures great since not wasting film. Some of my lenses can use auto focus feature or can use manual. I always use my wide angle using flash, and also not

 

[vetteguy53081]

Iphone 14 and my Nikon D3500 SLR

 

[Slocke]

I use a Canon Rebel T6 for those wanting a budget camera that is still a massive upgrade on phone cameras. What makes them so much better is that I can sit down a distance from my tank and get natural and non-blurry photos.
When the camera can see more than your eye it makes photography a far funner hobby!

 

[d2mini]

Currently using a Nikon Z6ii and 105mm macro.

 

[Nman]

iPhone does the job

 

[exnisstech]

I was using my phone (galaxy s21 ultra) but results were disappointing. I used to be a fairly serious amateur photographer years ago so I'm pretty critical when it comes to image quality. I recently purchased a Sony A7 II full frame mirrorless body. I would have had to sell a kidney for a full frame body when I left the hobby. I'm using that paired with a sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro lens. I just started shooting tank shots a few days ago and things are starting to come back to me.

 

[afrokobe]

I use a sony a6000 with a the stock kit lens and vintage minolta macro lens.

 

[exnisstech]

@afrokobe what is that coral in the first image?

 

[afrokobe]

@afrokobe what is that coral in the first image?

Magic Carpet Mushroom! putting a ton of different colors for me

 

[exnisstech]

Magic Carpet Mushroom! putting a ton of different colors for me

That thing is sweet. I never would have guessed it was a shroom. All I have are orange and green smooth skin. Have to add that one to my wish list.

 

[afrokobe]

That thing is sweet. I never would have guessed it was a shroom. All I have are orange and green smooth skin. Have to add that one to my wish list.

Agreed! super different compared to other mushrooms. Definitely what got me into getting more!

 

[FlowGod]

I have been using my Sony A7III with a 30mm f1.2 manual lens (aps-c lens not full frame). I have an underwater housing for it as well for when I release trout when I am fishing and used it a few times to dip into my tank. It is kind of a chore since it is quite bulky.

 

[SamsReef]

I use a sony a6000 with a the stock kit lens and vintage minolta macro lens.

Pictures look great. How are you managing the white balance. Post processing raw images or preset Wb?

 

[afrokobe]

Pictures look great. How are you managing the white balance

Combination approach. I typically shoot around 8K for white balance with/without a gel filter depending on how my lighting is. If heavy blues, I will use an orange orphek filter to bring out the colors more. If more daylight, I will shoot without a filter. Then I typically adjust in post, to try to get the colors are as accurate as possible.

I did find that I was having inconsistent colors from shooting session to shooting session, since I was just adjusting the wb until I found the colors most true to life. I might try to set up more a more standarized template on lightroom.

I am pretty new to photography, the a6000 was my first real camera. Lightroom definitely helps if you still cant get the colors exactly what you want.

 

[jsker]

Cell phone and a Canon 70D. I have been messing with the canon and still cannot get the white balance right.