What type of camera works best for you?

[Daniel@R2R]

Hey everyone! What kind of camera(s) do you use for taking pictures of your reef? What have you found to be the best option for you and why?

 

[glb]

I just use my iPhone 13 pro using those yellow glasses for viewing a tank as a filter. Not fancy but it works for me!

 

[afrokobe]

I bought a used sony a6000 with a kit lens for $300. I also use some extension tubes and orphek lens filter. Take a little bit of setup with the tripod, so if I need a quick picture I will just use the phone (Pixel 6 pro)

 

[glb]

I bought a used sony a6000 with a kit lens for $300. I also use some extension tubes and orphek lens filter. Take a little bit of setup with the tripod, so if I need a quick picture I will just use the phone (Pixel 6 pro)

I’m sure your pics are better than mine, lol.

 

[Freakmachine01]

Well I will let everyone know soon how my pictures are coming out. I absolutely love taking pictures of my reef tank please check out my build thread , https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/mikeys-dream-120-gal-mixed-reef.866250/post-10163976,
and you will see all of them. I have always just taking the pictures with whatever phone I've had. Just two weeks ago I finally purchased a dslr. A Canon 250d. I got the 35-55mm lens, the 75-300mm lens, a 500-800mm lens, a 600-1300mm lens, a dedicated 50mm Macro lens, extension tubes, 15 different filters, and a multiplier lens kit. I'm just learning, but so far so good. Last night I was using the 75mm with a 21mm extension and a 2x lens and was able to get some awesome close ups. Photos to come soon

 

[afrokobe]

I’m sure your pics are better than mine, lol.

Still trying to get good! You can also take some amazing pictures with just a phone. A tripod helps a lot, before I bought my camera, I would use a tripod on my pixel 6 pro.

 

[maroun.c]

I just upgraded to a Nikon mirorless Z7ii. I use the nikon macro 105 and also got the 24-70 2.8 z for fish shots. Only did couple of shoots with it for the tank but so far verynhappy with focusing, metering, colors, sharpness....
A z6 or a z50 can be had for cheaper and am sure will be more than enough for tank shots

 

[Dustye]

I have been using my iPhone XR and the 52mm lens kit from Orphek. I need to drag my Nikon dslr out and see how the lenses work with it.

 

[TheBear78]

The biggest issue I see from the pictures that pop up on R2R is colour. There are lots of very blue images where the camera has struggled with the lighting.
Most phones will have a "Pro" mode or similar which allow you to adjust the white balance to compensate for our preferred blue light so that images match what our eyes see. We can of course take pictures under white light but that's not how we like our tanks to look.
Obviously any high end camera and lens combination will potentially allow the user to get the most from any scene but you can get decent shots on a phone if set up correctly.
Just make sure you shoot perpendicular to the glass to prevent blur from refraction.

 

[kiran]

Sony A7RII
Sony 90mm Macro for coral shots
Sony 16-35mm GM for pretty much everything else
Avast Marine Extra Long Porthole so I can shoot underwater
iPhone 13 Max Pro when I'm feeling lazy

I shoot at around 9000-10000k and if I really need it I'll use a orange tiffen filter.

 

[Goaway]

I bought a used sony a6000 with a kit lens for $300. I also use some extension tubes and orphek lens filter. Take a little bit of setup with the tripod, so if I need a quick picture I will just use the phone (Pixel 6 pro)

I use same camera, may need to ask about your lens kit.

 

[afrokobe]

I use same camera, may need to ask about your lens kit.

just the stock lens kit! the 16-50mm. I have a small tank, so everything I shoot is relatively close and I can use extension tubes for macro shots.

 

[Goaway]

I never thought of extension tube. Nice!