Best way to take pictures of your reef tank?

[dangit]

So I see a lot of amazing tank pictures on here and I want to know your secret… what do you use to take pictures of your tank? High dollar camera? iPhone? I’d love to know your tips and tricks!

 

[Alex Cataldo]

They sell orange filter lenses on BRS for your phone, but more expensive cameras will be higher resolution. Macro lenses are also nice for close up shots.

 

[dangit]

They sell orange filter lenses on BRS for your phone, but more expensive cameras will be higher resolution. Macro lenses are also nice for close up shots.

Any cameras you use that you would recommend?

 

[Dbichler]

I use my iPhone with orphek lenses

 

[Smite]

A top down viewer, large enough to fit your phone flat will make a world of difference. That's where corals are looking their best. If you run LEDs on teh bluer side, then a orphek kit is great. The yellow filter works well for day shots, the orange for all blue. Whiter light, you don't need a filter.

I'm not the biggest fan of my iphone - 14 pro max. The camera guesses a lot and turns reds to a more brown color.

DSLR is going to get you the best results, with some kind of editing software like light room for post editing. Reef lighting is way out of the norm for camera settings, so you'll have a whole new hobby just trying to get good pictures with your DSLR. I love it, a great way to spend time enjoying the tank for me. It's bled over into my other hobbies as well.
Here is a recent shot with my DSLR, of BattleCoral's HyperBerry acropora. It's a never ending learning curve for me (trying to get moving polyps but they are a bit blurry) but I'm starting to get to where I don't have to post edit much, if any.

Best tips for phone or DSLR shooting.
If LED, crank them to 100% for shooting
All other lights, and ambient light reduced in the room
Filters brown/orange for all blue

 

[Undersea Gardens]

I'm definitely no expert but some of my pictures come out pretty good using a orange filter on a smart phone. Clean the glass up real good and try to get up real close.

 

[billyocean]

I use galaxy s21 and Orange filter in pro mode. My tank is pretty blue.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

If you have an android phone, go into pro mode and crank the white balance as high as it will go. That helped. Lot for me taking pics under the leds.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

For samsung camera you can download an orange photo, one of the results from google when you just search orange to get a flat orange image. And create a filter using that image.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I know Orphek sells a lens clip on kit for phones and those work great taking pictures under blue lights

 

[Waters]

Most of the good pictures you see are with a DSLR, post editing, and a tripod and/or port hole viewer.

 

[CKW]

I use a dslr cannon. Tripod and remote. Turn off all outside lights and be patient. Some of the critters are a little nervous but patience pays off.
Whatever you do don’t buy a bow front tank. It’s almost impossible to get good pics. Also difficult to clean the glass.

 

[Someshmuk]

Normally, a nice current Gen phone with an orange filter will suffice.

Most pictures from the high end coral vendors are color correct post processing and are taken with a DSLR and orange/brown/yellow filters so keep that in mind.

 

[Digimes]

I play with several types of photography but for my tank, I get a little lazy. I use my Samsung and zoom to the 3x setting and actually move back from the glass about 6 to 8 inches and then adjust the distance to get a good sharp image. Seems to work for me to take quick pics. (it won't let me post the 50mp images) @littlesaltyreef