How to take Pictures of your Corals with a Cellphone (Android or iPhone)

[Kasleruy]

Samsung phones bring beauty features, i don't think it's natural enough, The iPhone is better for comparison,I often take some scenic pictures with my iPhone, as well as i can move these photos to computer in a easy way ,

 

[Kasleruy]

Samsung phones bring beauty features, i don't think it's natural enough, The iPhone is better for comparison,I often take some scenic pictures with my iPhone, as well as i can move these photos to computer in a easy way ,

By the way , this method is recommended by me to move data to computer ,

 

[Magoo]

Just throwing this into the mix: http://aquariumcameraapp.com.
Removes a ton of actinic light from shots. I'd love some feedback on it!

I gave this app a try and really like.
The following were on an iPad Pro.

Before:

After:

 

[Jorin]

This is with my iPhone 8+

 

[becon776]

everyone can talk about iphone this and androind that and post their little stock closeups with their tongue sticking thru their cheek. I say this FTS are the measuring stick. and I don't care what phone your on. You literally can't get a good FTS without 3rd party help.

 

[jasonrusso]

everyone can talk about iphone this and androind that and post their little stock closeups with their tongue sticking thru their cheek. I say this FTS are the measuring stick. and I don't care what phone your on. You literally can't get a good FTS without 3rd party help.

You can't get a good shot of anything when the blues are on. I can take great pictures of my fowler because I have alot of whites on. I can't take any shots of my reef tank with my phone. My DSLR with a custom white balance works great.

 

[calimel]

Or just get a galaxy 6 and snap away

Which coral do you have pictured on the top? Is it a leather tree coral?

 

[Wunderpus]

All,

I wanted to bump this thread as the new iPhones have just rolled out... I've been playing around with taking pics on it... However, the old clip-on lenses don't work very well with the new camera configuration/shape... So, I have been using the default camera app followed by using a red (it's really more of an orange) overlay filter in the Afterlight app... This is the best I've been able to pull off:

Pink Floyd under all blues w/ "red" (really orange) filter applied after photo was taken + increase in color temperature. Impressed by the camera as this was about 10" deep into the tank behind glass at 4.6x zoom. I'm impressed at the camera's ability to focus on the polyps/textures at that depth behind glass.

WD under all blues again (ReefBrites) with the same filter and temperature increase. Obviously the photo is somewhat "fake" looking, but it's actually not THAT far off from what this coral looks like under intense all blues. Zoom was around 4x and was taken above still water looking down.

This was the most challenging pic... The light above were not cooperating with me, at all. So, the focus is wonky... But the colors came out very accurate to the coral in person so I figured it was worth sharing. This is the @Battlecorals "Candy Table" under all blues, about 5x zoom, from above. As a side note, this has been a great grower for me and is a real stunner in person.

Anyone else playing around with this new camera? Tips/tricks you've discovered? I feel like Aquarium Cam really degrades the image, is there a better app out there nowadays?

Thanks all!

 

[Just John]

All,

I wanted to bump this thread as the new iPhones have just rolled out... I've been playing around with taking pics on it... However, the old clip-on lenses don't work very well with the new camera configuration/shape... So, I have been using the default camera app followed by using a red (it's really more of an orange) overlay filter in the Afterlight app... This is the best I've been able to pull off:

Pink Floyd under all blues w/ "red" (really orange) filter applied after photo was taken + increase in color temperature. Impressed by the camera as this was about 10" deep into the tank behind glass at 4.6x zoom. I'm impressed at the camera's ability to focus on the polyps/textures at that depth behind glass.

WD under all blues again (ReefBrites) with the same filter and temperature increase. Obviously the photo is somewhat "fake" looking, but it's actually not THAT far off from what this coral looks like under intense all blues. Zoom was around 4x and was taken above still water looking down.

This was the most challenging pic... The light above were not cooperating with me, at all. So, the focus is wonky... But the colors came out very accurate to the coral in person so I figured it was worth sharing. This is the @Battlecorals "Candy Table" under all blues, about 5x zoom, from above. As a side note, this has been a great grower for me and is a real stunner in person.

Anyone else playing around with this new camera? Tips/tricks you've discovered? I feel like Aquarium Cam really degrades the image, is there a better app out there nowadays?

Thanks all!

Thanks for the examples! Do you think using the new camera as you described takes better pictures than just using the orange clip-on filters did?

 

[Wunderpus]

Thanks for the examples! Do you think using the new camera as you described takes better pictures than just using the orange clip-on filters did?

Hey John!

You know, I do. I think that finding an orange filter (physical one) would be WAY better than using a digital filter after taking the pic. So, hopefully, PolypLab, Coralvue etc. make a nice clip-on version shortly. I wonder if you can buy the gel/plastic they use and just retrofit it somehow (cut it then affix it to the phone)?

 

[LaxFrags]

iPhone 8

 

[James_O]

I also use the Camera+ 2 app! Thanks for the info.

 

[Just John]

Hey John!

You know, I do. I think that finding an orange filter (physical one) would be WAY better than using a digital filter after taking the pic. So, hopefully, PolypLab, Coralvue etc. make a nice clip-on version shortly. I wonder if you can buy the gel/plastic they use and just retrofit it somehow (cut it then affix it to the phone)?

I don't know, but I imagine they won't want to miss out on the iPhone market, so something will probably be showing up at some point.

 

[Just John]

Here a few I took with my old Galaxy 7 (that is 4 generations old) and a $25 filter set from Orphek.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Hey John!

You know, I do. I think that finding an orange filter (physical one) would be WAY better than using a digital filter after taking the pic. So, hopefully, PolypLab, Coralvue etc. make a nice clip-on version shortly. I wonder if you can buy the gel/plastic they use and just retrofit it somehow (cut it then affix it to the phone)?

My clip on filters lens (polyp lab) unscrews. I wonder if you held it up in front of the camera if that would work….

 

[pseudorand]

What Android app is everyone using in 2024? I keep following links from this thread and the pinned thread on the topic, but none of the apps seem to exist anymore.