Megabite's 180 Reef - Round 2

[tharbin]

Playing with camera setting today. Specifically lowering my ISO setting to 200 - 400 and using manual focus. Goal is to get richer and sharper pictures using the tools the camera provides.

Here's a sample shot at:

Focal length - 100mm
Shutter speed - 1/15 sec
Aperture - f/ 14
ISO 200

Am I remembering correctly that you're using a Canon 7D body? Which lens is that?

Really nice shot. Are you doing post-processing in Lightroom or equivalent? I'm very impressed with the colors and depth of field. I assume this was shot using your lens snorkel?

I have an old 30D sitting on the shelf that is way passed its prime. I've considered a few times picking up a newer body and a macro lens and it just might be worth it for shots like this.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Info below on the camera/ lens and yes, I'm using Lightroom for processing.

The 7D is way past its prime as well. It's a 2009 camera worth under $200 now a days. The lens is what brought life to the camera. Bought the lens used for $400 in great shape. I've been considering getting a new full frame mirrorless camera like the Canon R5 or R6 to use with this lens and pick up a Canon R 24-70mm F2.8 lens as well. Pretty pricey stuff though. New, an R6 and the 24-70mm lens is about $4,500!

I'm keeping my eye out for used equipment to update mine.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Oh, and that shot was through the glass. Not a top down. I usually shoot with a tripod pressed up against the glass to keep the reflections out. To snap the pic I use the 2 sec delay timer so there is no camera shake. IO have a remote, but it's not working.

 

[MegabiteOG]

I few more pics messing with settings.

Same pic with different aperture and ISO

 

[tharbin]

Great, now I'm looking at cameras again.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Tried low ISO for darker shots but got some banding (thin vertical lines). Shutter speed was 1/30 as it was handheld with an f-stop of f14 and an ISO of 400. Could have probably got away with it with an ISO of about 800 maybe. Orrrrrrrrrrrrrr, an excuse to get a new camera.

Here are some of the test shots.

 

[tharbin]

Tried low ISO for darker shots but got some banding (thin vertical lines). Shutter speed was 1/30 as it was handheld with an f-stop of f14 and an ISO of 400. Could have probably got away with it with an ISO of about 800 maybe. Orrrrrrrrrrrrrr, an excuse to get a new camera.

Here are some of the test shots.

Those shots look mighty fine to me.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Those shots look mighty fine to me.

Thanks man. You can see the lines on the big screen and although the pics are fine, there’s plenty of room for improvement. Here the noise I’m talking about when zoomed in.

 

[lubeck]

Nice shots. If you were to get a new camera what would you get.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Canon R6 or R5 mirrorless. R6 is a great camera with 24.2mp. The R5 is basically the same with almost double the megapixels at 45mp. The addition mp allows you to crop the heck out of a pic without losing much resolution which is a nice to have. Much more expensive though.

The R5 can also save you in lenses as a 24-70mm will have the same resolution cropping to the equivalent of 140mm as the R5 with an actual 140mm lens.

The R6 is probably more than anyone will ever need unless you’re doing pro photography. For our hobby, any of the R series mirrorless (preferably full frame, but not necessary) with a good lens will take outstanding photos.

My pics are with an old dslr with a good lens and still takes pretty nice photos. One can pick up a setup like mine (Canon dslr 7D with 100mm macro 2.8 L lens) used for about $600. A new R6 with a 24-70mm f4 L lens is over $4,500.

 

[Minifoot77]

Canon R6 or R5 mirrorless. R6 is a great camera with 24.2mp. The R5 is basically the same with almost double the megapixels at 45mp. The addition mp allows you to crop the heck out of a pic without losing much resolution which is a nice to have. Much more expensive though.

The R5 can also save you in lenses as a 24-70mm will have the same resolution cropping to the equivalent of 140mm as the R5 with an actual 140mm lens.

The R6 is probably more than anyone will ever need unless you’re doing pro photography. For our hobby, any of the R series mirrorless (preferably full frame, but not necessary) with a good lens will take outstanding photos.

My pics are with an old dslr with a good lens and still takes pretty nice photos. One can pick up a setup like mine (Canon dslr 7D with 100mm macro 2.8 L lens) used for about $600. A new R6 with a 24-70mm f4 L lens is over $4,500.

 

[That Crusso Kid]

Playing with camera setting today. Specifically lowering my ISO setting to 200 - 400 and using manual focus. Goal is to get richer and sharper pictures using the tools the camera provides.

Here's a sample shot at:

Focal length - 100mm
Shutter speed - 1/15 sec
Aperture - f/ 14
ISO 200

I few more pics messing with settings.

Same pic with different aperture and ISO

Very nice!

 

[08TRDOFFROAD]

Playing with camera setting today. Specifically lowering my ISO setting to 200 - 400 and using manual focus. Goal is to get richer and sharper pictures using the tools the camera provides.

Here's a sample shot at:

Focal length - 100mm
Shutter speed - 1/15 sec
Aperture - f/ 14
ISO 200

I have no idea what any of that means, but the picture looks great!

 

[tharbin]

Thanks man. You can see the lines on the big screen and although the pics are fine, there’s plenty of room for improvement. Here the noise I’m talking about when zoomed in.

Interesting. I don't fully buy into what ISO does with digital cameras as with a sensor I think it isn't really much more than a gain setting.

That doesn't look to me like digital noise. That also doesn't look like a rolling shutter or jitter. What kind of lights were you shooting under? It looks to me more like something to do with a mismatch between the shutter speed and your lights inherent frequency, if they are LED.

You've got me looking at used DLSRs again. I keep trying to avoid getting back into photography and then I see shots like these and look at the junk out of my Galaxy S9. I sold all of my film gear back in 1999 (lots of Olympus OM series). Before that it was Canon and originally Nikkormat. I've never really gotten into digital photography, probably because I never invested in quality gear but also the darkroom was really where it all happened and I just don't get the same feeling on a screen. I do still own the full Adobe CS6 suite and several copies of Lightroom (what they now call the Classic version) but they won't have any modern RAW profiles and I dumped Adobe Creative Cloud five years ago. I just use Affinity Photo now which is a pretty good replacement but since I'm not shooting RAW I haven't taken the time to learn the develop module. I do miss Bridge and Lightroom, they were very good programs.

I don't know if I have the patience any longer to really set up to get shots worthy of a good lens like your EF 100 Macro. I figure any decent, fairly modern, body with over 12 megapixels is probably enough for my needs.

I'm surprised at how affordable a used EF 100 is. It looks like I could pick up a good one for around $300, that and a 7D, 7D Mark II, or even a 70D should be pretty good. At least as good as my Galaxy. The other seemingly good, and relatively inexpensive, option is an OM System TG series. I do have a soft spot for Olympus. I started with Olympus when their original OM1 came out back in the early 70s and at one time or another had most of the bodies. They were exceptional cameras, except the original OM4 which seemed to always suffer from battery drain issues.

All said, your photography is stunning and you're probably going to end up costing me money.

Keep the photos coming.

 

[MegabiteOG]

Thanks for the compliments. I'm a complete amature so I researched the vertical lines and it came up with low light color banding. After further research I found what I think you're talking about with shutter speeds and LED lighting which I was shooting under with the Meridians. Changing shutter speed will likely fix it to match up lighting frequencies.

Yes, Canon and other brand DSLRs have gotten pretty cheap with the newer mirrorless setups. There are real bargains out there on DSLRs and lenses.

As for shooting set up, I usually shoot freehand against the glass or with the porthole. There's a ton of reflection in my house so it's tough not to shoot against the glass. I was using the tripod because of slower shutter speeds. I usually don't use it unless have a lot of time on my hands and "in the mood".

 

[MegabiteOG]

3 more practice shots. Shot through glass on tripod with pumps running.

First 2 are the same coral and settings.

Last one faster shutter speed, aperture, and lower ISO

 

[That Crusso Kid]

I usually don't use it unless have a lot of time on my hands and "in the mood".

When most people are "in the mood" they aren't thinking about photography. Ok, maybe some but they're weirdos.

 

[tharbin]

When most people are "in the mood" they aren't thinking about photography. Ok, maybe some but they're weirdos.

Some may be, but as an ancillary activity.

 

[MegabiteOG]

When most people are "in the mood" they aren't thinking about photography. Ok, maybe some but they're weirdos.

Speaking of Marvin Gaye...............

 

[Reefering1]