Nikon D70 Nikon D90

[Onewolf]

Okay, anything above F8 comes out black (and F8 is pretty dark) no matter what I set the ISO to. When I put this on automatic the ISO goes to a double digit number and the F-stop drops to 5.8 or something like that. On the darker pictures any attempt to lighten them just reveals noise which pretty much destroys and sharp edges.

Stop changing the ISO and adjust the shutter speed. Set the ISO to 400 or 800 and leave it there. Then while looking thru the viewfinder adjust the shutter speed until the metering shows about -1 underexposure in the viewfinder. It will be a very long exposure (1+ sec probably) which is why it's vital to shoot from a tripod and and have no subject motion.

 

[maroun.c]

Unless he has crazy lighting I doubt one would be able to take a shot at that’s all aperture under normal tank lighting. D70 is typically horrible at noise levels at anything above 400 ISO. Shooting at those slow exposure times even with a good tripod will still allow for motion blur unless it’s a hard coral and all flow is turned off. A crisp shallower DOF shot might be the best compromise.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Stop changing the ISO and adjust the shutter speed. Set the ISO to 400 or 800 and leave it there. Then while looking thru the viewfinder adjust the shutter speed until the metering shows about -1 underexposure in the viewfinder. It will be a very long exposure (1+ sec probably) which is why it's vital to shoot from a tripod and and have no subject motion.

And when I take anything above 200 it's black or it's so staticky you can't see it.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Unless he has crazy lighting I doubt one would be able to take a shot at that’s all aperture under normal tank lighting. D70 is typically horrible at noise levels at anything above 400 ISO. Shooting at those slow exposure times even with a good tripod will still allow for motion blur unless it’s a hard coral and all flow is turned off. A crisp shallower DOF shot might be the best compromise.

Unfortunately a shot from over head through the water distorts the image too much to properly ID the polyps.

 

[justingraham]

Unfortunately a shot from over head through the water distorts the image too much to properly ID the polyps.

I would send the camera out to get cleaned and set back to factory sound alike something internal is wrong

 

[maroun.c]

Unfortunately a shot from over head through the water distorts the image too much to properly ID the polyps.

Are u using a top down box fmto cover ur lense and allow it to go underwater ?

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Are u using a top down box fmto cover ur lense and allow it to go underwater ?

My lights are in a fixed position from the wall over the tank. There wouldn't be room for me to get a top down box, the camera, and my head underneath to focus the shot.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

I would send the camera out to get cleaned and set back to factory sound alike something internal is wrong

I thought that too at first, but tried with my other D70 as well, and the new D90 and it's still not clear enough for enlargement. I have one more thing I am going to try and that's a new macro lens. (well new used lens) that's by Nikkor so it should have better optics than the Sigma on the Nikon camera now. The Sigma also isn't a macro lens, rather it has a macro setting. So that will probably make a big difference too. At least I hope it does.

 

[justingraham]

My nikor lens with my D3500 is way more clearer then your picture so I hope that is the problem

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

My other issue with top down shots has been lighting. My FHO lights and Kessils reflect off the surface and make it almost impossible to get a shot without light reflecting back into the picture. I haven't bothered with a

My nikor lens with my D3500 is way more clearer then your picture so I hope that is the problem

Yes it is. But blow it up 400% then compare because that's what I did with the picture.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Okay, this is the non blown up photo with the macro lens. Then the close up of about a 200% increase with photoshop.

 

[maroun.c]

Blowing up a PUC to more than 100 percent will definitely introduce unsharpness due to digital magnification as well as magnify any noise and distortion you already have in the picture. I shot for years with a D70s and a half decent quality lense (non necessarily macro) and got better pictures still. At the time I was using an 18-200 VR and then added the tamron 17-50 2.8 which provided great picture quality with decent built in magnification.
I would suggest u take a step back and look at the basics. Take a few well exposed shots under daylight of anything outside using a tripod and making sure u have perfect focus on the subject. Look at those at 100 percent magnification on ur screen to rule out camera/lense performance issues. U can send camera and let se for inspection if it not happy with results .
Then go back to aquarium photography basics, checkout the articles on top of this forum and try to follow them.step by step. A while back I posted a 7 part aquarium.photography articles that covers all aspects of aquarium photography in depth. Take few easy shots with a tripod and lense close and perpendicular to front glass and chose a subject that is well lit and not to fear from the front glass (making sure ur camera can focus that close ) try to shoot a still object for starters like an sps instead as they move less. Experiment with different aperture/shutter speeds combinations at same shot and look at them carefully on ur PC and compare them to try to understand what's really happening and what's affecting ur image quality and how. Unfortunately D70 is very bad at noise levels once ur iso is above 400si it wont allow u much using compensation to go with apertures above 4-5.6 or shutter speeds faster than maybe 1/60 I'd say. Share those pictures and let's take it from there.
Also if u can borrow a better camera and lense for few comparison shots at same parameters and at higher iso faster shutter speed and smaller aperture that will help clarify the issues if any

 

[maroun.c]

Looked again at the last shots u posted. I do see some noise ( on my phone screen so will be worse on a big scree) which I believe is due to high iso or to adjusting for under exposure in post processing )
If u look at the polyps above the one where u focused u notice they're overexposed by 1-2 stops. I'd make use of the higher light on the higher polyps (still ones facing ur direction not ones pointing up) and shoot with a 1 stop faster shutter speed or one stop.smaller aperture or maybe one stop lower iso and that would improve ur resulting image quality.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

maroun.c, post: 6643101"
Blowing up a PUC to more than 100 percent will definitely introduce unsharpness due to digital magnification as well as magnify any noise and distortion you already have in the picture. I shot for years with a D70s and a half decent quality lense (non necessarily macro) and got better pictures still. At the time I was using an 18-200 VR and then added the tamron 17-50 2.8 which provided great picture quality with decent built in magnification.
I would suggest u take a step back and look at the basics. Take a few well exposed shots under daylight of anything outside using a tripod and making sure u have perfect focus on the subject. Look at those at 100 percent magnification on ur screen to rule out camera/lense performance issues. U can send camera and let se for inspection if it not happy with results ."

I actually already did outside shots with the same results.



"Then go back to aquarium photography basics, checkout the articles on top of this forum and try to follow them.step by step."

This is unlikely since I am not doing these photos as a hobby, I am doing them because a biologist asked me to.
I am also not shooting these as "taking the best composition of the coral". I am taking these with the intention of getting minute details of said coral for examination.
When/if I get the photos I want I'll probably give the camera equipment to my partner for Christmas. While I like photography, it's never been my thing and I already have a significant number of art mediums I work in.

"A while back I posted a 7 part aquarium.photography articles that covers all aspects of aquarium photography in depth. Take few easy shots with a tripod and lense close and perpendicular to front glass and chose a subject that is well lit and not to fear from the front glass (making sure ur camera can focus that close ) try to shoot a still object for starters like an sps instead as they move less."

I do not have SPS--or want them. (Shocker, I know.)



"Experiment with different aperture/shutter speeds combinations at same shot and look at them carefully on ur PC and compare them to try to understand what's really happening and what's affecting ur image quality and how. Unfortunately D70 is very bad at noise levels once ur iso is above 400si it wont allow u much using compensation to go with apertures above 4-5.6 or shutter speeds faster than maybe 1/60 I'd say. Share those pictures and let's take it from there.
Also if u can borrow a better camera and lense for few comparison shots at same parameters and at higher iso faster shutter speed and smaller aperture that will help clarify the issues if any."

Yes, and I have tried all of the above. The borrowing a better camera didn't turn out with much better results especially in order to get the raw pictures off the memory chip it wanted me to upgrade an almost two thousand dollar piece of software.
The add on offered to fix that issue did not work with the version of iOS I'm using.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Looked again at the last shots u posted. I do see some noise ( on my phone screen so will be worse on a big scree) which I believe is due to high iso or to adjusting for under exposure in post processing )
If u look at the polyps above the one where u focused u notice they're overexposed by 1-2 stops. I'd make use of the higher light on the higher polyps (still ones facing ur direction not ones pointing up) and shoot with a 1 stop faster shutter speed or one stop.smaller aperture or maybe one stop lower iso and that would improve ur resulting image quality.

The bright light on the polyps is necessary so that the biologist can see what they look like (details we never think of). I realize the picture is brighter than artistically desired, but again, this is about getting a photo that will enlarge to the maximum to be examined, not to be judged for composition.

 

[maroun.c]

Sorry missed the fact that the pics are for a biologist. I'd send the camera for a check just to be sure.
If ur objects are close enough to the front glass and if ur really for magnification on the cheap maybe try extension tubes . Yet get clarity on if theres any technical issue with the camera or sense first.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Sorry missed the fact that the pics are for a biologist. I'd send the camera for a check just to be sure.
If ur objects are close enough to the front glass and if ur really for magnification on the cheap maybe try extension tubes . Yet get clarity on if theres any technical issue with the camera or sense first.

Yes, I've order extension tubes. Good news. Sent him the last couple of pictures and he was very pleased with them. Much better blown up. I'm pretty sure the camera isn't the issue. I've tried two different D70 and the last photos were done with a newer D90 which is one reason I think they are better.

I did call a place to check on cleaning the lens and such and they told me it would cost more to clean them than to buy better ones. :/