Sony a7riii

[WonderSak1]

Hi, I've been trying to take photos of my tank for a while but they have all been a busy. Maybe I'm using the wrong lens or maybe I'm just doing it all wrong. Af doesn't work maybe I should use manual? Any tips would be great thanks.

Camera : Sony A7Riii
Lens: Sony 85mm & 24-70mm (Ive had better luck with the 24-70)

Attached is the best photo I could muster using the 24-70. I would like to use the 85mm though.

 

[TheEngineer]

That’s a nice shot

Shooting in manual will definitely help! Take a look at the stickies in this forum, there are some great threads to help you out.

 

[hockeyhead019]

@TheEngineer definitely makes a good point. The stickies are great!

Out of curiosity, what's been wrong with the pictures? What settings are you shooting at? This info might give us some more direction to give you more ideas.

My biggest lessons learned are 1) Tripods make a ton of difference for sharpness 2) any type of photography requires practice. I've been working at taking good shots of my tank for a year and still haven't mastered it or even come close. I do know that good glass helps a macro lens will make a heck of a difference but there are plenty of people shooting with a 50mm prime and getting great results. All about knowing the sweet spot for your gear.

 

[WonderSak1]

@TheEngineer definitely makes a good point. The stickies are great!

Out of curiosity, what's been wrong with the pictures? What settings are you shooting at? This info might give us some more direction to give you more ideas.

My biggest lessons learned are 1) Tripods make a ton of difference for sharpness 2) any type of photography requires practice. I've been working at taking good shots of my tank for a year and still haven't mastered it or even come close. I do know that good glass helps a macro lens will make a heck of a difference but there are plenty of people shooting with a 50mm prime and getting great results. All about knowing the sweet spot for your gear.

Mainly the lcd/ eyehole has a hugly annoying flicker so it won't focus at all. I googled it and they said it's because of my lights LEDs. So I need to match the frequency if video recording and shutter speed I believe if taking photos. So it never focuses. But when I did go to manual focus it made a huge difference haha. Just need more practice. Will definitely check out the stickies as well thanks!

 

[hockeyhead019]

Mainly the lcd/ eyehole has a hugly annoying flicker so it won't focus at all. I googled it and they said it's because of my lights LEDs. So I need to match the frequency if video recording and shutter speed I believe if taking photos. So it never focuses. But when I did go to manual focus it made a huge difference haha. Just need more practice. Will definitely check out the stickies as well thanks!

Ahhh yeah I have that issue as well with my LED lighting, however I have an optical view finder so I can get around it with a little less work.

Side note... how do you like the sony camera? I love the lens/body combo you have, just don't want to shell out the dinero :/

 

[WonderSak1]

Ahhh yeah I have that issue as well with my LED lighting, however I have an optical view finder so I can get around it with a little less work.

Side note... how do you like the sony camera? I love the lens/body combo you have, just don't want to shell out the dinero :/

I love my camera it's amazing! Only problem is taking photos under LEDs hahah other than that I really love it. Thinking about buying the ronin s for it

 

[HolisticBear]

I have the older A7 II, haven't noticed LED focus problems. I do adjust focus mode to center point to limit the hunt. On a tripod, I tend to manually focus.

I tend to set a manual color temp to 9900K.

I think the biggest challenges are normal shooting thru glass issues along with debris in water. Using a look-down tube results in huge difference in quality.

I tend to adjust exposure down -2/3 a stop and running the lights whiter really helps as well.

 

[WonderSak1]

I have the older A7 II, haven't noticed LED focus problems. I do adjust focus mode to center point to limit the hunt. On a tripod, I tend to manually focus.

I tend to set a manual color temp to 9900K.

I think the biggest challenges are normal shooting thru glass issues along with debris in water. Using a look-down tube results in huge difference in quality.

I tend to adjust exposure down -2/3 a stop and running the lights whiter really helps as well.

Oh! Thanks for the tips I'll try that!

 

[hockeyhead019]

+1 to running the lights at a whiter setting. It helps cut down the post processing steps

 

[madweazl]

I have the older A7 II, haven't noticed LED focus problems. I do adjust focus mode to center point to limit the hunt. On a tripod, I tend to manually focus.

I tend to set a manual color temp to 9900K.

I think the biggest challenges are normal shooting thru glass issues along with debris in water. Using a look-down tube results in huge difference in quality.

I tend to adjust exposure down -2/3 a stop and running the lights whiter really helps as well.

Older post but I was curious how high the color temp range went in the A7II

 

[HolisticBear]

Older post but I was curious how high the color temp range went in the A7II

It's limited to 9900k (2500-9900 is the range for kelvin whitebalance setting), but I honestly shoot with RAW + AWB and fix in post usually.

There is a huge difference between the EVF on the A7II and A7III. The pictures + focus were fine on the A7II, but the live view simply couldn't handle the blue lights very well. However, the live view on the A7RIII works just fine and looks similar to what I see with naked eye. So that part is interesting.

I quite like the camera, but it's expense, but photography is my primary hobby (https://www.instagram.com/michaelalan.nyc/) with birds and occasional landscapes in there. If you were doing only reef photography, I'm sure you could find a cheaper camera with the same output. For me and my uses, the A7RIII is a great camera.