Why Can't I Get A Good Fts?

[mattdean]

So, I have a reasonably good camera and lens. I have tried different settings but can't seem to get a good, crisp, detailed full tank shot. Any tips on getting a good pic?

Here is the best I could get:

 

[jroovers]

Looks pretty good to me... . What don't you like about it? What settings are you using? Looks pretty sharp and the WB also appears good...

 

[zoomster]

Yep, looks nice to me too! I love the arch!

 

[heath]

ditto, its better than any picture that I have ever taken...

 

[mattdean]

Thanks guys. I'm happy with the colour but not the sharpness and detail. It's grainy. Might just be a limitation of the camera.

I use a Sony a57 with a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens. ISO 200 F4.5 with my white balance at 9900k.

 

[Kevin Tran]

The only way for it to look better are for those frags to grow lol

 

[jroovers]

Thanks guys. I'm happy with the colour but not the sharpness and detail. It's grainy. Might just be a limitation of the camera.

I use a Sony a57 with a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens. ISO 200 F4.5 with my white balance at 9900k.

Try upping your aperture to f9 or f11 (thereabouts). f4.5 is pretty shallow depth of field, and may explain why you feel the entire shot is not sharp. A smaller aperture (higher f-stop number) will bring more of the shot into clearer focus. You'll have to up your ISO to compensate (and/or reduce your shutter speed). A higher ISO may make your noise (grain) worse though. Is this hand held or did you use a tripod? If you use a tripod, you can probably use the same ISO, but reduce your shutter speed and keep things reasonably sharp (fast moving fish excluded however).

 

[mattdean]

Thanks for the input. I use tripod. I was using F9 and F11 to start but wanted to capture the fish better, but it's give and take I guess. There wasn't much difference between in quality between the Stops. I will try different settings and see if i can tell the difference. Cheers!

 

[mattdean]

I tried different ISO, moving my light up a bit to make it less harsh, different F-Stops. Can't get better than I have. So, must be the limitations of my camera - which I am not surprised about. That's cool. It's not that it's bad, just not what I would like. Cheers

 

[jroovers]

What are you doing in post, anything? The wide angle lens you are using may be part of why you aren't fully pleased, do you have a longer focal length to try?

 

[heath]

I think that you are being too hard on yourself, your pictures are beautiful and you can come and take pictures of my tanks any day...

 

[AdInfinitum]

Really detailed full tank shots tend to come from small tanks....lol

 

[mattdean]

Jroovers. I remove the dark shadows, adjust the colour and sharpen it. That's pretty much it. I have a 'normal' lens as well and it is the same. Very little difference between the two, if any.

Thanks Heath and Adinfinitum. I am definitely picky and tend to compare everything I do to the best that usually have much better equipment

 

[jroovers]

Jroovers. I remove the dark shadows, adjust the colour and sharpen it. That's pretty much it. I have a 'normal' lens as well and it is the same. Very little difference between the two, if any.

What program do you use? If you shoot me a file, preferably raw, I'd be happy to see what I can do in LR, especially in the noise (grain department).

 

[mattdean]

I use Photoshop CS. I have tried shooting in RAW, but had trouble importing it and never got around to figuring out why. I'll keep experimenting and if I still can't get it right, I'll send you a file. Mucho appreciato!

 

[Kyle1970]

Graininess is always my enemy as well.
Along with reflections (you've got that taken care of)
The usual tips of all pumps off for several minutes first I find always helps with being able to leave shutter open longer.
But then you end up with blurry fish.
Following along, as I always like tips on shooting!
Are you using remote or timer for the shot? (both to avoid camera movement and to time a good pic)

 

[AdInfinitum]

I also use an alpha and IMO the built in image processing is a real weak point. I don't even bother with raw + jpeg as the jpegs are poor at best...

Got LR after talking to Jordan and love the results (although my skills in post are not in the same league as Mr. Roovers). It handles the Sony ARW file format seamlessly.