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08-06-2013, 03:31 PM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by narual Quote
But you can also use a little dark cloth or something.

And you'll still have to retake a few photos because some dumbass takes an ipad photo with the flash on.
Hate when that happens. Or my least favorite is when a kid squirms/pushes in by force in front of you messing up the photo.

Cloth thing is a good idea. Thanks for the tips.

08-06-2013, 05:41 PM   #17
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If you haven't guessed, flash is a bad idea.And, it will reflect off every particle suspended in the water.

White balance is always a bit of a problem. Water absorbs red light. The further your subject is from the wall the less red is available. Therefore, it helps if your subjects are a consistent distance from your camera.
08-06-2013, 11:56 PM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by Genobreaker Quote
I've been to several aquariums in Japan and never had an issue. Georgia Aquarium is the only place I've been to that was got after people a lot. Like my focusing light came on on my point & shoot and someone immediately came and told me to turn it off.


Thank you for advice! Your pictures are great. Great aquarium. Love to go there again this time with my K-r. I'll go see if the store still has the lens.


I'll try it out. Thank you for the tips. Also your photos are great especially the Jellyfish ones. I am confident I'll have more success this time around. Last time I went, it was basically my K-r's debut and after a little over a year, I know a lot more plus all the tips here.
Yes, our people are......intolerant and superior. Sorry for their lack of genuine Southern hospitality. Just so you know, my family and I drive to Chattanooga because of the attitude problems exhibited by Georgia Aquarium staff.
08-07-2013, 08:21 AM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by JimJohnson Quote
If you haven't guessed, flash is a bad idea.And, it will reflect off every particle suspended in the water.

White balance is always a bit of a problem. Water absorbs red light. The further your subject is from the wall the less red is available. Therefore, it helps if your subjects are a consistent distance from your camera.
Yes. Knew that from my point & shoot days. Plus its not good for most creatures in the tank.
Hopefully the subjects will be cooperative when I go.

QuoteOriginally posted by Docrwm Quote
Yes, our people are......intolerant and superior. Sorry for their lack of genuine Southern hospitality. Just so you know, my family and I drive to Chattanooga because of the attitude problems exhibited by Georgia Aquarium staff.
Well I wasn't meaning to criticize them and no need to apologize. I say they're more uptight, but I understand where they come from. I'm more for the animals. I rather have a be a little strict as opposed to not much enforcement. (ex- Dumbass firing away his flash in a tank that says no flash thus disturbing the creature/messing other people's photo up and the staff doesn't say anything.)

08-07-2013, 08:28 AM   #20
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Aquariums are tough. Usually use a fast lens. Reflections off the glass and dirty glass can both be killer and depending on the situation may not be fixable.

This was shot with FA 77 (which truthfully is a little long).


08-07-2013, 08:51 AM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rondec Quote
Aquariums are tough. Usually use a fast lens. Reflections off the glass and dirty glass can both be killer and depending on the situation may not be fixable.

This was shot with FA 77 (which truthfully is a little long).
That's a nice shot especially with that length. I also love that caiman or crocodile photo you have on flickr. Well going to the store later today to see if they have anything I can afford. If not at least going to try to get a rubber hood and try out the other tips aside from getting a faster lens that people posted here.
08-07-2013, 10:14 AM   #22
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Don't discount dirt cheap used manual lenses. I just used one I grabbed for $5 for a bunch of photos on my vacation and they came out very good. If your local camera place has a used section, check it out. Really old Nikon lenses (pre-AI) will fit on a pentax camera fine, too, without any modification needed.

A quick trip to places like goodwill, St. Vincent dePaul, Salvation Army, can sometimes find something decent, too.

Or it might be faster/easier to email a few friends & neighbors to see if any of them have some old Pentax film cameras laying around... the 50mm f2 was the default lens on tons of those, and they were such popular cameras that lots of people have an old one stashed away somewhere. They may be perfectly happy to let you borrow it. (and if not you can get one really cheap when you get back. I think I paid about $25 for mine plus either a really crappy 400mm or a decent 200mm, I forget which of the two it was bundled with.

08-07-2013, 10:17 AM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by Genobreaker Quote
love that caiman or crocodile photo you have on flickr.
Agreed, that's a great shot.
08-07-2013, 10:25 AM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by Genobreaker Quote
Well I wasn't meaning to criticize them and no need to apologize. I say they're more uptight, but I understand where they come from. I'm more for the animals. I rather have a be a little strict as opposed to not much enforcement. (ex- Dumbass firing away his flash in a tank that says no flash thus disturbing the creature/messing other people's photo up and the staff doesn't say anything.)
No worries. It's just that their behavior is at odds with the behavior of staff at other children's museums and facilities, like the Chattanooga Aquarium. I find their attitudes an embarrassment for Atlanta personally.
08-07-2013, 11:40 AM   #25
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FWIW, my goto lens for short MFD work like this is a Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 DC. it's fast enough, and MFD is about 8 inches, so it can lock focus on just about everything on the other side of the glass. The FL range gives me a ton of versatility for framing. This lens with a wide angle rubber hood is about as close to perfect as I've found for shooting glass enclosed exhibits at zoos and aquaria. If I want to do more closeup work, I can mount it on my Q with an adapter.

Scott
08-07-2013, 12:26 PM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by snostorm Quote
FWIW, my goto lens for short MFD work like this is a Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 DC. it's fast enough, and MFD is about 8 inches, so it can lock focus on just about everything on the other side of the glass. The FL range gives me a ton of versatility for framing. This lens with a wide angle rubber hood is about as close to perfect as I've found for shooting glass enclosed exhibits at zoos and aquaria. If I want to do more closeup work, I can mount it on my Q with an adapter.

Scott
Scott,
What is the AF speed like on that lens?
08-07-2013, 03:18 PM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by Docrwm Quote
Scott,
What is the AF speed like on that lens?
Hi Doc,

I pretty much have only screw drive lenses (exc is the DA* 50-135), so I'm probably not a good judge of comparative AF speed, but in very low light at 70mm (f4.5) with a K-5 IIs (say 1/20, f4.5, ISO 12800 --about Ev +2 I think), starting at ∞ and focusing to close to MFD, focusing on a high contrast subject (black keyboard with white letters), it's just a zip, short pause (very occasionally one microcorrection), then lock. It's easily fast enough for what I use it for, and I really haven't even been remotely tempted to upgrade to the newer HSM models.

I originally bought it when I had A K10, and wanted to use it as the short zoom in my events/candids kit. With that body, AF was unreliable at the long end indoors because of the f4.5, so I quickly relegated it to be used only at the wide end if needed and went back to my Tamron 28-75 f2.8 for my events short zoom. As I progressed through the K20, K-7, K-5, and K-5IIs, I found myself using this lens increasingly as the low light AF sensitivity increased with each new model, and with the K-5, it became my primary choice for a wide to short tele zoom, mostly because of the extra 10mm on the short side over the Tamron, but also because of the very short MFD (8" compared to 13" for the Tamron).

Scott
08-07-2013, 04:07 PM - 1 Like   #28
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So went to store. They still had the 50mm f2.0 M manual focus lens so got that and rubber hood. My 1st prime lens! Looking forward to trying it out at the aquarium and other parts of my trips.
08-07-2013, 04:58 PM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by Genobreaker Quote
So went to store. They still had the 50mm f2.0 M manual focus lens so got that and rubber hood. My 1st prime lens! Looking forward to trying it out at the aquarium and other parts of my trips.
Congratulations. Primes are like Lays potato chips though......just saying.
08-07-2013, 09:26 PM   #30
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QuoteOriginally posted by Genobreaker Quote
So went to store. They still had the 50mm f2.0 M manual focus lens so got that and rubber hood. My 1st prime lens! Looking forward to trying it out at the aquarium and other parts of my trips.
This might come in handy. You can set the aperture and prefocus the lens and everything within a specified depth of field will already be in focus.

Online Depth of Field Calculator

Granted, that's a lot handier with a wider lens (at 24-28mm you can set to f8 or f11 and focus about 12 feet out and everything from about 5 feet to infiinity will be in focus), but it's still handy to know.
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