Neat, easy, photography...

[jgc8fan]

I got a shock tonight when I used my Sony Digital8 camcorder to make a short video clip of one of my tanks... I've been trying to figure out a good way to take pics. I have an old digital, but it never took good fish pics, and I don't wanna go through the hassle and expense of buying film and paying for processing with my Minolta SLR.

Anyway... When I was editing the video on my computer I realized it was much more detailed than I expected, so I saved some frames as still clips. Need to work on my lighting (think it's the power compacts) as I'm getting a greenish-blue wash, but I'm still impressed. Only does 64480, but that's fine for web pics. It'll make it much easier when I go on fish photography hunts... Just film the tank, and get what I want later.

*edit: A little color correction in Corel helped a lot*

 

[RoK]

Wow, very nice! The middle pic is a type of silver dollar, isn't it?

 

[Toirtis]

Nice photos....I remember when a lot of fish photography used a 'photography tank' that was 12" long 6" tall, and 2" wide....and a ton of screwing around with lighting, and hours of waiting....these doigital cameras are a godsend....with luck, when I get mine, it will help me tanke photos that look like things instead of under/overexposed blobs. LOL

 

[Wood_Dog]

Nice pics

 

[Blucat]

thats a very smart original idea. Now all I need is a camcorder!

 

[jgc8fan]

This one's a Sony TRV-350 I bought from Sears Outlet on ebay for $180 brand new. It was open box, but it was obvious that it had never been used before. I have a firewire to iLink connection on my Mac. I didn't think the video stills would be that clear. Later I gotta get my other tank, and I still wanna get a decent pic of my rainbow shark out of this one.

Hmmm... Wonder if PetSmart would get grump if I took the camcorder in and filmed their tanks. I gotta talk to a guy I know at an lfs to see if he'll let me do it in his store.

 

[crazycat]

i love the clown!

 

[jgc8fan]

i love the clown!

Me too...

I've had it for over 10 years now. I started with 3, and one died a few months after getting them, another lasted 4 years, and this one's like the Energizer bunny. Definitely the longest I've ever had a fish live. He's still pretty active too.

 

[crazycat]

10 years?????? (pciking jaw up off the floor) how big is he? and how big is your tank?

 

[jgc8fan]

I know... I didn't believe I had him that long either, but after doing the math... I bought him in '95 right after purchasing a 20L tank, and he stayed in there for years until I bought a 39 gallon that I made an SW tank that I kept for 6 years. Last year I gave away my SW fish, cleaned the 39 gallon, and that's where he is now. He's about 5 1/2" long, but I'm sure being in a small tank stunted his growth. The silver dollar in there is over 6 years old... I bought it just a few weeks before I got my SW tank They were both in that 20g tank from '98 to '04. If I'd had them in a proper sized tank they'd probably be monsters now. The clown is bigger than he looks... I didn't realize until I netted him to transfer to the bigger tank just how big he is.

If they should happen to start growing again it'll give me an excuse to buy that 75 gal tank I've been drooling over.

 

[crazycat]

wow--i've had my 4 for just a year and they are already pushing 5.5". but they live in a 125g--so i guess they have space to grow. gotta love em!