Help with Camera Please?

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Hello Hello,


I've been getting some alright shots out of my camera, but I think I can get better ones. I just don't know the perfect settings for it though. Think you people can help me?

It is a Nikon CoolPix L6 Camera. 6.0MP, 2.5" LCD, ISO 800.

The settings I normally have on are the following:

-Daylight for White balance.
-Image Mode 6m High(2816)
-Exp. +/- -2.0
-BSS on.
-Macro Close-up on.



Any suggestions would be great, thanks.

 

[JasonC]

Can you post a shot or two to show us what problems you are having? Also, what is your light over the tank? depending on the Kelvin rating of the light, you may be better off doing a flourescent white ballance.

 

[jfoust]

Like JasonC said, daylight is probably not the best WB... White balance can change the colors in your pics pretty significantly. I looked at your albums and I don't see too much as far as White Balance problems go. So it's either getting fixed by an image editor or Daylight is working okay for you. Florouescent would typically be better.

Looking at what's in your albums, the ones in "10 Gallon Aquarium" all seem pretty underexposed to me. If you're using a -2.0 exposure compensation in the camera, that will do it. Crank that back up to 0 (or maybe a little on the + side, like 0.5 or 1).

The fish pics album seems to have a bunch that are out of focus. Cameras can have a tough time shooting through glass and water. Specifically the 2nd one of the GBR - check out the sand. In front of its head (really that is a little bit behind it in 3D) the sand is in focus, but the sand underneath is not. The camera chose to focus on something in the background. I don't know much about your particular camera, but on my DSLR, you can force it to always use a certain spot as the focal point, so as long as you aim that spot where you want the focus, it ends up in focus. A Point-and-shot might not do that... It's been a while since I've played with one.

Best advice is keep shooing, keep changing settings, and see what works for your particular setup and camera! Shoot way more than you think you need - I consider myself lucky if 10% of my aquarium pics come out to be "keepers"!

BTW, I hadn't heard of that "BSS" since I'm a Canon guy, so I looked into it a little bit. If you have the option, I would chose "Shadow BSS" or "Histogram BSS" or maybe just turn that off completely and see what happens.

 

[JasonC]

All excellent tips, Jfoust... you should post some pics in your album... I'd love to see your work.

Ben, to help with focus issues... if you are not using one already, get a tripod. Also, if your camera has a timer on it, I would try using the timer.. that way you can push the button and the camera has time to settle before opening the shutter. It may take a *ton* of shots to get a winner, but if you cant get the last little bit of sharpness with the tripod and careful focusing on your subject, the delay can help tip the balance. In the DSLR world, we can get trigger cables, or if fancy enough, wireless remotes.. point-n-shoot doesn't get to have that kind of fun.

Hope this helps!

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well, I think I figure out pretty much what I all need to do to aquire the best shots possible with my camera. I'm still planning on buying a Nikon D series camera, but thats after I get some money.