[APD] Re: Digital cameras

["Giancarlo Podio" <gp at isaconsulting_com>]

Hi Stephan,

For better macro than what the camera can do out of the box, which by the
way is not bad, you just can't use the zoom without the macro rings, you
will need to first buy the lens adapter for the camera, this gives you a
52mm thread for accessories such as lenses and filters. Canon sells it for
around $20 or you can buy it on eBay like I did for about $5 (the A80 uses a
different adapter than the A70 so it may take a few weeks for after market
models to come out). After that you can pretty much screw anything with a
52mm thread in front of the lens. Closeup rings can be found on ebay or just
about anywhere else, they range in price depending on quality, mine are a
$1.50 pickup on eBay, not the best quality but they work well for now. There
are also specific macro lenses. Here's just a quick pick from eBay, I'm sure
you'll find many more if you do a search:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2957204839&category=15218
(this is the cheap brand I have)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2957059868&category=15218
(better quality)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2957416148&category=30066
(cheap wide + macro)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2957520252&category=30066
(the A80 adapter)

You're not going to find much if you search for A80 right now because it's
so new, search for A70 accessories, they are the same except for the lens
adapter.

Regarding the remote flash, I use it for other types of photography, have
yet to use it in the fish tank. The best shots I get are without flash, just
the tank lights and correctly set white balance. When shooting the fish, it
just takes a lot of shots to catch a good one when the fish isn't moving.
This shot was taken without a flash:
http://67.89.4.174/aqua/photos/09_2003/img_0158s.jpg

The ones where I did use the flash are obvious because of the dark
background, but I just used the camera's flash at an angle where the
reflection didn't cause a problem:
http://67.89.4.174/aqua/photos/10_2003/img_0516s.jpg
http://67.89.4.174/aqua/photos/10_2003/img_0524s.jpg
I was having a hard time getting a cardinal to sit still so I had to use the
flash. All the other photos are without any flash at all, just a longer
exposure, that's why the fish look a little blury in most. I also turn the
fitler off to stop the plants from moving with the current, along with a
tripod and using the time delay shutter it's difficult not to get a good
shot.

You'll love the camera, just take 100s of shots until you have figured out
what works best for you.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

----- Original Message ----- 

Subject: [APD] Re: Digital cameras

I would like to thank everyone who wrote to me on and off list about the
subject. Unfortunately prices of cameras here are double those you have in
the US, and this is my first digital in any case. So after having seen
Giancarlo Podio's photos:
http://67.89.4.174/aqua/photos/10_2003/

I have ordered the Canon A80, which should be here in a couple of weeks
time.

Just another couple of questions for Giancarlo:
1) "I've always enjoyed macro and find that no matter how good a camera is
at macro, the rings are
so cheap that it's not a big factor for me when deciding on a camera to
buy."

What rings are you refering to? Are they Canon accessories or something
else? Canon accessories are not so cheap.

2)"Remote flash requires removing the sensor from the slave flash and taping
it to over the flash on the camera, ugly but works well"

Did you need to do this for the photos in the website?

regards

Stephan

_______________________________________________
Aquatic-Plants mailing list
Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/aquatic-plants