# You Don't Need An Expensive Camera!



## jhemlow (Oct 24, 2004)

This is my second day of fiddling with pics of my tank. I have a crappy Canon Powershot A60 (going for $130US on ebay right now), IT'S ONLY 2MP. I am really new at this, but with the help of niko he's showed me that with a few tricks you can really take some nice pics with a terrible camera (zoom doesn't even really work on mine lol).




























Sorry about the algae, I think you can see it waving at you!

Jason.


----------



## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

That was fun to do and I learned too - that a 2 Mpx camera is not bad at all.

Please look at the sharpness of those pictures, not necessarily the composition. I'd say that sharper images would be possible if the light was precisely controlled and directed. For an improvised photo shoot these 2 Mpx pictures are quite impressive.

--Nikolay


----------



## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

the settings on the camera are more important than anything else, I can take good pictures with a sony 2.0mp and have them turn up great with out using adobe.


----------



## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

*Yes!!!!*



turtlehead said:


> the settings on the camera are more important than anything else, I can take good pictures with a sony 2.0mp and have them turn up great with out using adobe.


Yes!!!! it doesn't really matter about the mega pixels. I usually reconmend photographers buying manual settings camera. The pictures you took look great, although lenses are important too.


----------



## jerseyjay (Jan 25, 2004)

It would take something around 8MP to look significantly improved from 2MP. It takes a doubling of linear resolution, or a quadrupling of the total pixels (MP), to make a significant difference, and only then if you're printing above 11 x 14."


----------



## Bavarian3 (Oct 21, 2004)

i agree  ive got basically the same camera (canon a85) and have taken some decent photos lately with the new lighting on the tank

http://www.wtfhost.com/userfiles/Bavarian3/Fish tank/AnubiasNana.jpg
http://www.wtfhost.com/userfiles/Bavarian3/Fish tank/CynoCobue.jpg
http://www.wtfhost.com/userfiles/Bavarian3/Fish tank/CynoCobue1.jpg


----------



## Robert (Feb 7, 2005)

Hi,
yes the camra is really not the most important thing about photography but the skills and the light. I still have my old Canon A200 (2Mio. pxl), a simple camera with a terrible digital zoom (my one does not even work anymore but I almost never needed it before), no optical zoom and a flash which needs 20(!) seconds to reload. Here are some picture I took with my A200:



















But the camera is easy to use and I'm used to it, so I still use it.

best regards

Robert


----------



## kretinus (Jan 19, 2005)

For most web applications, 2MP is just fine, you can even get a decent 4X6 print from them, a zoom isn't all that useful in aquarium photography, close focusing and macro are and the A60 is really a great little camera for aquarium photos, the autofocus isn't ideal but that's about the only thing I can think of.


----------



## SAWALLACE (Dec 24, 2004)

Any suggestions for a cheap camera with an adjustable shutter speed and all the other basic goodies? I can take pictures of plants like a champ, but when it comes to fish, all i get are blurs.
Thanks!


----------



## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

change the shutter speed.


----------



## SAWALLACE (Dec 24, 2004)

I wish i could.  It has some really lame Exposure Compensation feature that doesn't help much.


----------



## kretinus (Jan 19, 2005)

It has a fixed shutter speed butnut a variable aperture? What kind is it?

Does it have an "action" mode?

For fish I use a slave flash and 1/125, my main problem is auto focus being slower than the fish, but I overcome that by setting the manual focus on one point and pray the fish swims past it


----------



## SAWALLACE (Dec 24, 2004)

Its a Fujifilm finepix 2800zoom. It doesn't necessarily have a "fixed" shutter speed, but I cannot really adjust it like the non-digital SLR's I've used previously. It has a feature that compensates for dark/light backgrounds that affects aperture/shutter speed (been a while since I've taken photo classes so I could be completely wrong). It's not as simple as selecting a "sport" or "action" setting or anything like that. Basically, it doesn't give me the control/flexibility I would like. I'm not sure if most "cheaper" digital cameras have adjustable shutter speeds. 

I am looking for CHEAP  cameras that have this feature as well as stuff like Macro, and the basics.


----------



## Bavarian3 (Oct 21, 2004)

the canon a75 is one of the best bang for the buck cameras out there. You get a ton of manual settings (aperture, shutter, ISO, macro, multifocus etc. etc.) as well as a ton of auto settings.


----------



## SAWALLACE (Dec 24, 2004)

Fantastic! Thanks Bavarian3, that's exactly what i'm looking for.


----------



## Robert (Feb 7, 2005)

Hi,
here is another example of what is possible even with such an old camera like the Canon PowerShot A200:










So it really depends more on your skills than on the camera.

regards

Robert


----------

