Chris's IM30 - Cheap camera experiment

[--chris--]

I don't know.  It came in a clump of Hawaii'n stuff I got from a guy on here.

[slowngreen]

2 hours ago, HookedOnAquariums said:

What is this zoa? I need it in my life...

I think those are called "Hawaiian" zoas.

[MrObscura]

3 hours ago, HookedOnAquariums said:

What is this zoa? I need it in my life...

Looks like a blue agave people eater. 

[--chris--]

Three weeks of growth on this monti.

 

The setosa got at the same time is encrusting as well. 

[--chris--]

Not much to pass along on the tank.  I was on the road last week for 3 days and every automated piece of the tank worked as expected.  I bought a DSLR body last night on ebay for cheap (just my style).  I am hunting for glass now, preferably a macro lens.  

 

And since this is consuming my (work) day....I can't believe Corey Taylor did a live set and I didn't find it until today!!  Where the hell have I been?

 

Set list:

0:05 I’ll Be Your Lover, Too
4:41 Bother
10:12 Friend of the Devil
14:56 Snuff
20:15 Taciturn
25:53 SpongeBob SquarePants Theme
29:20 Zzyzx Rd.
34:56 Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
38:52 Dying 
42:54 Hard Luck Woman
47:10 The Travelers, Pt. 1
49:16 Tired 
54:09 The One I Love
58:33 Ever Fallen in Love
1:02:06 30/30-150 
1:08:16 Lovesong 
1:13:12 Farm Song
1:17:30 Name
1:23:31 Folsom Prison Blues / Mystery Train / American Nightmare
 
Encore:
1:30:52 The Conflagration
1:37:39 Through Glass
1:44:43 Take It Easy
1:50:01 Spit It Out

 

 

[--chris--]

Picked up some glass.  This has quickly turned into an experiment to see how effective an "old" dslr with even "older" lens can be in the hands of a photography-idiot for near-macro work. 

 

For those wondering, here is my kit:

 

Nikon D40:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-D40-Camera-Body-in-Tamrac-Camera-Bag/113440839009?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

Nikon Nikkor-P 55mm F3.5 Macro (not a 1:1 macro, but 1:2)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-Nikkor-P-55mm-F3-5-Micro-Macro-Manual-Focus-Portrait-Lens-4/392195512827?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

Total cost: $105 shipped

 

I do realize this lens is likely ~20-40 years old AND that its a manual focus lens, with no way for the D40 to set exposure (aka manual exposure) and its limited to f3.5.  But I like a challenge (:)).  I can't wait to see what the result of this is.  

 

I need to get a SD card and I am considering ordering a 2x tele converter and some orange filters for the lens, but that is is for now.  

[mitten_reef]

3 hours ago, --chris-- said:

Picked up some glass.  This has quickly turned into an experiment to see how effective an "old" dslr with even "older" lens can be in the hands of a photography-idiot for near-macro work. 

 

For those wondering, here is my kit:

 

Nikon D40:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-D40-Camera-Body-in-Tamrac-Camera-Bag/113440839009?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

Nikon Nikkor-P 55mm F3.5 Macro (not a 1:1 macro, but 1:2)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-Nikkor-P-55mm-F3-5-Micro-Macro-Manual-Focus-Portrait-Lens-4/392195512827?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

Total cost: $105 shipped

 

I do realize this lens is likely ~20-40 years old AND that its a manual focus lens, with no way for the D40 to set exposure (aka manual exposure) and its limited to f3.5.  But I like a challenge (:)).  I can't wait to see what the result of this is.  

 

I need to get a SD card and I am considering ordering a 2x tele converter and some orange filters for the lens, but that is is for now.  

holy sh*t, that lens looks downright VINTAGE! hahaha

 

I find it kinda ironic that this expensive hobby leads you down the path of another expensive hobby, such is life 😄

 

My family members are big Nikon fans - I'm just waiting for a hand-me-down one of these days.

[--chris--]

It is vintage lol.  We will see how it treats me.  I plan on learning a lot, which I believe will be a requirement to get good photos out of it.  

[--chris--]

Bought that reef camera app, did a quick trial tonight.  Much better than before.

 

 

[mitten_reef]

42 minutes ago, --chris-- said:

Bought that reef camera app, did a quick trial tonight.  Much better than before.

 

 

Hey, I think I know that one 🤔

[--chris--]

Preliminary results from my "cheap" camera experiment.

 

These are all shot at f3.8, iso 200, various shutter speeds (between 1/12-1/20).  Only one is cropped (the last image ), the rest are straight out of the camera without any processing (saved directly to jpeg).

 

Results look good so far. I need to better tune the WB for the reef lights, buy a "foot" (what is that thing that goes on the bottom of the camera to hold it on a tripod?) and clean my glass but then I think it will be ready to do some reef shots.  

 

[--chris--]

Here are some hand held, pumps running, dirty glass, ISO 800 shots.  I think I got the WB adjustment dialed in.  The pics are slight blue'r than what I see, but its the closest so far.  

 

 

[--chris--]

So now that I have some time to see how this works, I have to say I am impressed.  While its not as "macro" as a Tamron 90mm, I think its 80% there. For 1/10th the cost...If I were selling corals for a living this would not work but I think I still have some quality to squeeze out of the setup.

 

A tripod. lower ISO and clean glass....then we will see what I can do. 

[--chris--]

Oh and the Nikon D40 doesn't have a "live preview" which I thought was standard on ALL DSLR's!  I've gotten good using the viewfinder though...

[--chris--]

Confession Friday.  Its been about 6 weeks since my last WC.  I am due.  

[mitten_reef]

On 12/26/2018 at 9:14 PM, --chris-- said:

Here are some hand held, pumps running, dirty glass, ISO 800 shots.  I think I got the WB adjustment dialed in.  The pics are slight blue'r than what I see, but its the closest so far.  

 

 

These macros look really nice!

[A Little Blue]

On 12/26/2018 at 9:55 PM, --chris-- said:

So now that I have some time to see how this works, I have to say I am impressed.  While its not as "macro" as a Tamron 90mm, I think its 80% there. For 1/10th the cost...If I were selling corals for a living this would not work but I think I still have some quality to squeeze out of the setup.

 

A tripod. lower ISO and clean glass....then we will see what I can do. 

Pics look great. It can only get better from here. 

1 hour ago, --chris-- said:

Confession Friday.  Its been about 6 weeks since my last WC.  I am due.  

I honestly don’t remember my last WC🤫

[samnaz]

On 10/12/2018 at 12:28 AM, Tamberav said:

Somehow my aqualifter been going strong for years now but if it busts I will get one of those. 

 

That reef cleaner box makes me laugh because all my snail boxes from him arrive in the same type of condition. One had a huge hole punched in the side. Usps sees fragile and just starts playing kick ball with it. 

SO true. Every single box I've gotten delivered by usps looks like it was sat on, or thrown out the window of a high rise.... there is no way they aren't doing this on purpose. Not once has ups delivered a damaged package to me (and I've received hundreds). 

[samnaz]

you got an awesome deal on that camera and lens. I still use my dslr from 10+ years ago. In some ways I even prefer it over newer cameras I've used. 

[Tamberav]

Man I do a water change every week even though Nitrate is 2 and PO4 is 0.01... it just feels so good to remove any sort of debris like some sort of sicko. Coral probably be better off if I skipped some though... 

[slowngreen]

Get a tripod Chris and kick them pumps off. Then set your timer, I use 10 sec. I just get it in focus first then push the button. You will get some good pics for sure. Look forward to seeing them!

[teenyreef]

I used a D40 for my pictures when I first started and it did great. I agree a tripod helps a lot with a macro lens. I also found a cheap remote shutter release button on Amazon for about $10. Using that also reduced camera shake and helped the macro shots. 

 

I think the D40 only supported the wired remote, not the wireless one. 

[--chris--]

On 1/2/2019 at 10:57 PM, samnaz said:

you got an awesome deal on that camera and lens. I still use my dslr from 10+ years ago. In some ways I even prefer it over newer cameras I've used. 

Thanks!  Its been a learning curve, but its been a good learning curve.  Learning a lot! 

On 1/3/2019 at 6:15 AM, Tamberav said:

Man I do a water change every week even though Nitrate is 2 and PO4 is 0.01... it just feels so good to remove any sort of debris like some sort of sicko. Coral probably be better off if I skipped some though... 

The holidays have been screwing me up.  I don't like doing a WC then leaving for a few days and the last few weeks have been short stints out of town for weeks! I just got to Dallas, but when I get back later this week I will be home for a bit...............so no more excuses

On 1/3/2019 at 1:10 PM, slowngreen said:

Get a tripod Chris and kick them pumps off. Then set your timer, I use 10 sec. I just get it in focus first then push the button. You will get some good pics for sure. Look forward to seeing them!

Got a tripod, but need to scrape glass and shut off pumps.  I don't know if I am setting it up wrong, but when I set the shutter delay on the D40 it resets after every shot. Anyone else know how to fix that?

On 1/4/2019 at 1:19 AM, teenyreef said:

I used a D40 for my pictures when I first started and it did great. I agree a tripod helps a lot with a macro lens. I also found a cheap remote shutter release button on Amazon for about $10. Using that also reduced camera shake and helped the macro shots. 

 

I think the D40 only supported the wired remote, not the wireless one. 

Good idea, ill see what I can find for a shutter release.

[--chris--]

Tank update:  The blue tort and one of the dark green acros has burnt tips and now has small patches of algae growing on  a few tips.  Weird.....since nothing else (even other acros) have this issue. 

 

The meteor shower cyphastrea is growing like crazy!  The purple haze monti is growing well and I think my new plating monti's are getting ready to grow (I see a white rime now).  

[slowngreen]

Mine is always just a timer for one shot too so I just looked and on mine if you go to the menu, then self timer, it lets you chose how many shots to have the timer used on.