How to take full tank shots with a nikon d80?

[zahira]

I have always struggled to get a good full tank shot. I have a Nikon D80 and I think the main obstacle is the distance available between the camera and the tank ie the width of the room. The tank is just over 4 foot long and the maximum distance betwen the tank and the camera is about 8 feet. Any help with the settings, use of flash, etc will be appreciated.

[seasalt]

hiya
i have a d80 and have had some good tank shots with it, this might be a given but dont try and take any on auto, it just does'nt work.

also depends on your intank lighting.
if lights are on i find-
Set the WB to k setting and then about 4500 (i think then higher for a bluer shot and lower for a mor yellow hue)
fairly fast shutter (have a play)
iso about 600.

Try shooting with and without flash, you will be supprised at the results.

I am by no means a photography expert but these have worked ok for me.
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q4/reef (1).jpg

[Alastair]

What lens are you using? If your having to stand in the next room shooting through a hole in the wall then it sounds like you've got too long a lens.

I've switched to using a Sigma 10-20 wide angle for full tank shots (admittedly I use a Canon, but that makes no difference) and I can now get in the full length of the tank (30") from less than 3' away.

Otherwise the basics stay the same.. tripod, ISO 100, f5-f9, no flash and either use a remote shutter release or a delayed shutter release. Manual focus also helps. If you don't have a tripod yet then you'll need to bump up the ISO number (400-600) to increase the shutter speed.

There is no auto setting that will reliably give good tank shots on any camera that I've come across.. but if you can select aperture priority mode and lock the ISO sensitivity, then you're half-way there.

White balance, etc is easily corrected afterwards using software.

[ourmanflint]

I'd agree with most of the above, but you need to shoot RAW files to correct white balance successfully. The only way to do what you want is to get a wider angle lens as said previously. You could though take 2 shots, half and half, then comp them together in photoshop.

Good Luck

:D

[seasalt]

or knock the wall down :)