lens choices for museum/planetarium trip tomorrow

MakisM1 wrote in post #16455761
I consider my workflow pretty good for low light/high ISO shots. My trip to the local aquarium was a debacle... I had better luck in lower light in the public library. It must be the aquarium lighting...

In an aquarium your subjects, including the water, are moving, even if only slightly, and light refracting through the water is an issue. Plus aquarium galleries tend to have very low light. Its a very difficult environment even with a fast lens hand held. I wonder how the Canon 35mm f/2 IS USM would do in an aquarium. Low light capable and IS!

My non-IS EF 24-70 couldn't cut it... I've had more success with my EFS 18-200 IS in low light...

The only salvageable shot... strange for an aquarium...

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As I said earlier, here's a shot from the museum of natural history that I used my Sigma 10-20mm at. Did just fine:

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For aquarium photography an IS lens may be more important than a fast non-IS lens. I took this picture at the Mirage Resort in Las Vegas. There is a fish tank behind the check-in desk in the lobby. I used a Canon Digital Rebel (300D) and a Canon 70-300IS (not L). Exposure was 1/50 second at f/5, focal length 220mm, ISO 1600. At this shutter speed many pictures showed motion blur - IS doesn't stop the fish. Naturally I chose one of the best ones for this post.

RodneyCyr wrote in post #16458520
For aquarium photography an IS lens may be more important than a fast non-IS lens. I took this picture at the Mirage Resort in Las Vegas. There is a fish tank behind the check-in desk in the lobby. I used a Canon Digital Rebel (300D) and a Canon 70-300IS (not L). Exposure was 1/50 second at f/5, focal length 220mm, ISO 1600. At this shutter speed many pictures showed motion blur - IS doesn't stop the fish. Naturally I chose one of the best ones for this post.

naturally

and there are some that believe fast non-IS lens may be more important than slow IS lens for aquarium pics

or maybe it's how close the fish is to the glass or the cleanliness of the glass is or perhaps the smoothness of the aquarium glass


XSi /450D
Canon 50mm 1.8 mkII

As far as aquarium pictures, i have shot, in the past, with a 28-105 plus Nikon 6t diopter, fitted with a rubber hood. Hood placed directly against the glass. Used ttl flash, rubber hood against glass negates reflections. Really nice slides of poison dart frogs and colorful fish. Just need to figure out the best way to digitize the slides.

watt100 wrote in post #16459039
naturally

and there are some that believe fast non-IS lens may be more important than slow IS lens for aquarium pics

or maybe it's how close the fish is to the glass or the cleanliness of the glass is or perhaps the smoothness of the aquarium glass

XSi /450D
Canon 50mm 1.8 mkII

Great shot of the fish!

Obviously, if you can get close enough to touch the glass, then placing a fast, fairly wide angle, lens with a rubber lens hood against the glass to block reflections is probably the best. Just wait for a fish to swim into view. But if you are not allowed to get close, then a longer, and probably slower, telephoto is needed. The tricky thing is to find a spot and an angle where reflections are minimized.

Best for working at a distance would be, of course, a fast telephoto with IS. The Canon 200mm/f2L IS would do nicely, but at $5,600 on Amazon, it is a bit out of my budget.