I have always been reluctant to take our good digital camera afloat, due to fears of getting it wet, but my wife recently gave me a new small digital camera for my birthday. I had the chance to go afloat today and test it out. Decided to hit a nearby high country lake instead of fighting the power squadron and crowds at the bigger ponds. Happily, the bows and brookies were eager to entertain. No large fish, but they batted my pistol pete fly all over the lake all afternoon, and it was a 30+ something day. I took a few pictures. The camera did fine for distance shots, but as can be seen on the fish, there was a lot of glare projecting from them. Does anyone have any suggestions to improve these pics, in light of the constraints of a float tube?
Have a great holiday weekend all.
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Does anyone have any suggestions to improve these pics, in light of the constraints of a float tube?
Have a great holiday weekend all. [/reply]
DGF,
I'm no expert but see if you can find the "macro" setting on your camera. Seems I recall someone saying that the focal length of many cameras is about 4 feet. Anything closer, unless you make adjustments, will turn up fuzzy.
On my camera (Olympus) there is a little flower icon that shows it is in macro mode for closeups. For fish pics in, on, and near to the tube I always use it. Just two clicks after turning on the camera and its set and ready to go. Find the setting for yours and memorize the procedure for setting it. That should help.
z~
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Dave,
I was intrigued by the fact that you shoot your pictures in macro mode. I too have an Olympus camera. (Ultra Zoom 720) I have never taken any fish pictures in macro mode. What model is your camera?
By the way, I should tell you on my river float I came upon some fallen trees close to shore with a deep hole of about 4 feet. Resting against one of the logs in my kayak, I was hovering over 3 huge carp in the 20 pounds plus range. They kept circling in and out of the cover while i tried to present a 1/32 oz. jig to them. The current made it hard to get to the bottom and the fish ignored my offering. The thing that surprised me with this experience is that the fish showed no inclination to bolt. Perhaps they were spawning in that spot?
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I second what Zonker said. I learned the hard way what that macro setting was for. But you might also look at your "white balance", at least thats what it is called on my camera. Anyway, it is the setting that lets you take pics in sunny, cloudy or inside. It looks like your day was a nice day. So then you would want to make sure it was set to 'sunny'. Most digital cameras I've looked at have some way to adjust that. It may not be that same terminology, but you get the point.
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Don,
My fishing camera is an Olympus 410 Stylus All Weather (4.0 megapixel). I've had it a couple of years. I bought it back when the first "water resistant" digitals were coming out so it's becoming dated. The macro setting works well for most of my "on the tube apron" and "laid out in the grass" type shots - anything closer than about 3 feet.
I've been tempted by some of the newer cameras that can take pics underwater and do fair resolution video like some of the Pentax models. However, don't think I'll be able to justify a switch anywhere in the near future. I do have another Olympus that takes better pictures, even for a duffer like me, but I don't want to take it near the water. Some cameras take good pics. Some take better pics.
I'm suspecting that carp in rivers might not be as spooky as carp in lakes. My thinking is that they are more adapted to things moving around them. That could explain the behavior you mentioned.
Carp do have a tendency to ignore flies and lures unless they're in the mood to feed. I've put flies in front of hundreds of them only to see them turn and swim away or totally ignore my offering. They aren't as opportunistic as the more popular gamefish in that if they aren't in the mood they will seldom play, no matter what you do. As you know, this is true especially if they are spawning.
I was out carping last Friday and there were spawning fish everywhere, frothing up the water. I couldn't buy a take though I saw many fish. I finally left and drove over to a nearby Taco Bell for a snack and came back later in the afternoon. At that point some of the spawners had apparently had their fill of love and were cruising in the shallows in hunger mode. I managed four fish from 5 -10 pounds in less than an hour. Could probably have done better but I had to head home for an evening meeting.
Here's a [url "http://www.carpanglersgroup.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=22448"][#ff0000]report[/#ff0000][/url] with some pics. I didn't post it here because I don't want to wear out my welcome with too many pics of carp - especially since I didn't catch them from the tube. (And I know that not everone is as fond of them as I am.)
Ya gotta get out there after those big carp! My next goal is a 30+.
z~
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[cool][#0000ff]I shoot with an Olympus D-550 3.2 megapixel. Had it for over 3 years. I do occasionally use the macro, but it has autofocus that lets me take closeups without special settings.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In addition to needing a camera to focus in all light conditions, you need to help it by moving yourself around until you do not have a bright glare on the reflective surface of the fish. It takes some concentration and thinking.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I tried to "clean up" a couple of your pics with my editing software and it did not work. Overexposed.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]I do occasionally use the macro, but it has autofocus that lets me take closeups without special settings.[/#0000ff] [/reply]
That would be the difference, probably - and perhaps why macro works for me. Mine doesn't have auto focus. I have to focus with a little rocker button on the top.
The moral of the story being that each of us needs to master the particular settings of our own cameras.
z~
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[size 1]"The moral of the story being that each of us needs to master the particular settings of our own cameras."[/size]
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[blue]Among other things.[/blue]
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Thanks everyone for the advice. I adjusted the settings this afternoon, took a bunch of test pics, and should have better pictures next time out. (Hopefully of some porky Jordanelle bass within the next few weeks.) If not, then maybe I will have to upgrade.
BTW; Z, great job on that huge carp. Most impressive!
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Dave,
Pentax Optio W10, W20,W30 would be the ideal camera for flyfishing tubers and canoe /kayak fishermen . These cameras are waterproof and can survive a dunking. Besides they have a macro mode that can focus down to 1 cm. That feature would be excellent for photographing flies and "real bugs" etc. I just love looking at great macro shots. I think I would get more use out of a super macro than I do out of my 8X zoom. If I ever drop mine in the drink I will seriously consider the Pentax Optio. In fact it might be possible to get a real deal on one of the earlier models now that they have gone through several updates.
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The Pentax Optio is the one I was talking about. Wonderful cameras. I have flyfishing friends who take great shots underwater with them along with great video and stills. They can also take out individual frames from the video and get pretty good stills.
Mine doesn't do well with super close-ups.
z~
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I returned to the same lake yesterday to test the camera again. (and fish!) I had similar results both ways. Great fishing and poor tubing photos. The camera I have does not directly have a Macro setting and the close up picture quality (even with reccd. manipulations) was still unsatisfactory. It also still seemed to pick up undesirable glare from the trout, even with a shaded shot. It looks like I need to relegate this one to terrestrial outings with the kids and look towards getting one of the pentax optios.
It looks like the w30 (newest model) costs between $275-300. EBAY has a new w20 for $219, and a w10 currently for $182. Does anyone have any insight on what would be the best purchase? Should I hold out for a better deal?
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My old man has the optio 43WR. I have the dry version and you can see the pictures on here that I have taken with it, even the size 32 fly on macro looks as big as a Volkswagon.
The one thing about any of the optio water proof cameras is that the water has to be GIN clear for great shots which most around here are not except a few rivers.
His also took the AA batteries which didn't last long at all.
I just bought him a Digital Rebel XT by Canon that is awesome. Not water proof, but the filters that you can buy for it make all the difference.
One thing about shooting fish in water is you do really need a Polorized filter, something the Pentax water cameras you mentioned do not.
It all depends on what extent you wanna go to for your pictures.
This feature might not be that important to you.
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