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What is the best camera for taking pictures of aquarium fish and decent for just normal pictures?

I am looking for a digital camera and my main uses will be for aquarium fish. I also want one thats good for normal use such as landscapes, family gatherings...etc etc is there a camera that has both??? and prefferably no more than 500 dollars. maybe more is ok. as long as its not to much over. uhm...home aquarium mainly. maybe a public one.

Public Comments

1. Do you mean a home aquarium, or a public aquarium? The answer would be a little different for each. A public aquarium is usually dimly lit, so you will need a camera that can handle dim light. You can use a wider aperture, or set your ISO higher to handle it. Either way, you would not want to use a flash, so you need a camera that gives you the option to turn it off. Flash will just reflect off the glass and give you a huge glare spot. Not a pretty picture! Find a camera with a "fast lens". That means a wide aperture (small f number). An SLR would be an excellent choice, but not at your price range. The cheaper cameras won't be adjustable enough, so go for the best you can afford. Look for a larger lens than those teeny things on cheapo cameras (and cell phones). Look for a camera with aperture priority mode if possible. Some scene modes might also be helpful, like macro or portrait, as long as you can switch off the flash for them. Find a good camera store, tell them your needs and your budget, and see what they suggest. Good luck! Oh yes, I forgot the second part of your question. A camera that's good enough to shoot aquariums of either sort will work great for landscapes, family gatherings, and most other things as well.
2. Most people actually don't shoot aquarium shots properly. They use flash.. which is a big no no. The reason is that the flash bounces on the glass and right back to the camera. The other problem is that even if shooting at an angle to reduce flash, the shot looks dull and lifeless, without the vibrant colors in real life. You'll want to shoot without flash, and at a high ISO setting. Some cameras have built in scene modes specifically for aquarium settings. My camera, the Canon PowerShot A590IS, has this feature. I haven't tested it so I don't know if it is good or not. However, I do know how to manually set the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO so that I can shoot on any digital camera. Since your budget is under 500, you'll probably have to purchase a non-DSLR camera, which leaves you with the point-and-shoot camera. You need to look for high ISO. Something that goes up to at least 1600. Most point-and-shoot cameras have poor noise levels at high ISO. A recommended camera would be the Fuji F50FD which excels at shooting in dark lighting. That'll be my first camera choice. You might also want to look at Canon A590IS as well or any of the PowerShot series cameras since I mentioned they come with aquarium mode setting.
3. My Sony cyber shot does those things and is really easy to use. For taking photos of my home aquarium all you have to do is keep the flash off. But big public aquariums you are going to want a camera like a DSLR that you can adjust the settings to best fit your needs. I also have a Olympus E410 DSLR and it is wonderful. I can adjust the shutter speed and fit the aperture to my needs. That way I can take a nice photo in a low light setting. What it comes down to is do you want something easy to use and is very portable? Or do you want something that takes a better photo IF you take the time to learn how to use it.
4. The all time winner bargain compact digital camera is the Canon 7.1 megapixel PowerShot SD1000 [not the IS] 7.1 with an added 2- gig memory card which when set in the manual mode for "Vivid" colors and videos at 30 fps in 320 dpi format provides killer images and videos under low light conditions. It currently sells for $140 at Fotoconnection.com: http://www.fotoconnection.com/p67816-canon-powershot-sd1000-digital-elph-71-megapixel-digital-camera-black.html Good luck!
5. my sony 8 megapixel camera always does the job