Side By Side SOL LED vs MH

[daniella3d]

It all depends on the shutter speed.

Originally Posted by lastlight

I don't see how any shot wouldn't be at least a little better shot from a tripod?

[daniella3d]

But you would not shoot corals at 400mm.. it's better with a smaller lens from closer or a macro lens. My 400mm focus at 12 feet...so I would not even be able to take a photo of the aquarium without hitting the wall.

I did tons of macro of insects and never used a tripod and with the aquarium and either LED or MH, the light is so strong that getting the speed to get sharp photos is not a problem. If there is blur from the motion of the person, usually there is not enough speed and the coral will be blurred if it is moving, at least the polyps will.

If you use a slow shutter, you might get blurry pic tripod or not.

Originally Posted by MarkoD

It all depends what focal length you use. I like shooting telephoto to compress the background. And when shooting at 400mm you need at least a 1/400 of a second shutter spee; which is impossible when using off camera flash cuz the sync speed is only 1/200. So the only way to avoid camera shake is to use a tripod

[Funky_Fish14]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

I did tons of macro of insects and never used a tripod

You can get a lot closer to an insect when there isn't a wall of glass in the way though
I've got wicked shots of insects with my cam or even phone, but any shots I take of stuff in my tank are junk cause they are 10-20" back.
*above comments without tripod*

As im sure you know, the degree of movement of the image in the lens is amplified as you get further away from it. Shaking 1/10th of a milimeter up close and it doesnt look like much, but shooting something 20 inches away is very visible. Yes the camera (or settings) might be able to compensate for it, but the less movement, the less chance for light to be 'diverted incorrectly' or 'misinterpreted'. I may know little about cameras, but these are basic physics principles.