Taking pics of a corner tank - HELP!

[Armando]

I can't tell you how much I love my 92G corner tank. But when it comes to taking pics the tank is a nono. I can never get a picture 100% sharp in focus. It gets worse the farthest from the glass the subject is located. Help?

[NateHanson]

Try standing back as far as you can and using your zoom to frame the shot. That seems to help decrease the problem of focusing on the glass.

The other thing you can do is set the aperture as low (open) as possible, and that will increase the depth of field so more is in focus. (I'm delving back into memory a bit here, so correct me if I've got some of this confused).

[clamm]

TAKE PICTURES FROM THE TOP DOWN IF POSSIBLE...IF NOT TRY NOT USING A FLASH, THAT MAY REQUIRE A TRIPOD. iF THATS NOT POSSIBLE USE A OFF CAMERA FLASH. SO THE REFECTION OF THE LIGHT IS IN A DIFFERENT AREA THEN WHAT IS FRAMED. IF THATS NOT POSSIBLE YOU LAST OPTION IS TO TAKE THE PICTURE AT ODD ANGLE TO USE THE FLASH TO ALLOW FOCUS. THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THAT THE CURVED GLASS IS IN FACT ANOTHER LENS. SO IT IS HARD TO FOCUS, I HAVE A 46 GALLON BOW FRONT TANK AND SOME TIMES HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM, I USUALLY USE THE MANUAL FOCUS AND TAKE PICTURES FURTHER AWAY AND USE A 300MM LENS TO ZOOM INTO WHERE I WANT THE PICTURE. IF YOU FOCUS POINT IS FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM THE GLASS IT SHOULDN'T EFFECT THE PICTURE WITH THE RIGHT CAMERA/OPTICS.

[Jim Tansey]

Nate,

You asked to be corrected, close the aperture for more DOF.

Jim

[NateHanson]

Thanks Jim. So high f-stop increases depth of focus?

[Antimony1019]

When I take pictures of our 92 corner, they have to be taken without the flash, which most of the time requires the use of a tripod in order to get clear pictures, I also try to take the pictures at an angle. I rarely have trouble getting the camera to focus when doing those two things together for both macro and distance shots. My avatar is a pic of our 92 corner that I took a few months back.

[Armando]

I thought taking pictures at an angle would get it out of focus and distorted. My pictures are usually better when taken straight through the glass. No?

[NateHanson]

I think the angle is to avoid flashback off the glass if using an on-camera flash.

[Armando]

I see. I don't use flash, and I do use a tripod. So I assume the out of focus problem is directly related to the curved glass.

[NateHanson]

Or it could just be the autofocus reading the glass instead of the subject. Do you use manual focus?

[Armando]

I tried both without much success. The pic looks very sharp on the viewfinder but after i download to the PC I find out it's not. (cam is Nikon 5700)

[clamm]

it may just be picking up the glass and putting a haze over it...if they look good in the view finder when you d/l them to the computer have you tried using the auto levels and color correction of photoshop?