New Aquarium

[speedyj]

AS I'm stuck at home due to illness I have endulged myself a little recently. Updated my camera kit. Buying new Hifi kit ...... don't we all! And recently I purchased a new aquarium as I've always loved keeping tropical fish. Tiger Barbs are my thing, always loved the little buggers. Thy're very easy to keep and always active. Not good with fancy fish but OK with each other. I have standard barbs, green barbs and rosy barbs along with a Gold Gourami who they do not bother at all.

[IMG][/IMG]


[IMG][/IMG]


[IMG][/IMG]


[IMG][/IMG]


[IMG][/IMG]


[IMG][/IMG]

[walpurgis]

Been there and done that. It used to drive the cat potty!

(and I've been casting an eye in the direction of cameras )

[speedyj]

(and I've been casting an eye in the direction of cameras )[/QUOTE]

Nearly as costly as hifi if you jump in too deep!

I settled on a Sony A6000 with a manual wide angle, the old 55-210mm zoom which is very good for the cost and the standard kit lens.

Have been all the way up to full frame at huge cost and silly lenses. Now using kit that suits my ability and is easy to carry around.

[struth]

very nice.. i used to keep fish too.. bred Cichlids too.. seem to have lost all my fish pics ...dunno where i put them.had 2 big tanks built into one wall.. great hobby

[Barry]

Nearly as costly as hifi if you jump in too deep!

I settled on a Sony A6000 with a manual wide angle, the old 55-210mm zoom which is very good for the cost and the standard kit lens.

Have been all the way up to full frame at huge cost and silly lenses. Now using kit that suits my ability and is easy to carry around.

I've often toyed with the idea of having an aquarium as I find them calming and therapeutic as well as being aesthetically pleasing with colourful exotic-looking fish. But much like my flirtation with bonsai, sadly I don't have the patience or commitment for such interests. Also like all living things, tropical fish need to cared for, which would be an imposition to arrange for neighbours to come in and feed them - both on them and me.

But I'm pleased to see you are enjoying yours.


I am tempted to get a new digital camera, as I used to enjoy photography (mostly travel photography) and was pretty good at it (so my friends told me), but with the advent of digital I lost interest as well as my 'eye'. However the camera I want is about £5K (second hand!), and that is just for the body, but I could use my existing lenses with it.

When you refer to "full frame" do you mean 'large format'? Again I thought I might in retirement go around the country with a Sinar or Linhof half-plate camera (5" x 4") and do nature and landscape photography. Never happened though.

[speedyj]

I've often toyed with the idea of having an aquarium as I find them calming and therapeutic as well as being aesthetically pleasing with colourful exotic-looking fish. But much like my flirtation with bonsai, sadly I don't have the patience or commitment for such interests. Also like all living things, tropical fish need to cared for, which would be an imposition to arrange for neighbours to come in and feed them - both on them and me.

But I'm pleased to see you are enjoying yours.


I am tempted to get a new digital camera, as I used to enjoy photography (mostly travel photography) and was pretty good at it (so my friends told me), but with the advent of digital I lost interest as well as my 'eye'. However the camera I want is about £5K (second hand!), and that is just for the body, but I could use my existing lenses with it.

When you refer to "full frame" do you mean 'large format'? Again I thought I might in retirement go around the country with a Sinar or Linhof half-plate camera (5" x 4") and do nature and landscape photography. Never happened though.

Hi Barry, By full frame I actually meant 35mm. I used a Nikon D600 and then moved on to Sony A7 Both unstabilised but great image quality with 24mp files. Then I tried the 42mp Sony A7Rmk2 which was an absolute beast with image quality akin to large format. The issue I had was that the serious lenses for Sony are very expensive and really quite large.

Portability was my main reason for hiking and camping.

I then decide to go back to APSC and bought a Sony A6000. Getting on a bit but a very good 24mp sensor in a capable little body. I did try some higher end Sony lenses but again cost and size/weight was not optimal. I bought the white version of the camera and the silver lenses as I did not want to look like a pro etc. Its a lightweight casual photography kit that can produce some seriously good images if you know what you're doing.

So now using the following.
Sony A6000
Sony 55-210mm zoom - very small and light and surprisingly capable in reasonable light.
The standard Sony kit lens - 16-50mm so does 24mm wide. Its tiny and lightweight. Not fast but good enough.
I've also just ordered a 7 Artisans 35mm F1.2 - Very cheap and a bit like a poor mans Sonnar. Very small and light and incredibly fast. Sharp in the middle and pretty good overall. At under £60 you just cannot get better value. Wide open, it has a gentle sharpness that falls off really nicely to out of focus. This is a trait I commonly find in fast Sonnar. formula lenses.

[speedyj]

I've often toyed with the idea of having an aquarium as I find them calming and therapeutic as well as being aesthetically pleasing with colourful exotic-looking fish. But much like my flirtation with bonsai, sadly I don't have the patience or commitment for such interests. Also like all living things, tropical fish need to cared for, which would be an imposition to arrange for neighbours to come in and feed them - both on them and me.

I understand your worries but its really not that hard. You look after the body of water and not the fish in reality. If you ever dceide to have a go I would be pleased to advise. I'm long term sick at home so find it very therapeutic as you said.

[struth]

That alpha is still a damn good camera. Can't do better really at anywhere near price.

[speedyj]

That alpha is still a damn good camera. Can't do better really at anywhere near price.

Completely agree with that. It can outperform me any day of the week.

[walpurgis]

All my cameras are old now. You might laugh, but the one I use most is a Canon Ixus 100iS, simply because it's tiny! (like, really tiny and easy to carry )