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I'm looking at getting a yearly pass to Sydney Aquarium (costs a little more than the price of 2 visits). Having never been there I would be interested in comments on the value of doing so. Have you been there? Was it a fun place to photograph? Would it stand up to a few visits or is it a once only kinda place?

Peter,

It all depends on what you want to photograph.

Bare in mind that the fishes and seafoods (oops, i mean animals) are in their tanks and most of the time you get through an indoor area with light dim enough like post-sunset EV. Using a flash against the glass walls, you know better than me whats gonna show up in the pictures


But its a fun place to spend the time with friends and family definately.

Last time I went there, I didnt take my DSLR with me, so I cant comment much on how to take pics inside. Im pretty sure its possible if you have a fast lens.

Do they allow flash photography at the Sydney Aquarium?

Ive been once b4. There are fish tank like you see at most aquariums. There are the starfish which you can handle. The best part is the outdoor areas. One contains the sharks. You can walk through 2 tunnels and they swim around you. The other pool like this has seals in it. The seals also can be seen if they are sitting on their rocks in the sun. I would prob consider the pass as you would then go back at least once or twice in that year. As Yip mentioned it is quite dark inside...

huynhie wrote:Do they allow flash photography at the Sydney Aquarium?

With a P&S they dont say much about you.

When a D2x and SB800 onbaord, its a different story.
I cant remember if they had any sign of 'no flash' inside, but somebody can confirm that.

Peter,

It's well worth a trip, but I doubt you'll want to go multiple times in one year. You can cover the whole aquarium in a few hours, and unlike animals at a zoo which behave quite differently at different times of the day/year, fish just swim about

Photographing is fiendishly difficult. Low light (I'm talking f1.8 lenses wide open @ ISO 800-1600) & glass reflections are the obvious problems, but Kris & I had some success using onboard D70 flash there a while ago. They're happy to have cameras inside, they even have tips (designed for P&S owners of course) for photography.

My main suggestion is go mid week if you can, definitely not during school holidays. If you're very keen taken some Windex to get those grubby hand prints off the glass

It's well worth a visit, but if you're looking at somewhere to get a yearly pass to, go for the zoo - you then get entry to Melbourne & Adelaide, as well as Dubbo (which we really must arrange a meet to someday).

Good advice thus far, I can stress the fact that u must NEVER go during school holidays...u will end up insane

I am making an enquiry as I type re photographing for personal use with professional gear.

Left a message and she'll get back to me.

Will keep u informed Peter

Thanks for all the info guys. I'm not sure about a yearly pass now - the behind the scenes access included appealed, but no I'm not so sure.

I also had in the back of my mind that this would be a fallback for the AW ferry hop if it pissed down rain, but I've now scrubbed that idea and deciced on the Powerhouse Museum and/or the maritime museum. I'm about to ring and check with them.

Good work Peter

stubbsy wrote:Thanks for all the info guys. I'm not sure about a yearly pass now - the behind the scenes access included appealed, but no I'm not so sure.

Peter, here is my two cents worth....
I am not sure of the cost for yearly pass, as I have never had to pay to get in, so I am not sure of the value for money aspect!
We have filmed there on a number of occasions, and some of the best stuff is the behind the scenes footage.
If you do go I have one tip. Take some black cloth to drape around your head and camera, you can cut down on the reflections really well, it does draw attention to you, BUT if you are a “friend of the aquarium” they would tend to over look this sort of behavior 

Mal wrote:...Take some black cloth to drape around your head and camera...

heheh - that, and your backpack, I can just imagine it

Went there last weekend, and I have to say I found it fiendishly hard to take good photos (some of that was my fault, though). It's definitely a challenging environment. Recommend tripod, fast lenses and huge ISO settings (I only had about 1-1.5 of those!). I'll post some photos later for C&C.

In regard to using a flash, I'm pretty sure it's allowed because at the entranceway after you go in there's an instruction board advising on how best to take photos, which includes the advice that you should angle the flash to the tank rather than shooting straight on. That, and/or shoot as close to the tank as possible.. I didn't use the flash except once or twice. The place has very long opening hours : you can go in as late as 9pm (that would give you an hour until the place closes) but some of the larger tanks (the shark one, for instance seems to rely mostly on natural light).

Last time I used flash there (a few years ago) there were no signs and nobody said anything. I was using my FE2 and SB-20 flash on a cord. Not sure whether the rules have changed.

That said, I found that using the 10.5 FE, held firmly against the glass can yield good results. You won't need flash or tripod, against the glass you can hold it still enough. That goes for other wide lenses, too, as long as they can focus close enough. On the FE2 I used a 24/f2.8, with it's lens hood pressed against the tank...

Cheers
Steffen.

More to mull over. Normal admission to the aquarium is $27.50, an annual pass is $63 so a little over two admissions. Plus the behind the scenes stuff detailed HERE which is restricted to 8 people at a time.

Yi-P, you (and Sydney Aquarium) are quite correct - the camera should be right up against the glass, meaning tripod probably not a requirement.

Steady hand, though... and ability to manually focus... a requirement!

stubbsy wrote:More to mull over. Normal admission to the aquarium is $27.50, an annual pass is $63 so a little over two admissions. Plus the behind the scenes stuff detailed HERE which is restricted to 8 people at a time.

See there's a special on these atm too - $56.70. Now I'm a little tempted

sheepie wrote:

stubbsy wrote:More to mull over. Normal admission to the aquarium is $27.50, an annual pass is $63 so a little over two admissions. Plus the behind the scenes stuff detailed HERE which is restricted to 8 people at a time.

See there's a special on these atm too - $56.70. Now I'm a little tempted

Leon it's not really a special. Book on line and get 10% off - 90% of $63 is 56.70. Similarly you can get 10% off individual tickets on line and theres a 10% off voucher to use when paying at the venue valid to 31 August

stubbsy wrote:

sheepie wrote:

stubbsy wrote:More to mull over. Normal admission to the aquarium is $27.50, an annual pass is $63 so a little over two admissions. Plus the behind the scenes stuff detailed HERE which is restricted to 8 people at a time.

See there's a special on these atm too - $56.70. Now I'm a little tempted

Leon it's not really a special. Book on line and get 10% off - 90% of $63 is 56.70. Similarly you can get 10% off individual tickets on line and theres a 10% off voucher to use when paying at the venue valid to 31 August

OK.... but it's still cheaper than what you said