Camera For Product Photography

I'm looking for compact camera with a macro option to take product photographs to go on our website. I had a Canon Powershot A640 for a couple of years which was ideal. Is there anything similar but a little cheaper!

Hi,

Take others input on cameras - as long as they have a macro mode - and exposure compensation adjustment (see below), which most do have now - it pretty much does not matter which model you get. £200 should get you something decent - but also see below for some other bits you may need. Not all macro settings are the same, some will focus closer than others, and this depends on how big the subject is. Take a typical product into the store, and see if your chosen camera will focus close enough for you.

Lighting and getting exposure right are critical to get the best out of the camera you have. If you shoot against a white background, auto exposure will make the white look dirty grey. Similarly, if you shoot against a black background, auto exposure will make the black - well not grey, but definitely not pure black. If you already know how to fix this, don't bother to read any further!

Otherwise, when shooting against white, give additional exposure compensation - more exposure - to get pure white. With blacks, it's the opposite, give less exposure to get strong blacks. You will need to look for "exposure compensation" in the camera manual when you get it. The exposure compensation bit is slightly counter intuitive, but that's how it is.

If you do not have one, get a tripod. You can get a Jessops special for c£30 - quite enough for what you want to do - and set the shutter delay time to 10 seconds - again see the manual for this.

Lighting can easily make or break any shot - and particularly a macro - as you are right in amongst the clockwork any wrong shadows really show up. A so-called "lighting tent" is ideal for this, but just about doubles the budget. However, with a table lamp (or 2) and a couple of white cards you can do a fair job. Have a look on ebay for lighting tents if you want to get really pro-looking shots. The built-in flash will almost always disappoint with macro shots, as it will not cover the image evenly.

White balance - once you have got the exposure right, you may find the colour is still "off", set the white balance to "tungsten" if you are shooting with a table lamp (colour will be yellowish), or try "florescent" - depends on the light type.

Hope this helps!

Cheers
Charles

2009-07-12 09:40:59 by goughie

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I have been doing product photography for a little while and now have decided it is time to upgrade my camera to something more "professional". I'm using a sony cybershot now (works amazing for what I'm doing) but I'm still ready to upgrade. I've found some Nikon digital slr's for under $600 -used on craigslist.com and same with Canon's. Anyone have any advice? I take all the images on my site with the Sony www.MorganArtistry.com I'd eventually like to get into architectural/Interior photography for magazines. Thanks in advance

sounds like you just need to make the decision. Both Nikon and Canon slr's can be found for under $600. The major investment in either system are the lenses. For architectural/interior you would probably want to go with a wide angle lense with a small aperture (to all more light in) because interior photography is usually low light situations. Being that you haven't invested in any lenses yet (the expensive part of the hobby) I would suggest going to the store and getting both of them in your hands....try it out in the store, which one fits better. They both are amazing camera's (the canon rebel xti and the Nikon D40.) I currently own the xti, and am very happy with it. Check www.amazon.com for a good price with free shipping on a new camera. You really won't be disappointed with either system.

2007-12-25 23:43:19 by MorganArtistry.com

The Photo Lighting System include
two 30 watts day-light balanced 5000K fluorescent bulbs (each one is equivalent to 125 W incandescent light).
Two 40" white shoot-through umbrellas.

I would like to find a solution for syncing a digital camera (canon rebel) with a computer. Something that can cutout the need for swapping memory cards and would allow batch naming for a group of images.

This would be very helpful in a product photography work flow. If you take multiple shots of a single product, lets say 10 images, then why cant you just use the camera to capture the images > automatically send them to a computer interface to be previewed > then give the group of 10 images a batch name. This would be great for keeping things efficient and tidy.

Thanks for any help.

I shoot a lot of product photography.

In my work flow, I shoot each product and then hand the card to my assistant and they download the image files to the "work in progress" computer, while I continue shooting the next setup using a different card. They then use Adobe Bridge to add the copyright notice, my contact information, product information and key words to the EXIF data on the image files and save them all with new file name sequences. By then I have a new card ready for them.

I have about ten small 2GB CF cards I use when I shoot table top product shots and I have never had a problem of shooting faster than my assistant can "process" the resulting images.

2008-07-18 05:34:04 by edgar

Price: $6.95 $6.20

Designed for handheld use or tripod application.
Compact design fits easily in a bag or pocket.
Unique eyepiece opening adapts to most viewfinders for viewing through the lens - not plastic!

I'm looking into buying a digital camera. I want to take VERY GOOD close up for product photography. What kind of LENS do I need? What kind of specs do I look for??

I worked for a few years as a product photographer, and all I had at my office was a home made light tent that I built for them, a tripod, plus a Canon Powershot S3 IS (the current equivalent camera is this: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contro ller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=14 4&modelid=15207).
I took fantastic photos with that camera, it was perfectly adequate for the job, and the flip-out screen made my job so much easier!
I had to take photos of all sorts of stuff from big pieces of furniture to tiny little screws less than 1/2 inch long.

The biggest magic was in the lighting for my tent, the seamless background and the custom white balance.

2008-11-26 08:44:14 by in the car

I want to buy a digital camera for taking pictures of stuff for sale, mainly clothes and personal accessories, for posting on websites (such as auctions) as well as printing in hard copy for promotions. I'd like to set up a low budget or makeshift studio. After reading around, Canon seems like the way to go. I'm on a budget. I was looking at something in the 'S' series. I have seen alot of reviews for cameras for personal use but not much for small scale commercial use. I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the models and specs. I want this digital camera primarily for work and not play.

Can anyone recommend a Canon camera model for my type of use, or other digital camera model for that matter?

Also, does anyone know a website that has with digidtal camera reviews geared for product photography?

I would recommend the A710, because I have a A700 and i think it would be great for this kind of work. the camera has macro setting so if you need detail you set it to this mode to capture the fine points. All around this camera is great, because it offers a variety of controls with a 7.1 mega pixel sensor.

2007-03-01 07:46:37 by Kima