xti or G7?

O.K. you smart guys, tackle this one if you can! My wife wants to photograph

her jewelry, "product" photography if you will. But not "too" close, this is

for necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I don't know if I should go with the G7

or the rebel. As far as I can tell, the G7 will give me .39in.-1.6ft. "super

macro" and video as well. This may be sufficient for her purpose and still

give her a "family" camera versatility. The rebel xti on the other hand has a

generic 18x55mm lens and manual focus. In any event, the items will be shot in

a tent, with tripod, lights and remote shutter release. Question #1 is: Will

that "super macro" on the G7 be enough for a pro look? Bonus question: Is

there a lens that canon sells for the xti that would also give her the

versatility to have the macro she needs, but also some all around shooting as

well? I would just buy a canon body and the lens separate if this is the case!

Footnote: I am starting to get really interested in this art now, it is very

technical and inticing, this community is cool. Please excuse my ignorance, if

I am missing something feel free to point it out!

Since you're new here, I guess I'll be the one to tell you that its not kosher to post the same question in 2 different forums at once. I responded to the one in the "Digital Cameras, Including Point & Shoot and Shopping" forum though.

XTi, Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro or Canon EF-S 60mm 2.8 Macro. The 100mm 2.8 Macro works

well for portrait shots as well.

 

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<<O.K. you smart guys, tackle this one if you can! My wife wants to photograph her jewelry, "product" photography if you will. But not "too" close, this is for necklaces, bracelets and earrings.>>

 

Talk about overkill... How about a used digital point and shoot for $100 from KEH and a tripod?

Not dificult to do. 1st how large do the images have to be, For the net you may get away with a G7, but you will not get the finer intracate details that you would with a larger sensor. You mention light tent with controlled lighting arrangements, I`m not sure if either has a PC socket for triggering strobes, and I have found some sheap radio slaves not workable under a meter away from strobes, unless you are using flood lights and a good temperture meter.

 

The 100mm will give a larger working distance and 1:1 the 60mm closer if not much room. you will need to control DOF as well as perspective so the G7 lens may not allow this, also there is no RAW in the g7 so it will lose detail right from the start. I don`t own one because stock was short at the time and got an A640 which is reasonable.

 

I think you need to do more research and search previous `photograph jewellery` threads

 

HTH

Hmm, How this end up centred? or is it just my PC

OK had a spare 5 mins, the A640 is a 10m P&S similar to the G7, so why not try it. 1st thing I noticed in `M` mode, smallest aperture F8, not much DOF for macro but maybe enough for these things. Working distance was too close for my liking not enough to work in a tent. nothing to trigger external lighting. (I used the onboard flash which does adjust for close work)It may be better in nonmacro mode with a reversed lens on front. Anyway it may give some idea and would improve as I hand held using AF @ f8.

Would this give a pro look, IMO no but someone else with a lot of care & effort may think so, crop of pic, it is an old ring with scatches

 

HTH

And the correct answer is: Rob Bernhard. After all, this is for ebay, right? For my dad's ebay stuff he uses an old sony mavica that uses the 3.5" discs lol, max resolution 640x480 but it works

"...the items will be shot in a tent, with tripod, lights and remote shutter release..." How will the lights be triggered?

 

Another option might be a Canon S3 IS (~$425) or the new S5 IS (~$500) -- both are priced close to the G7 (~$450). A 58mm Close-up Lens 250D or 500D (~$85) could be added if you need to get really close.

 

Is there a store you can go to with your wife and try some sample shots using the various options with different jewelry products ?

 

--

The G7 is a great, small camera, but the "super-macro" mode you reference works only at the widest focal length setting.

 

I'd consider a rebel xti (or find a good deal on an xt/350D), with a kit lens for general photography, and the Canon 50/2.5 macro for your product shots. As long as you don't need 1:1, the 50/2.5 is a great lens -- even for general photography.

 

--tom