Best Digital camera for jewelry closeups and other things

I am new to using a digital camera.. looking for a digital camera that can take

a decent close up of glass jewelry with lots of color that would primarily be

looked at online in a store. . would also be taking some clothing pictures that

would be viwed on line, as well as other items in a different category.I do not

want a complicated camera.. this camera would also be used to travel There

would be some regular picture taking.. family shots.. nature etc..If i was able

to get a camera that would be light for travel and take these close up pictures,

that would be great.

 

I would not like to spend more than $400.00. I have seen some info. on canons

the Sd450 or Sd600. .. wonder whether is a good camera for macro shots. What are

considered the better digital cameras in my price range.. is Canon a favorite?

Whatever advice you have i would love to get.. the more i read the more confused

i get with all the choices out there. thanks!

Any digital camera will have enough resolution and color quality for WEB use (or any other use). You need two things - a tripod socket and a closeup range. I have (among others) a Fuji F10, which would work well. It has no viewfinder, but you need TTL viewing for your application anyway.

 

More important is the lighting for your subject. You need a light tent to handle reflective surfaces, and point-source lights for sparkle. You can buy fold-up light tents starting at about $100 (or make your own). Halogen lights would work well, including for "sparkle".

Get a used Olympus E-10, about $200 from KEH. This is a solid digicam with excellent optics and the level of manual control you'll need for the jewelry photography.

 

Regardless of camera, you'll need some basic lighting equipment:

 

1. A couple of off camera strobes. You want power and adjustable light output. Again, buy used; something like old Vivitar 283's or Sunpak 383's will do just fine.

 

2. Slave triggers for the above. Cheap optical peanuts will work fine.

 

3. Diffuser, light tent, etc. You can kludge up something ugly but usable from a HomeDepot trip.

 

4. Get a good book on lighting.

Maybe a used Coolpix 990? - Having the option of RAW capture besides manual exposure and distance setting seems rather essential to me in the beginning.

 

While old P&S are quite capable to do studio work they really suck for family shots. Modern cheapos often don't offer enough manual control like fine tuning of the white balance setting and RAW capture also became uncommon. Talking Canon a used G3 comes to my mind, but I neither know prices nor features.

Get yourself a modern camera with some optical zoom. Depending on how close the camera will focus when using the telephoto or long end of the zoom you could need a moderate Close-up len. If you get one the same diameter as the lens barrel you can cellotape to the lens barrel.[The casmera probably will not have provision for mounting a CU lens or filter up front] This will keep you away from the subject but let you use the zoom to get a tight framing. You might also need a white bucket, cut a hole in it's bottom to suit the camera lens barrel. This gives you a nice soft light for reflective objects such as glass and metals. You should find that Auto White Balance will gibe you good results with any lighting except flourescent and sometimes ordinary household light bulbs when for the later you will need to dial in the little bulb symbol in the menu. Any problems keep asking here, we are happy to help.

As others have said, in product photography, lighting is THE most important factor. A light tent may be a good option.

 

As for camera, any decent camera with some kluge macro setup would suffice. Just get one within your budget. Go to dpreview.com to compare.

Beth,

 

I'm sure the above advice is all good, but I don't really think you need anything as complicated as some of it details. The Canon A620 and A520 and Fuji F10 were all top-rated digitals in this month's Consumer Reports, and should all suffice for your needs. You can mess with a lot of different setups for your jewelry, but for your needs, you should probably just try to shoot it in natural light. Take it outside and place it on a piece of colored felt cloth. I'm not sure which of the cameras, if any, above have a macro mode, but you should probably have that as one of your criterion. The manual will explain how to use it. On my digicam (an Olympus c750), you simply press a button.

 

Bill

Thank you everyone for all the great thoughts. It gives me more to think about. I'm going to try to keep it as simple as possible. Beth

Take a look at this guy - amazing macro and close-up photography with small digital point and shoot cameras.

 

http://www.photos-of-the-year.com/mplonsky/

 

http://www.mplonsky.com/photo/article.htm

 

Good luck!