which lens to use?

[silverarrow]

Hi,

May i know which lens should i invest next for shooting close up pic of products. i don't need that close as for example to see the legs of a housefly, but generally those pics we usually see in product brochures.

In the past i use point & shoot camera for the job, so long as it is in focus, but since now that i have pick up this hobby, it's time to get a little professional. i knew with my present setup, i still can take those pics, crop it, photoshop it and get the final effect that i want, but the trouble is i have not reach there yet, as this is my first Dslr. All i want is to try to shoot a good pics and sent out to my customers without editing them first, till my skill/knowledge improve by practise and learning from people in this forum.

The equipment i have now is a D80, 18~200mmVR & a 50mm f1.8 prime.

Pls point me in the right direction, 3rd party lenses are wellcome too.

thanks

 

[jmmtn4aj]

You 18-200 should work just fine, just use a smaller aperture (8-11) and you should get sharp pictures, sharp enough for produce brochures anyway.

What really matters is perspective and lighting. At a tele end, you have to stand further away to produce a similar-sized picture as if you used the wide end. When you stand further away, the object starts to appear more compressed. By using the wide end and standing close, the image is the same size, but it appears more 'expanded', so to speak. Depending on the product and the effect you're trying to get, either characteristic might work for or against it. The might both work for the product too, just from different angles.

Experiment with the angles and the distance. Use a shallow DOF (big aperture, small f number) if you want to isolate featrues of the product, and a deep DOF to have all of it in focus.

You might want to consider a nice light setup too by the way, perhaps a cheap light tent and 3 lamps.

 

[midicity]

Since you take product shoots, you might want to consider a dedicated Macro lens? 105mm VR Macro, Tamron 90mm etc? You might also want to consider a light-tent, strobes and flashes, depending on the size of the products that you shoot

 

[sammy888]

Hi,

May i know which lens should i invest next for shooting close up pic of products. i don't need that close as for example to see the legs of a housefly, but generally those pics we usually see in product brochures.

In the past i use point & shoot camera for the job, so long as it is in focus, but since now that i have pick up this hobby, it's time to get a little professional. i knew with my present setup, i still can take those pics, crop it, photoshop it and get the final effect that i want, but the trouble is i have not reach there yet, as this is my first Dslr. All i want is to try to shoot a good pics and sent out to my customers without editing them first, till my skill/knowledge improve by practise and learning from people in this forum.

The equipment i have now is a D80, 18~200mmVR & a 50mm f1.8 prime.

Pls point me in the right direction, 3rd party lenses are wellcome too.

thanks

I have been doing product shooting for years including film cameras and in the last 2yr+ I have used my D70 with my 18-70mm Nikon len or 50mm 1.8 for example. I use the pictures in brochure and posters and they are good enough. Minor distortions are so easy to remedy with photoshop and in fact there are special software that can "un-distort" your picture base on your use of lens and camera. I shoot alot of stuff the size of skin care boxes or containers so that is pretty small. I don't even need to use my old 60mm 2.8D Micro lens that I even sold it away. You want to improve? Product shooting is not just about lens and camera...there is lighting, props and other things to consider too. Stick with what you have for now till you are relatively good at doing it...then you can move on to better lens which mostly likely can improve your shoot further by another 10-15 %..again you need to upgrade to other stuff too like studio flash, diffusser...etc. Don't get caught up with all the buy this and that to get this and that quality stuff. Refine your technique and invest your money progressively as you grow with your skill in product shooting.