First lighting kit advice needed please

[fruitloop]

Can anyone advise me of what to buy for my needs please.
I take shots of clothing eg different coloured trousers and jeans. I put the garment on a white board on the floor and take the shot, then I make the background whiter by using photoshop. I don't use any studio lighting or softbox or even a tripod as I have no idea where to start and am always afraid that if I just go into a store, they may sell me what they want to get rid of. I am wanting to just take the shots without the need to do a lot with photoshop.
I only use my living room floor and don't have extensive space.

I use a Canon S95 powershot.
Do I need a better camera and lens? If so, what do you recommend ?
What lighting kit would be good that doesn't need too much space and can be packed away quite easily ?
Would I be best using a tripod, if so, which would do the job.
What backdrop would be best to use on the floor ?
Have I overlooked anything ?

Many thanks

 

[HoppyUK]

Mike, this is the same question you posted in 2011, and again in 2012...

That aside, there are too many questions and not enough information. A sample pic would be a great start, how the pics will be used, budget etc? And if you want high image quality that does justice to your whole range of products, with accurate colour and repeatable consistency - shot to shot and month to month - then bear in mind that good product photography is not easy. There's an investment in knowledge and experience as well as kit.

 

[fruitloop]

Hi Richard,
Thaks for your reply.

After trying without success to find the right kit, I give up as there are so many permutations (and I fully understand that) so I continued with my Canon S95 until I can get around to looking again for a better option.
I have no one to look to for sound advice, except on this forum.
Sometimes I struggle getting the correct shade of my image. I can look through the lens at some shades of, say purple, and they look blue through the lens of the camera, so I try and fix the colour after I've taken the shot as I can't get the camera to show me through its lens the correct shade that I'm seeing when not looking through the camera's lens.

I take a shot of an article of clothing and try and enhance the shot by giving it a white background.
A problem I can have is that if I have white in my image, I find it very time consuming and difficult to be able to make the background white as the 'marching ants' in Photoshop can't detect the background from the white in the garment.
I've uploaded two shots of typical items that I would photo.

I use my living room to take pics so I'd need to be able to put away the equipment after I've used it. I would expect I'd spend between £1,000 - £2,000 for everything.
Many thanks

 

[Phil V]

I'll take a couple of points at a time.

The good news is that photographically, you're not asking for something too challenging. The bad news is you can't simply buy your way out of this, you'll need to study and practice too.

1st problem is keeping consistent colour, there are 2 sources of frustration here:

The colour of the light, which varies if using natural light, can be difficult to manage with continuous sources, but becomes simple using flash. So the answer is flash.

The auto WB picked by the camera can be thrown by your garments and inconsistent light sources, but once you're using flash, you can set a camera to flash WB and you're good to go. So you need a camera that'll make connection of a flash and choosing WB easy. (Any DSLR) (more later)

So the answer to your colour problems can be solved by any starter DSLR and standard zoom (you don't need top quality cameras and lenses to shoot small apertures at low ISOs) and a starter flash kit, I'd recommend a Lencarta Smartflash kit (more later)

 

[Phil V]

So the gear...

The good news; your budget is plenty.

Check out something like a Nikon D3300 or Canon 700D with a standard lens.

If you want something easy to take down, upgrade the standard softbox to a Profold, ring Lencarta, they'll sort this out for you. Get a std reflector with grid, a 5 in 1 reflector whilst you're at it.

So far you're well under £1000.

 

[Phil V]

Now the important stuff.

There are some great video tutorials online (not least on the Lencarta site)

You can get setup tips here (none of this will work 'automatically' like your S95 does)

Book a training course, it might cost as much as the camera, but it'll be worth every single penny.

 

[fruitloop]

Hi Phil,
Thanks for this great advice.
What would be a good tripod for this ?

 

[Phil V]

Hi Phil,
Thanks for this great advice.
What would be a good tripod for this ?

You don't need a tripod

Sorry: I wouldn't want a tripod, it'll just get in the way of you setting up your subjects.

 

[Faldrax]

You don't need a tripod

Sorry: I wouldn't want a tripod, it'll just get in the way of you setting up your subjects.

Just to explain a bit further what Phil said.

A tripod is typically used for one of three reasons

1) To steady the camera avoiding 'camera shake' with low shutter speeds - not a problem here, the flash duration will be less than 1/1000s (so no camera shake worries)
2) To support a big, heavy camera & lens - again, not relevant to controlled product shots.
3) To allow multiple shots from exactly the same camera position - this is only reason you might want a tripod, where you set the lights, camera, etc up, position the clothes at a known spot, take the shot, replace with a new set of clothes, take the shot, etc. but as Phil said, it's as likely that all that a tripod will do is get in the way.

 

[fruitloop]

Thanks for this great advice. I really appreciate it. All of this is now coming together for me.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Just to explain a bit further what Phil said.

A tripod is typically used for one of three reasons

1) To steady the camera avoiding 'camera shake' with low shutter speeds - not a problem here, the flash duration will be less than 1/1000s (so no camera shake worries)
2) To support a big, heavy camera & lens - again, not relevant to controlled product shots.
3) To allow multiple shots from exactly the same camera position - this is only reason you might want a tripod, where you set the lights, camera, etc up, position the clothes at a known spot, take the shot, replace with a new set of clothes, take the shot, etc. but as Phil said, it's as likely that all that a tripod will do is get in the way.

Point 3 is for me, the reason why you should use a tripod.
Yes, a tripod will sometimes get in the way, but it will provide you with consistent shots, so that every product of the same type ends up being photographed from exactly the same height, same angle.

 

[fruitloop]

Thanks for the advice re the tripod. I can clearly see how both Phil's and Garry's advice both make equally valid points. Thanks for this sound advice from you both.

 

[fruitloop]

My apologies for not coming back earlier to thank everyone for all the help you've given me on the forum. I've taken everything on board and what a difference your help has made. I bought the Lencarta Smartflash Kit 4 and upgraded the softboxes to the profold. (Thanks Phil) I bought a canon 200d and the results using this kit is amazing. I added to this, one of Garry's video tutorials which is very helpful too.