Hello,
I am new to photography so please help me with couple of questions.
I am looking for a camera and lens exclusively for product photography for our web site and printed catalogue. (Front covers with human models will be shot using model agency and professional photographer not me. My task is only shooting all those multiple products we have on mannequin on a regular basis).
The size or products is quite large. e.g. trousers , jacket, tunic, shoes.
Its highly unlikely we will have close up or very small products.
So separate lens for close shots is not needed right now I think.
Products most likely to be shot on black background. (black seems best option to post process images into different colour variants by our post processing software, on the final images black background will be replaced into white)
We are on a tight budget. Can afford 400 to 500 £ for a camera.
I was looking into the buying options on Amazon and as I understand there are only amateur cameras in that price range e.g.
Nikon D5100
Nikon D3200
1. Are those cameras suitable for product photography I described above ?
2. Lens. On Amazon UK for instance D5100 comes with a 18-55mm VR Lens Kit (NIKKOR lenses it seems).
Are those lenses OK for product shots or it is better to buy a camera body and a separate lens? If separate lens then what lenses do I need?
3. Tethering. It is very important to be able to connect camera to PC and make all the adjustments or at least shots from PC and get images saved straight to the PC (no SD cards should be used at all). This will help with our work flow immensely.
Is D5100 or D3200 or any other camera within our budget capable of this?
4. Any recommendations for not so expensive suitable lightning, tripod and possibly turntable if we decide to make 360 degree shots.
So far I have found turntables starting at 1000 £. Very expensive.
As I understand for black shots we need 2 lamp stands with 500 W lamps (planing to use energy saving lamps equal to 500W).
Black velvet. Some stand.
And that hopefully should be enough to get started.
5. And finally quick question about monitor. I just bought Samsung S27B970 27 inch Widescreen LED PLS Ultra Thin Professional Monitor 2560x1440 pixels specifically for this project. It is glossy and quality seems like Apple cinema display. Factory calibrated. (I don't have calorimeter to calibrate but will buy if needed).
Monitor seems to be 8 bit per pixel (24 bit, 16.7 million colours) even if on Amazon it is wrongly advertised as 10 bit (30 bit / 1 trillion colours).
Is my monitor good enough? Are you professional photographers using 10 bit monitors? I still could return it to Amazon.
I am not sure how much it is a difference in reality with photography. Only with particular gradients and shades as far as I understand.
8 bit monitor can produce only 256 shades, so my eye is clearly capable to see banding on wide grey gradients on that 16.7 million colour monitor.
Sorry for so many questions but this is a new field I need to master very quickly.
many thanks for suggestions
I am new to photography so please help me with couple of questions.
I am looking for a camera and lens exclusively for product photography for our web site and printed catalogue. (Front covers with human models will be shot using model agency and professional photographer not me. My task is only shooting all those multiple products we have on mannequin on a regular basis).
The size or products is quite large. e.g. trousers , jacket, tunic, shoes.
Its highly unlikely we will have close up or very small products.
So separate lens for close shots is not needed right now I think.
Products most likely to be shot on black background. (black seems best option to post process images into different colour variants by our post processing software, on the final images black background will be replaced into white)
We are on a tight budget. Can afford 400 to 500 £ for a camera.
I was looking into the buying options on Amazon and as I understand there are only amateur cameras in that price range e.g.
Nikon D5100
Nikon D3200
1. Are those cameras suitable for product photography I described above ?
2. Lens. On Amazon UK for instance D5100 comes with a 18-55mm VR Lens Kit (NIKKOR lenses it seems).
Are those lenses OK for product shots or it is better to buy a camera body and a separate lens? If separate lens then what lenses do I need?
3. Tethering. It is very important to be able to connect camera to PC and make all the adjustments or at least shots from PC and get images saved straight to the PC (no SD cards should be used at all). This will help with our work flow immensely.
Is D5100 or D3200 or any other camera within our budget capable of this?
4. Any recommendations for not so expensive suitable lightning, tripod and possibly turntable if we decide to make 360 degree shots.
So far I have found turntables starting at 1000 £. Very expensive.
As I understand for black shots we need 2 lamp stands with 500 W lamps (planing to use energy saving lamps equal to 500W).
Black velvet. Some stand.
And that hopefully should be enough to get started.
5. And finally quick question about monitor. I just bought Samsung S27B970 27 inch Widescreen LED PLS Ultra Thin Professional Monitor 2560x1440 pixels specifically for this project. It is glossy and quality seems like Apple cinema display. Factory calibrated. (I don't have calorimeter to calibrate but will buy if needed).
Monitor seems to be 8 bit per pixel (24 bit, 16.7 million colours) even if on Amazon it is wrongly advertised as 10 bit (30 bit / 1 trillion colours).
Is my monitor good enough? Are you professional photographers using 10 bit monitors? I still could return it to Amazon.
I am not sure how much it is a difference in reality with photography. Only with particular gradients and shades as far as I understand.
8 bit monitor can produce only 256 shades, so my eye is clearly capable to see banding on wide grey gradients on that 16.7 million colour monitor.
Sorry for so many questions but this is a new field I need to master very quickly.
many thanks for suggestions
