Beginner Lens for Jewellery

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adriano.nocenzi

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Hi All,

I'm a beginner, and i have a D3300 i got this camera because of my business as a jeweler, saw i would like to ask what's the best lens to do jewelry shots? i saw that must be 1:1 ratio.

Thanks You
 
adriano.nocenzi said:
I'm a beginner, and i have a D3300 i got this camera because of my business as a jeweler, saw i would like to ask what's the best lens to do jewelry shots? i saw that must be 1:1 ratio.
Click to expand...
More important than the lens is going to be the lighting I would think...
 
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adriano.nocenzi said:
thanks i have 18-55mm and close up filters, can i use them, and is there a way to know how many filters i need to put to achieve the 1:1 ratio?
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If you use +10 diopter it should be (very close to) 1:1 at 50-55mm. But unless it is a more expensive multi element diopter (like Raynox DCR250) I wouldn't use it. It will not be as sharp and it will introduce image issues such as chromatic aberrations.
Much better is a set of extension tubes or lens reversal... lens reversal probably being the cheapest option even with buying a more suitable lens. The cheapest I would go is the DCR250...
 
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adriano.nocenzi said:
Hi All,

I'm a beginner, and i have a D3300 i got this camera because of my business as a jeweler, saw i would like to ask what's the best lens to do jewelry shots? i saw that must be 1:1 ratio.

Thanks You
Click to expand...
What jewellery are you going to be photographing?
What is the intended purpose of the images?
1:1 means a subject 1cm wide will be 1cm on the sensor, your depth of field is going to be very shallow even stopping the lens down a lot (diffraction rears its head as well). Lighting will be a nightmare particularly as a beginner, shiny metal and precious stones are not the easiest of subjects to get looking good.
 
Macro lens is the best way to be honest.

Tubes will be ok but close up lenses are awful in my experience. In comparison anyway.
 
PhilH04 said:
What jewellery are you going to be photographing?
What is the intended purpose of the images?
1:1 means a subject 1cm wide will be 1cm on the sensor, your depth of field is going to be very shallow even stopping the lens down a lot (diffraction rears its head as well). Lighting will be a nightmare particularly as a beginner, shiny metal and precious stones are not the easiest of subjects to get looking good.
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mainly silver, and yes with stones, unfortunately i know jewellery are difficult to shot, i have a light box.
 
Silver... not easy to light, stones even harder especially getting the facets to show well, when combined it becomes very difficult, a light box IMO will not cut it, so you need to do a lot of research on lighting techniques.

What sort of size is the jewellery? Again what is the purpose of the images i.e record for insurance, point of sale etc.

I would say that the least of your problems is the lens you will use.
 
PhilH04 said:
Silver... not easy to light, stones even harder especially getting the facets to show well, when combined it becomes very difficult, a light box IMO will not cut it, so you need to do a lot of research on lighting techniques.

What sort of size is the jewellery? Again what is the purpose of the images i.e record for insurance, point of sale etc.

I would say that the least of your problems is the lens you will use.
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Size wise are pendants, rings charms and necklace, mainly the pictures are for selling online and catalogue
 
There is a reason people pay professionals to do this type of work... ;-)

I would guess that you do not need to go to 1:1 for many of those subjects and research into lighting and how these sorts subjects are presented, poor photography (not intended to be patronising) is not going to get you any sales.

Silver takes good technique to make it look silver and gem stones can look dreadful if the correct facets are not showing... combining the two needs a very skilled photographer. Having been involved to a small extent in this type of photography I can tell you that it is one I dreaded.

Please don't take this as disparaging....
 
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For sure I'm not expecting to be professional but at least to make acceptable photos, plus I would like macro as well
 
Best thing is to research your lighting, that is where you will find some of the greatest difficulties (starting to sound like a stuck record there), most of the difficulties can be overcome but it does take time/practice and research.

Just remember a light box isn't going to provide you with useable light without a lot of work.

A 'macro' lens does not need to be expensive, you don't say what your budget is but Laowa make a very nice 60mm 1:2 lens albeit fully manual which isn't a bad thing in close up work.

I do believe you will find it harder than you think to even get acceptable images.
 
Since I enjoy photography and my wife is a jeweller, I have a keen interest in this topic myself.
Ive tried many ways so far and failed, so Id like to know the secrets of good jewellery pics....
 
Hertsman said:
Since I enjoy photography and my wife is a jeweller, I have a keen interest in this topic myself.
Ive tried many ways so far and failed, so Id like to know the secrets of good jewellery pics....
Click to expand...
Hi @Hertsman, are you able to post some of your try? I planning to do some shoot tomorrow, so I can start to ask help based on examples. :)
 
Given the equipment you have now, this might give you a starting point and help to understand lighting a little better.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tBTY2PGVvs


Give your 18-55mm a try at between 40 and 55mm, you might be surprised at how well it works for this type of photography. It wont give you 1:1 but unless you want to zoom in to individual gems or real close up detail shots should cope fairly well.
 
adriano.nocenzi said:
I'm a beginner, and i have a D3300 i got this camera because of my business as a jeweler, saw i would like to ask what's the best lens to do jewelry shots? i saw that must be 1:1 ratio.
Click to expand...

As with the other suggestions, the most important thing is not the equipment but rather how you compose your subject and your use of lighting.

The lenses should be a pretty easy choice, a Sigma 105mm or Nikon 60mm should both work very well and they're cheap.
 
By coincidence have just been asked about an old photo on Flickr which demonstrates quite well the capabilities of a kit lens for close-ups. This is the full frame, it could have been cropped to get in much closer, taken at 55mm. Click the picture to take you through to flickr for a full description of how it was shot.
Hope this helps ?

[url=https://flic.kr/p/dUU6P8]Focus Exercise 01 by Steve Bennett, on Flickr[/URL]
 
here some test from this morning, any suggestion ?

https://500px.com/manage/public


Are the first Three
public
 
OK had a look now... I am sure you will be aware that one of your problems is your limited depth of field.

Your main problem at the moment is the quality of your lighting a which is doing the jewellery no favours, for me it doesn't look 'silver' and the flaws are being exaggerated. You need to do more to get some interest in the lighting especially when you start adding gemstones (look at your garnets which are cut stones, in one image they are black holes in the other a couple of the facets show, when imaging gemstones we used mirrors and black flags to highlight and subdue facets to give the stone some form)

It would be useful if we knew how you are lighting these as just looking at the images it is difficult to advise (for me anyway).
 
for those i use the internal flash inside the soft box, with aluminum foil under the ring support, what type of light you suggest, i also used a +10 filter on the stock 18-55 mm lens
 
Can you describe this soft box? I am guessing it is bought as a kit and has a flash unit built in.

If so you are going to have no control over your light and can only use flags and reflectors to get any shape, modelling or interest.

I would start with a fairly large softbox above and slightly to the rear of your subject, add fill with a reflector that is in front of the camera (if you are close then you may have to cut a hole for your lens), then you can model your jewellery using black flags etc to give it some shape. If you have stones in the jewellery then it becomes a lot more complicated...

As I said you do need more depth of field, which I am guessing is going to be difficult to achieve with that set up.
 
PhilH04 said:
Can you describe this soft box? I am guessing it is bought as a kit and has a flash unit built in.

If so you are going to have no control over your light and can only use flags and reflectors to get any shape, modelling or interest.

I would start with a fairly large softbox above and slightly to the rear of your subject, add fill with a reflector that is in front of the camera (if you are close then you may have to cut a hole for your lens), then you can model your jewellery using black flags etc to give it some shape. If you have stones in the jewellery then it becomes a lot more complicated...

As I said you do need more depth of field, which I am guessing is going to be difficult to achieve with that set up.
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Simple soft box, no light inside.
Like this one https://m.aliexpress.com/s/item/32816736387.html?trace=storeDetail2msiteDetail
 
So internal flash is the on camera flash?

Personally I would not use one of those light tents, fine for a quick snap to put on eBay, but IMO useless for getting good lighting especially if using the flash on the camera.
 
I'm not professing any expertise but I did have a play a while back.
I did a ring making day and took some pictures during the course and some attempts at product shots afterwards at home.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/amcuk/albums/72157682765758465/with/33461980734/

For the "product shots" I used a standard kit lens and some FOTGA extension tubes.
The tubes were cheap from eBay and maintain the electrical connections so focus and aperture were controllable.
I set the camera on a tripod and used daylight, a desklamp, iPhone and small maglite torch (yes, white balance is a nightmare).
I fixed the ISO as low as possible and used aperture priority to attempt to get the deepest depth of focus with what I had available.
The slow shutter wasn't a problem as I was using a 2 second self timer and the tripod and nothing is moving.

Using live view and fixed lights you can see what you're doing. I doubt I could have done much with on camera flash.
I was amazed at the differences from using different backgrounds made in bringing out the texture of the rings.
The difference minor changes in moving small lights to create highlights was also surprising.
I was also amazed (afterwards) that my attempts at cleaning the rings and the backgrounds were as feeble as they were. The smallest fingerprint, eyelash etc.spoiled a shot and I thought I was being careful!

If you have the time I'm sure you can get decent results, if you don't then I might consider asking for some professional 1 to 1 teaching.
 
adriano.nocenzi said:
ok, thanks for your help, what type of lights do you suggest to get to have a better result?
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Look for videos on YouTube. Alex Koloskov/Photigy has some of the best product photography video lessons IMO. There are a lot of more videos/tutorials on how to do it badly...

I just saw this video that does a good job of showing what can be required for even a small item... the only thing that I'm a little surprised by is that they didn't use any negative lighting (black cards).

View: https://youtu.be/EnpS_d7cj4k
 
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