Product Photography and Camera/Lens Choice

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ProdMan

New member
Hello, My name is Matt and I'm a newb. I'm an e-commerce seller and have decided to rather pay a professional to take photos of my products, to upgrade from my iPhone 6 Plus. I have a decent sized budget and have done a lot of homework. In addition, I began a 10-week photography course last week.

I will be doing mostly studio and indoor lifestyle photos. Who knows, but this may grow into a passionate hobby for me, Lord knows I need one. Most of the products, for now, are anywhere from 4" to 14". I won't be shooting anything too small, like jewelry, for now. Below is what I have decided to get, for my initial purchase. I have a lightbox and some studio lights, and if I have questions about that, I'll put it in another forum.

For the camera, I have decided to go with the Nikon D750.
For my first lens, I think a 50mm 1.8G

I've spent a couple hours on the forum this seems to be a fairly solid choice. I could afford to upgrade to the D810, but I think that might be overkill for what I will be shooting.

Thanks for the help.
 
P

ProdMan

New member
While I have your ear Don, can the D750 download to a laptop, wireless as you're taking photos?

Also, I assume you can activate the shutter wired and wirelessly (other than a smartphone)?

Thanks again.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
ProdMan said:
While I have your ear Don, can the D750 download to a laptop, wireless as you're taking photos?
Click to expand...
You can, but doing so requires a $900 accessory from Nikon, the UT-1Communication Unit. The wifi connection is painfully slow to transfer. You're better off in my opinion just taking the SD card to your computer. That being said you might find that DSLR Dashboard does what you want... I'm not sure.
...

ProdMan said:
Also, I assume you can activate the shutter wired and wirelessly (other than a smartphone)?
Click to expand...
Yes, there are numerous, cheap wireless remotes available. The Nikon version is just more expensive.
 
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S

STM

Senior Member
ProdMan said:
While I have your ear Don, can the D750 download to a laptop, wireless as you're taking photos?

Also, I assume you can activate the shutter wired and wirelessly (other than a smartphone)?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

You are much better off using a USB cable (the same kind you use to download images directly from the camera) and tethering software like DigiCamControl. It is free software and you can actually change parameters in the camera (shutter speed, aperture, color temperature, ISO, etc) right from the laptop. It is what I use in photo-shoots and it works terrifically. There is only about a 1 second delay from the exposure until you see the image on the laptop and it is a true representation of what the image will look like, rather than what you see on your LCD, which is an approximation at best.

Easy to use, free solution for complex camera control | digiCamControl
 
Fred Kingston

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
I'm not sure I'd select the 50mm 1.8G for product shots... Close focus distance is 1.45'... You might find that a bit limiting... Maybe a 60mm 2.8D, or another 'Macro' lens...
 
P

ProdMan

New member
FredKingston said:
I'm not sure I'd select the 50mm 1.8G for product shots... Close focus distance is 1.45'... You might find that a bit limiting... Maybe a 60mm 2.8D, or another 'Macro' lens...
Click to expand...
Noted and thanks. However, many lifestyle images, with models, will be from 5'-8' feet. I will look into the macro lenses
 
Fred Kingston

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
A 'Macro' lens isn't limited to 'close focus'... the feature is in addition to, the normal focusing capabilities... IOW, it's the best of both worlds...
 
C

carguy

Senior Member
ProdMan said:
Hello, My name is Matt and I'm a newb. I'm an e-commerce seller and have decided to rather pay a professional to take photos of my products, to upgrade from my iPhone 6 Plus. I have a decent sized budget and have done a lot of homework. In addition, I began a 10-week photography course last week.

I will be doing mostly studio and indoor lifestyle photos. Who knows, but this may grow into a passionate hobby for me, Lord knows I need one. Most of the products, for now, are anywhere from 4" to 14". I won't be shooting anything too small, like jewelry, for now. Below is what I have decided to get, for my initial purchase. I have a lightbox and some studio lights, and if I have questions about that, I'll put it in another forum.

For the camera, I have decided to go with the Nikon D750.
For my first lens, I think a 50mm 1.8G

I've spent a couple hours on the forum this seems to be a fairly solid choice. I could afford to upgrade to the D810, but I think that might be overkill for what I will be shooting.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Having done a bit of product photography for online sales myself, a D750 is overkill.


What is your budget for a camera/lens for these product shoots?


If all you plan to use this for is product shots you can even get something in the D5xxx family and do just fine. You will never see the difference between a D5xxx and a D750 in these lit product shots.


A prime should yield the best image (I've used a 35mm & 50mm 1.8G myself), although I have used a Tamron 17-50mm on my D7100 and obtained great images in a product light box.


Another vote for wired tethering if that is important to you. More cost effective and efficient than wireless solutions.
 
S

STM

Senior Member
ProdMan said:
Noted and thanks. However, many lifestyle images, with models, will be from 5'-8' feet. I will look into the macro lenses
Click to expand...

If you are going to go FX, you might want to look into the 55mm f/2.8 AIS Micro Nikkor. It is mercilessly sharp and considerably cheaper used ($100 +/-) than any AF lens and focuses down to 1:2 without any extension tube. It is manual focus but if you are planning on doing mostly static work in the studio, that is no big deal.
 
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Ironwood

Senior Member
I do a lot of small product photography ( pens ).
I use my D7100 and a Nikon AF 55 f2.8 D macro lens. I mostly manual focus with it, but if I am in a hurry sometimes I will switch to AF.
I have also tried with 35 f1.8, 105 f2.8, and a couple of mid-ranged zooms at various focal lengths, I have settled on the 55mm as I prefer the perspective I get from this focal length, and its a very sharp lens.

If I had the money to spare, I would get a D750, but the D7100 is still doing the job well. I am not sure how much difference it would make anyway.
 
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