Lens Recommendation for shooting jewelry product shots

[cryztalvisions]

Hi Everyone

I'm a brand new Canon EOS 300D owner who is very happy to have found this forum.

I was given the EOS 300D kit so it came with the 18-55mm lens.

I'm looking to buy some more lenses and would appreciate your recommendations. One of the primary uses will be to shoot product shots of my jewelry line for the web and some print. Budget $500-$600.

I look forward to your replies

Beth Alexander

[Belmondo]

Look into the 100 f/2.8 macro. It's a great lens for close work.

Tom

[cryztalvisions]

Thanks that's actually one I've been considering

[ssim]

I'll second Belmondo's recommendation. The 100 macro is a magnificent lens.

[DaveG]

belmondo wrote:
Look into the 100 f/2.8 macro. It's a great lens for close work.

TomI wonder if with the use of an extension tube with one of the tilt/shift lenses would do the trick.

In spite of the extension tube it may prove impossible to get close enough to the jewelery but the capability to change the plane of the depth of field is a technique often needed by table top photographers.

[PaulB]

Come on - Beth has just got a 300D and DaveG wants her to get to grips with a TS lens. Give the poor girl a chance to get to know the gear! I still sometimes have problems getting my head round camera movements after a quarter century at this game................

I recommend a 100/2.8 EF macro - also doubles up as a nice telephoto to go with the 18-55mm.
Add a 550ex flash, off camera cord and diffuser and a decent tripod. Oh and some black velvet and other backgrounds and a light table and a diffuser dome and...... the list could go on forever.
Start with the 100/2.8 EF Macro lens and a tripod and experiment until you find out what gives you the results you are looking for then expand your kit accordingly (the black velvet and flash are going to be necessary though - sooner rather than later).

[ron chappel]

The 100 macro is indeed an awsome lens and not just for macro.However most brands of macro lenses are also excellent and can be a fair bit cheaper.The sigma,tamron and tokina lenses around the 100mm have great reputations too.

I wouldn't tell cryztal not to consider a tilt shift arrangement.With just one very simple instruction she could be reaping huge benifits from the increased DOF offered.Jewellery is often pictured at an angle so tilt/shift would be a sensible thing to consider.
The interesting thing is that she need not buy one of the expensive canon TS lenses-any 50mm lens on a suitable bellows would do the job well and would also be very inexpensive.
The drawback is of course that a bellows unit can only be used for macro shots

[iwatkins]

The Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro is a great lens. IMHO, close to just as good if money is tight is the Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX Macro (http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/a_pages/macro4.htm).

With the use of some good table lamps and a Cloud Dome (http://www.clouddome.co.uk/) you would be well set up for table top photography.

Cheers

Ian

[Fried]

I have both the Sigma 105 Macro and the 90 Ts-E.
The TS-E is fine, but it is much more difficult to handle than the Macro. You must adjust focus manually and that's not easy with the small viewfinder of the 10D, and the 300D seems to be worse.
And yes, I would pay for a focus aid on my 10D!
The angle finder /magnifier help a lot, BTW.
Just my 2c

[DaveG]

PaulB wrote:
Come on - Beth has just got a 300D and DaveG wants her to get to grips with a TS lens. Give the poor girl a chance to get to know the gear! I still sometimes have problems getting my head round camera movements after a quarter century at this game................

I recommend a 100/2.8 EF macro - also doubles up as a nice telephoto to go with the 18-55mm.
Add a 550ex flash, off camera cord and diffuser and a decent tripod. Oh and some black velvet and other backgrounds and a light table and a diffuser dome and...... the list could go on forever.
Start with the 100/2.8 EF Macro lens and a tripod and experiment until you find out what gives you the results you are looking for then expand your kit accordingly (the black velvet and flash are going to be necessary though - sooner rather than later).

If I was SURE that the T/S would focus close enough - and belive me I'm not - I would say the T/S lenses are the only choice. You have so little depth of field with the 100 macro that I'm not sure if there's enough focus WITHOUT some tilt.

She may well have bought a dRebel but that doesn't mean that she can't use the right lens "tool" for the job.

Remember this isn't large format either. The image isn't reversed and upside down on the groundglass. You get to review it instantly. You don't have to worry about bellows factors or any other type of math. Even for LF cameras when it all gets to much you just remember that the ground glass is truth.

[cryztalvisions]

Hi everyone Thank you for all the great info!!

I think I will start out with the 100mm macro and move on from there. I also have my eye on the 50mm f 1.8 II to add to my setup and a nice flash. I do have a Cloud Dome that I was using with a point-and-shoot digital and will need a different bracket for the Canon.

It will take me a while to get back up to speed...I had a nice Minolta SLR with tons of extras and lenses, but the whole setup was stolen about 8 years ago and I sort of lost my enthusiasm for serious photography for quite a while after that. Now with the 300D I'm ready to play and learn again, plus I'm looking forward to not having to worry about burning up film while I'm learning.

The tilt and shift lenses are certainly something to look into and consider further.