lens for photographing artwork

i had to do this recently for my neice and I found that the 100 was indeed a good lens for it.
i also have to agree that the lighting was no less important.
i am not sure if you have to do work like a catalogue - or if you are trying to dramatically present the work, things might be different

ceriltheblade wrote in post #16590782
i had to do this recently for my neice and I found that the 100 was indeed a good lens for it.
i also have to agree that the lighting was no less important.
i am not sure if you have to do work like a catalogue - or if you are trying to dramatically present the work, things might be different

Very good point. Now that you say it, im wondered nobody else asked that. May be...

I would use a macro lens for this. On a crop, I can recommend the Sigma 50 F2.8 macro lens. With large artwork, you want a shorter focal length and minimal distortion, and a flat field. When you get to really small artwork, you may want a longer focal length to allow room for lights, I.e. A greater distance. You can accomplish change in the field of view by swapping bodies. The 100 mm macro might be long on your 1.3X crop for larger artwork. It will put you pretty far back for large art, but this depends on the size of the work. Try checking this with your current lenses. This will tell you what focal lengths work best.
The Canon 50 macro should be fine for art reproduction, as would the Sigma 50.
I have been photographing artwork for my wife for years. When I shot film, I used 50 and 105 macro lenses. You might also consider the Canon 60 for your crop, but that will be on the long side as well. I would go with a 50 given your camera bodies. Also, be sure you have appropriate light stands with lights for this sort of work. You will need a pair of lights that can placed at about 45 degrees on both sides of the art. I am assuming art without glass over it.
I would shoot 8x10 on a light stand with a 50. Your 100 may work fine, if you have enough room and the art is on the smaller side.
P.S.I looked at the distortion performance of the 100 at Photozone, and it is higher than I would want for full frame flat art, but not on crop. The 50 does better in this area. You may want to pick up a 50.

it appears a 50mm macro or a 60mm macro would be useful,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, i realize that the current 50mm macro from canon is a nice sharp lens, but i would prefer a more modern equivalent with more updated technology. you've mentioned the sigma 50mm macro, any others come to mind that are worthy of consideration?

Hey! I do reproduction and art photography, so I can share some tips.
Firstly, everything depends on the requirements for quality. Lens requirements are: high image quality over the whole image surface, high index of color rendition, no distortion, detailed highlights and shadows.

Macro lenses are best for this case. The vast majority of macro lenses are free from distortion and have high image quality in the center and at the edges. Some lenses have a close-range correction system (CRC). Olympus OM macro lenses use it. Zoom lenses are the worst.

I recommend: Carl Zeiss S-Planar 60mm f / 2.8, Leica Macro-Elmarit-R 60 mm f / 2.8, Olympus OM 50/2 Macro, Olympus OM 50 / 3.5 Macro, Olympus OM 90/2 Macro, Olympus OM 100/2 , Olympus OM 100 / 2.8, Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1: 2.8 - lenses with manual focus, it can be put on Canon EOS and mirrorless cameras through an adapter. They’re good for photographing artworks.

I also want to say that Canon digital camera allows to get the most accurate color for paintings and drawings.

But, please, remember that the lens is only half of work. Remember to have proper lighting. Bad lighting can ruin any photo. Even if it was taken with the best camera and the best lens. At the same time, correctly prepared light can help to make excellent photos of drawings and paintings made even on non-unusual surfaces or without professional devices, as in the photo below. It’s a painting on glossy mug and plate taken with not professional camera and it looks very good.

Kyles wrote in post #16589438
what canon lenses would you recommend for photographing artwork anywhere from 8x10 inches up to 40x50 inches, i am referring to drawings and paintings,

as always, your thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated!


Best Wishes, Kyle

TS-E 50L Macro and/or TS-E 90L Macro, depending on space requirements.

Apart from these being excellent semi-macro (1:2) lenses, they have stunning roll-off at any aperture, and the shift option helps with eliminating reflections if the items to be photographed have a glass cover.

Of course, if you need more ease of use, a Macro lens with AF is what you'd need to go for. The 100L will do just fine in that case, and if you ned a wider angle lens, any of the Canon 50 mm variants will do just fine when stopped down to F/5.6 or F/8.

Kind regards, Wim