Product Photography - Best bang for buck?

CapedCrusader

Hi all,

I run a website and am wondering what equipment I should get that would give me the greatest improvement in my product pictures, without spending a fortune. Manufacturers usually provide the images but we need to take the occassional picture - so there would be no justification for spending on this big time.

This won't be my profession, or hobby - I just would like to know what I can do to produce decent pictures.

I have made my own light box which I feel is pretty decent and I'm using 40W desk lamps with it. I'm thinking I need to invest in lights and a better camera. I'm currently using a point and click (Canon IS850). Don't laugh!

What should I buy next that would produce the best improvement in my pictures? Lights, or a new camera?

What lights would offer the best bang for buck and where would I get them? What camera would people recommend (bearing in mind limited budget)? And if you were in my position and could only get one thing, would it be lights or a camera?

Would be grateful for any tips and advice.

CabanSail

What size are the Products you are shooting?

TBH ... if you are only producing images for the web, then you don't need great resolution. The key will be usinng a diffused/bounced external flash rather than one that's in the camera. A lead to fire the flash off the camera would also help.

There are Bridge/Compacts with a Hot Shoe which will do this.

If the items are only small then one of those White Laundry Baskets from Dunnes would be useful.

CapedCrusader

Thanks CabanSail,

Products vary in size from small to large but most are small enough. I have my own lightbox which I'm happy with so I'm looking on advice on cameras and lighting.

I tried the camera chooser link on one of the stickies (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp), but to be honest, I don't know what features are important for product photography.

Why does a lead to fire the flash matter?

Apologies for the ignorance!

CabanSail

A lead will allow you to move the flash away from the camera. This will allow you to get some shadows & so give the product some depth. Direct flash will make it look flat.

On the Selector the important field you need is "External Flash" & probably then have format to "compact" or "SLR-like" & see what suggestions it gives you. You may be best looking at the Nikon or Canon options as they have compatible flashes available which will do TTL Metering & not cost a fortune.

CapedCrusader

After some googling, a very economical lighting solution might be to use 500W halogen worklights with special bulbs which produce white light similar to here: http://www.shuttertalk.com/articles/diylighting

No problem finding the worklights, but where would I find those colour compensating white bulbs? Any suggestions would be welcome!

Placebo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/martigras/2367615640/in/photostream/

you could make your own and use lamps etc

CapedCrusader

Hi Placebo - I have made my own light tent and am quite happy with it - I'm now looking for lamps for it, but I don't know where to find true white 500W halogen bulbs. Any ideas?

CabanSail

You can use those bulbs as long as you have a camera that can vary White Balance.

If you get a camera that shoots RAW files, then you can vary it after you have taken the image.

Placebo

Oops should have read properly. Well ebay for one,

http://shop.ebay.ie/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1313&_nkw=500W+halogen+bulbs

but in general, im not sure if you can adjust white balance in your camera but you could do with just a normal lamp.

CabanSail

As those "Daylight" lamps are still Tungsten I would be surprised if they would look the same as Daylight on the camera.

What I meant above was that you can use the ordinary lamps & change the WB to adjust for any Colour Cast. This would mean choosing a camera which has variable White Balance.

If you choose a camera that will also record RAW images, then you can vary the White balance anytime you like in Post Production.

CapedCrusader

Thanks guys

I was looking for linear daylight lamps for those 500W worklights - but I don't find them anywhere. Best bet I think, would be to get daylight bulbs like the one placebo linked to for regular lamps. Then see what kind of results I get - I can then work up from there.

Tactical

Try a metal halide lamp for a white light output.

Then shoot raw and adjust to suit.

I've shot a lot of products and never yet used flash. I personally concentrate on getting the lighting right and an exposure to suit the desired outcome. But every situation can be different so a flash may well be necessary. The stuff I mainly shot was pretty reflective and also a matt gold.

I guess it really depends on the product, target audience and your budget. Do you have some examples of shots you're using? If you're prepared to post some you may well get some feedback to point you in direction you'd like to go.

Every product is different and there are many factors that will dictate what the best direction to go is.

What size are the shots when posted on your website? If they are pretty small then the camera you are using may be just fine. Like I say, so many different factors to consider, so a bit more info may help get better directed answer.