Maybe OT - Macro Photography and Photo Equipment Suppliers

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong group to post such a question in, and if it
is, recommendations for an alternative group would be appreciated.

<Sorry, slightly long and rambling post I'm afraid>

My wife has a little sideline, selling handmade lampwork glass beads and
silver jewelery through her online store. I made the mistake of telling her
when she first began that I had spent some years at art school studying
photography. And so, I suddenly found myself being volunteered as the
photographer for her projects (fact that most of my time at college was spent
in a darkroom studying developing processing and printing technique didn't
seem to bother her much - sigh!).

Using a couple of Nikon Coolpix 5000s (the original 5000 that is) I set up a
tabletop macro/lighting setup, and started taking pictures. It took me some
months of trial and error to reach what I considered a high and consistent
standard of quality (as high as I could get given the setup)

A few weeks back, my wife was emailed by a gentleman asking who photographed
her samples? "My husband" she replied.

That gentleman owns a small chain of high-end jewelery stores throughout the
NE. Last week he asked me If I would like to handle his photography for him?
Of course, me being someone who hasn't learnt to say no - I replied "sure,
more than happy to" (okay, the money helped me to decide).

I have to admit to taking what I would consider good quality images with
these battered old Nikons 5000, but as for really serious work, I really need
to bite the bullet and buy myself a D-SLR with a suitable macro lens setup.



The items I have to photograph vary in size between a single diamond up to a
wristwatch.

Full size images need to fill 1280 x 1024 screen

I've been a Nikon guy all of my life (F2, F3s, EM, FM2s, 750, 5000s, 5700,
P2s etc) but I'm more than willing to change (Bought my son a Canon 401 as a
first camera - very impressed, never touched a Canon before). Also owned and
used Minnox, Contax, Olympus and Pentax.

Q1: Any recommendations on a middle range D-SLR body/macro lens combo?

Q2: Anyone know of a good equipment seller that knows what they're talking
about and can be trusted? (Please don't suggest Cameta Camera, they're
horrendous people to deal with afaiac.

Thanks, any replies appreciated.

Dave
(e-mail invalid)

 

David Ives wrote:

At that size, the compact cameras are probably a lot easier to get good
results with. A DSLR will be more difficult but hey, this is paying for
itself and you sound real patient.

The Nikon D80 has a mirror lockup delay. Not quite the same but probably
usable for your purposes, and a nice bright viewfinder. Just about any
macro lens will work for jewelery, something like an old manual 55mm
with it's extension tube will even work, though it won't meter, this
kind of work demands looking at the histogram anyways. Or a new 60mm
although it's possible these shorter lenses will interfere with your
lighting.

B&H or Adorama online, though I wouldn't ask any dealer for advice other
than technical "is this compatible" type questions.

 

While these companies may be dependable in shipping and pricing, I
wouldn't ask them for advice or recommendations on equipment. Their
answer is always to upgrade. They would sell stilts to a cripple if
it would increase the sale.

 

You might want to look at the ready-made soft-box solutions for
photographing jewelry targeted at the professional jeweler:

http://www.kassoy.com/tech/image002.html (Kassoy is a large jeweler's
tool and supply company in New York)

For example: "The Gem eBox. Now Enhanced With LED Lighting to Make
Diamonds Sparkle Performance at a Great Price. The Gem eBox puts imaging
on your desktop at an affordable price in a convenient package. It
measures only 15" W x 10.5" H x 7.5" D."

As far as a camera goes, any Nikon DSLR with the 60mm Micro Nikkor lens
should do the trick. With a small sensor you can shoot from farther away
for the same coverage as it becomes essentially a 90mm macro lens.

B&H is great in person; however, I don't know how informed their
telephone folks are. Same for Adorama. If you are looking at used
equipment, KEH in Atlanta is quite good on the phone and I have been
buying from them for decades.

Hope this helps,

--k

 

Being able to lock the mirror isn't so much of a bonus. A bright screen
however is, as most of the framing is done at arms length.

HA!.....the gods hate me. I sold my old Nikkor 55mm 2.8 on ebay just a few
months back. It never got much use, even when I was shooting 35mm.

These days, apart from the macro work I do for my wife, most of the stuff I
take is point and shoot holiday stuff using a pair of Nik P2's (which I'm sad
to say aren't that good imho).

No problem, I'm middle age, I still own a light meter

Of the few dealers I've spoken to, most seem to be pushing the 110mm. I can
see one advantage in having a 110mm, and that is for portraiture. Seeing that
my portrait days are long gone - and that all I want to do is macro - do you
see any advantage of a 60mm over a 110mm or vice-versa? The lighting is a
home made rig using four daylight temperature sources, and so lighting is
fairly flexable.

Thanks for the recommendations. Just looked at Adorama online, looks good.

You're absolutely right about the questions part. Whatever happened to
knowledgable staff eh! (Good grief, I sound like my father)

D

 

Sadly I have to agree 100%.

I had such an experience in CompUSA just around Christmas. We were out buying
a laptop. My wife was chewing the head off of the manager about his flat
refusal to allow us to actually pick up a laptop, and so I wandered across to
the next isle to look at the D-SLRs. With no one around, I reached out to
pick up (what I think was) a Nik D40, when suddenly **poof ** out of nowhere
appeared a twelve year member of the sales staff who began to tell me all
about how what-did-what, how the magazines loved this camera, how it had a
shutter speed of 8000 and how it had more accessories than I could ever wish
for. After two minutes of listening to him spewing practised script - I told
him to shut up - but he didn't - he just droned on and on and on like some
kind of manic bot fly. In the end I just looked at him and said okay okay! Is
this compatible with ordinary Nikkor lenses? Stunned silence. "I've no idea
what you mean" he replied, "let me go and ask someone". He was gone ten
minutes (by that time, my wife had just about killed the manager over his
refusal to allow her to just pick up a laptop, even though she offered him a
handful of credit cards, a drivers licence and the house keys as security).
My former member of the sales team was hiding behind the Pepsi vending
machine, just waiting for me to leave. Ninety percent of stores, whether
on-line or high street are box-shifters and nothing more.

Sorry for the rant - must be the coffee.

D

 

People seem to favor the Nikons for macro work. Any idea whether springing
the extra cash for the D80 over the D40 is worth it, considering it'll get
sat upon a tabletop, and remain there until it dies?

Are these the guys? http://www.keh.com/onlinestore/home.aspx

If so, thank you, it may be just what I'm looking for

It does, thanks

D

 

It is useful for macro work especially extreme closeups. The delay mode
is probably fine though. At full 1:1 magnification the 105 is big &
heavy & subject to a lot of wobble on a tripod in my experience,
especially angled down at funny angles.

The new 105mm has VR (stabilization for handholding) which is not really
useful for closeups but yes these lenses are excellent for general use
although the autofocus tends to be slow.

The shorter lenses are convenient for copy stands & cost less. The
longer ones are good for chasing butterflies where you want some
distance which most people like. And like I said, lighting might be
easier if you stand back & get out of the way, or more difficult if you
want to look down & need a short table or tall tripod.

 

For the 1024x768 size images you need that should be fine. Mirror lockup
isn't essential. You also don't need autofocus for macro (only the
newest AS-S lenses like the 105 will autofocus on a D40). The D40
probably has better dynamic range and more manageable sized files than
the higher megapixel count D40x too.

I bought a bargain grade (um, one step better rating) used lens from
them & wasn't happy but they took it back no problem. I was just trying
to be cheap & paid the 3-way shipping for that. They do have a good
reputation.

 

typo:
AF-S (internal (Silent) focus motor)

 

Excellent thanks, just what I needed to know. Most of the pictures are shot
at anything between 40 degrees and 90 degrees, so that is an issue and
something I need to consider.

One thing I learnt early on, steal the wife's marble top kitchen table. It's
amazing how much jarring a two hundred pound marble table dampens. That and a
cable release.

A lot of work is shot from above, it's the only way to get some of the chain
jewelery to lay in its correct pose.

I cannot see myself chasing butterflies thanks

Just to summarise, a Nik D80 with a 60mm Nikkor?


D

 

Unfortunately I don't know much about digital bodies, sorry. You don't
need much for macro work. I used to use an old Nikkormat and a 55 micro
as my dedicated macro setup.

Yes, that's them.

 

And a sturdy ballhead tripod head and the infrared remote release (no
wired cable release available).

Oh, and an 85mm tilt/shift PC Micro-Nikkor for depth of field and
perspective correction on those angled shots And a Canon iDS MkII
with a 65mm MP-E for showing the perfect 50 carat diamond's laser
engraved certificate of authenticity in blistering clarity (with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one is to be used as evidence)

 

I don't own the lens but many likes the Sigma 180mm f2.8 macro which costs
around $550-600 (good lens). And 100mm macro seem to be the most common
because of the size and price.

 

I picked up a couple of fantastic QR heads and TT tripods from a UK company
named Uni-Loc, they're very similar to Bembo (actually they may have been
associated once). I have nothing but praise for their tripods and heads, and
their customer service is just superb.

A cheaper option is to tilt the backdrop

 

Its got to be digital I'm afraid. I appreciate that in order to extract a
first class image I need something like a Pentax 6x7 with a S-M-C Macro
Takumar 6X7 135mm f/4, shooting on E4 or E6 - but the guy wants something he
can afford. Besides, the quality of stuff he sells isn't that good

Actually, I cut my teeth on medium format, shooting landscape some 30 years
ago (I had, or the college had a Bronica or a Mamiya, I can't remember
which). I always wanted a Pentax 6x7 but could never afford it. Hmmm... it
might be worth looking around ebay for one (?). Nah....better not, it'll be
darkroom setups, enlargers etc all over again. I'm already accused of not
spending enough quality time at home.....but still, a nice thought.

Thank you, I'll contact them today.

 

Good lenses Sigma, I had a couple on a F3. The only complaint I had against
them was their focusing, turning the focusing ring required some serious
muscle (yeah I know, I'm talking about before AF

 

For something like a ring, shot from a 45 degree angle, it might be hard
to get enough DOF and tilting the plane of focus helps. You can do focus
stacking also to overcome this if it becomes an issue.

Perspective correction is less likely to be an issue. Maybe for a
mirrored object when you want a straight on view without the camera's
reflection in the middle, but even that can be done in photoshop. I'm
just torturing you now.

Oh and a focus rail, bellows, ad infinitum...

That's great you've got a nice tripod.

 

I've no idea if these will show up or not, but I just snapped these using a
nik 5000 at 45 degrees - quick and dirty.

Both shot at f7.2 / 0.30sec


http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/4274/ring01jx9.jpg

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/3893/ring02hl9.jpg

Whoa!! I've never ever heard of focus stacking - wow, a new expression

 

My website (no ads, and I'm not making any money by generating traffic)
has several pages with observations and samples re: low-budget and
common-sense product photography, macro and lighting issues. My
speciality is taking the knowledge gained in past freelance work, when I
had obscene amounts of money invested in equipment, and putting that to
work "on the cheap" (I don't like the term "quick and dirty" but that's
how some would describe my methods) as an older amateur who can't afford
to buy the newest and best of everything.

http://web.mac.com/olddognewtrick/

Poke around if you like, email me if you want,

Tully (D80's with mostly low-price Nikkor lenses)