Best camera for macro pictures? (product pictures)

pELYgroso

'Merica
Location
LEHI, UT
Hey guys, I'm looking into cameras and thought I'd ask the RME knowledge pool. I'm looking for a camera to take nice product pictures with. These will be small items and I'd like to be able to take some fairly close-up shots. Similarish to the one below. Any suggestions? I'd like to stay as far under $1500 as I can. (ideally under $1k unless a better camera is a MUST.) Would a point and shoot work well? I'm not super familiar with all of the manual adjustments on a DSLR camera but am willing to learn if it will make a big difference. Any experience with the newer mirrorless cameras?

Next question: Once I choose a camera, is anybody willing to meet up and give me some pointers? Maybe a couple-hour lesson? I'd be happy to pay you for your time.

Next question: I'm sure that a lot of the final outcome will need to come from editing. At one point I knew enough about photoshop to get myself into trouble but I'd consider it all forgotten. Is photoshop the end-all for editing or are there any other programs that may be a little more user friendly that work well? And would anybody be able to also give me a lesson in whichever program I end up using? (also willing to pay)

I may be better off just hiring this out completely, but I've always wanted to be a little more familiar with photography and editing.

Thanks guys,
Tyler
 

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sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
If you do decide to hire it out, hit me up.

Photoshop knowledge is nice, but you can do what you need in Lightroom (much cheaper and easier to use).
 

blznnp

Well-Known Member
Location
Herriman
I would think it would depend on your lense. my wife does product shots for a jewelry/ clothing company, she has a Nikon D60 I think, I can't remember and she just left to do pictures. she has taught a class before on photography, if i can find one of her books that she made for her class I will get it to you. Has some basic info for settings and descriptions.
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
My macro lens alone cost $1100. There are a lot of point and shoot cameras with a "macro" setting, but i'm betting the image above was shot on a full frame camera with a very expensive lens.
 

blznnp

Well-Known Member
Location
Herriman
My macro lens alone cost $1100. There are a lot of point and shoot cameras with a "macro" setting, but i'm betting the image above was shot on a full frame camera with a very expensive lens.

I would agree with steve. I got my wife the camera and one lense I think and it set me back 3500-4000. I am sure you can do a lot with a little, but the quality might not be what you want. I don't know much about the stuff, but the RAW images might not able to be done with many cameras. Im sure steve or DAA could correct me on that. I would assume that images like the one you posted are mostly done in RAW format
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
DAA and Notrax are the experts. Quite a few cameras shoot in RAW these days. RAW is really useful if you're going to be messing with the picture in post. If you just want to snap a quick pic and upload it to your website, JPG will be just fine. I'll bet you could get a little $400-800 P&S and get decent macro shots out of it.
 
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