Newbie needing advice - don't flame me! :-)

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Hermie

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Angie
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Right...apologies if it's in the wrong place and too long. First post and I'm trying to give you all the info you may need to tell me where to go.....nicely! Got sent here via a non-related forum, by the way.

I run my own website (& ebay shop) selling crystal jewellery and collectables and am desperate for a new camera as, quite frankly, my pics are...ummm...carp and seriously let my business down! I'm not much use at technical stuff (but willing to learn) and am into "set it to auto and let the machine do it's thing". I've got a Canon EOS 1000FN from my backpacking days & then got a little Kodak CX7350 digital camera (awful) and that's what I'm looking to replace.

I really need to be able to do great close-ups and was told by my local camera shop to go for a Nikon D40 and a macros lens or a Canon G9. I've spent the entire day since registering reading on here and now have a serious case of brain-ache and indecision. I'm quite happy to go on a photography course (especially now I feel seriously thick after looking at some of the experts on here!), but need someone to tell me what sort of kit to start with. Canon's seem to be the most popular. Are any of my old EOS sigma lenses compatible with dslrs or can I chuck them?? What will give me the best start at taking sharp close-ups of clear crystal items and jewellery? What lenses do I need?

I'm already ducking waiting to get flamed - there are some awesome photograhers on here and my questions must sound thick - although I feel really inspired after some of the pics I looked at today (awesome!) - I want to get on a course and REALLY learn!

Deep breath...."Help!" :cuckoo:
 
My wife make jewellery and I have the task of photographing her work. I have a Nikon D200 and use a Nikon 105mm macro lens. I have used this same lens on her Nikon D40x so know it works well there too. There is a 60mm macro too which will zoom in about half as far!

This is with the camera, lens and (from ebay) a table top studio kit costing about £25 and consisting of 2 lamps, a small tripod and a light tent

An example of this setup:

now_silver.jpg
 
:wave: to you too.

Spend wise...well....like anyone, I guess as much value for as little spend as poss, but for starters I'm willing to spend around £600-800 with more once I know what the heck I'm on about!

By the way - having gone into a few shops and "handled the merchandise" (oooerrrr), I definitely prefer the chunkier dslr's to the smaller G9-type cameras....don't know if it sounds daft, but I think how a camera feels counts for a lot.
 
cowasaki said:
My wife make jewellery and I have the task of photographing her work. I have a Nikon D200 and use a Nikon 105mm macro lens. I have used this same lens on her Nikon D40x so know it works well there too. There is a 60mm macro too which will zoom in about half as far!

This is with the camera, lens and (from ebay) a table top studio kit costing about £25 and consisting of 2 lamps, a small tripod and a light tent]

Blimmin' 'eck! :eek: That is SOOO mcuh better than my cruddy pics!

Erm...what's a light tent?
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i also have an ebay shop and for all our pics we use a panasonic lumix, not sure what model, it can do macro work.
 
There are no soft questions, just soft answers.

I'm not so sure you need camera advice as such - you need more rounded advice as to how to take pics of jewellery for your eBay site. Any old camera will do. Just go and buy one - a D40 will be fine. You don't NEED a macro lens - the kit lens will do fine. A Canon 400D will also do the job. BUT you also need a tripod, so make sure its (the camera) got the screw hole in the bottom. There are also good offerings from Fuji, Pentax and elsewhere. Don't spend loads of cash on the camera. You don't need to. Manual mode would be good, but again, even that's not required.

And, you need to create the right environment to take the photos.

So tripod. If you're taking pics at home, cheap is fine. Sturdy is what you want. Google for a gorillapod. You can use it on the kitchen table.

Lights - get something like this

And you're all set for taking fabby photos. Or you can make your own light tent from a cardboard box and some sheets of A4 paper - just cut the top and sides of the box away and tape the A4 paper in place. Put a sheet or an old t-shirt inside to make a white (or black or red or blue) backdrop inside. 2 lights either side. Job done.

There's a thread around here somewhere that shows you how to do it. Can't find it atm. Someone else will, I'm sure

Have fun.
 
Thank you - I should add that I'm quite happy to take "hard" answers and not just soft :D

Also, having spent years travelling in my "youff", I still live in hope of doing it all again ( :woot:) so would use the camera for that and trips away on my trike as well as my business.

The maddest thing is that the best pics I ever took were on my ancient Olympus XA-2....picked up for £10 in a second-hand shop in about 1987!!
 
If you wanted to spend less but have something that looks like a dSLR, look at the Fuji s6500 (£150) or s9600 (£210) - both have macro focus down to about 1cm.

The image quality isn't as good as a dSLR, but for web images it would be more than good enough.
 
If you go down the Nikon route these are a number of possibilities:

These are from DIGITALREV on Ebay.

D40x with 18-55mm lens & 4GB car + spare battery + bag + extras £319.99+£55p&p

D40x with 55-200mm lens & 2GB car + spare battery + bag + extras £409.99+£55p&p

D40x with 55-200mm lens & 2GB car + SB400 flash + spare battery + bag + extras £459.99+£55p&p

These are two macro lenses from the same supplier:

Nikon AF 60mm f2.8D micro lens + 62mm UV filter £164.99+£39 p&p (manual)

Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8G IF ED VR micro £379.99+£42 p&p (auto focus)

IF you go down the light tent route this is one on ebay: (its about £10 so not worth making your own!)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/50cm-Photo-So...oryZ3860QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I bought a different one complete with a mini tripod and 2 spot lights and delivery all for £29 but I cannot see it for sale just at the moment.


Yes you can get away without the macro lens but if you are taking pictures of small items for resale this will give you the best pictures. You could try a macro diopta fitted to the kit lens which would be better than nothing.
 
Cowasaki....£55 P&P?????. Where on earth is the seller?- :eek:

I'm liking the sound of the light tenty thing.....very interesting. I can see I have mountains to climb in terms of learning, but it's all inspiring me now. I should go to bed but just want to go get a camera NOW!
 
Welcome to the forum Hermie:wave:

First and foremost don't throw out your old Sigma lens's....they will be EF mount and should work just fine on a Canon DSLR:thumbs:

As you already have Canon fit lens's I would probably suggest that you have a look at the Canon 400D. It's an entry level DSLR (much the same as the Nikon D40X) and more than capable of getting the images you want. It's also not a bad time to buy as Canon are about to launch the 450D which is an upgraded model so the price of the 400D is very competitive right now. If you can wait until March there are rumors that Canon are going to do another of their "cash back" offers so you may well be able to save another £50 on the price:woot:

HTH
 
^^^ What he said! :thumbs:

Welcome Hermie - for advice and help you're in the right place. To be honest it sounds like you already have a fairly good idea yourself what some of the answers to your questions are. Your comment about the feel of a camera needing to be right was spot on - so go into a shop and handle a few. In the Canon range, there is the 400D as mentioned, however, its predecessor - the 350D - is still out there and available in some places and you might find some superb deals on one of those, brand new. If you did want to buy a dedicated macro lens then something like the Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro that a lot of us on here use would serve you well. There are some jewellery shots I posted on the "Photo sharing - Macro" board earlier on that were taken using that lens.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on!
 
Well...noone's screaming at me to grab the G9 so I'll happily dismiss it as I prefer the chunkier dslr's anyway.

Ta for the last post, Eric - waiting until March is no issue - I've done some ringing round and a few friends have Canon's so I'm off to take my old lenses round to check them out against their kits.

I'm getting the distinct feeling that Canon is the way to go?

Witch - ooooh thanks for that - I usually do a mountain of research before deciding on anything but am notoriously carp at decisions - yes, I know what I prefer, but need to know it's right for me as technical aspects aren't my strong point. The young lad in my local camera shop already thinks I fancy him cos I've been in so often!! Your tips have been added to the noted list and I'll report back tomorrow. Why aren't the shops open now?
 
Hermie said:
I've done some ringing round and a few friends have Canon's so I'm off to take my old lenses round to check them out against their kits.
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Even more reason to go with Canon....free tuition from you mates while you get used to your new Camera, and you get to borrow their lens's:thumbs::lol:
 
Eric Mc said:
Even more reason to go with Canon....free tuition from you mates while you get used to your new Camera, and you get to borrow their lens's:thumbs::lol:
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Oh if only I could post a pic of the the "main man" here....borrow kit???.....Yea right!?! :lol:
 
Hermie said:
Oh if only I could post a pic of the the "main man" here....borrow kit???.....Yea right!?! :lol:
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Well that makes it even easier...he's a man;) Fluttered eyelashes and a little pout and the kit will be yours:lol:
 
Eric Mc said:
Well that makes it even easier...he's a man;) Fluttered eyelashes and a little pout and the kit will be yours:lol:
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:naughty:

Remember you said this....there's a story here.....I'll tell you one day soon.....PMSL.

And now it's time to say goodnight and ta for a friendly welcome. I look forward to becoming a half-way decent photographer!
 
This is the Talk Photography Forum Hermie, nobody gets flamed here, we're too friendly :lol: Lots of good advice though, good luck with it.
 
Can I just point you in the direction of Albys posts in the Macro photo sharing section.

Panasonic FZ8 - £150

Raynox 202 - £40 odd quid.

What more could you need ?
 
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