Nifty fifty - could I use it for catalogue work?

FlyTVR

FlyTVR

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Someone I know runs a small jewellery company and has asked me to shoot some of her products. These images will then be used on her website.

Now, this is going to be a learning experience for me. I'm going to make / invest in a light tent but I don't want to have to fork out on a macro lens (not yet).

My lens choices (for my Canon 400D) are -

Sigma 70-300
Kit lens 18-55
Canon 50mm F1.8

I'm guessing either the kit lens or the prime would be the best choice.

Also, lighting wise – can I use my studio lights with a light tent? Sorry if this is a silly question, but this is all new to me!

Advice appreciated.
 
Your kit lens has a minimum focus distance of 0.26m, which is almost half that of the 50mm (0.45mm). No idea on the sigma sorry.

The 50mm will probably be OK especially for its shallow DoF when used wide open, but you'll no doub have to crop down images to make the most of the subject matter.

I've used a close up filter on the 50mm for a few flower shots, and i was shocked just how close i had to get to focus. Might be worth a try if your budget is minimal, IQ will suffer a bit but maybe not too much if you are lucky.
 
50 1.8 with a light tent should be fine. It will be very sharp all over the frame at mid-range apertures. Flare can be a problem with light tents, so a deep lens hood might be a plan.

With jewellery, I guess your main problem will be getting close enough, which might swing it in favour of your other lenses. Used at f/8-ish, they should all be well sharp enough for web.

For moderate close ups, a close up lens is cheapest, maybe +2 dioptres as a guess. But you can get closer, and with slightly better image quality, with extensions tubes.

Edit: crossed post with Percy. Great minds etc ;)
 
You might also want to try a reverse macro adaptor ring, and mount the 50mm back to front.

No experience of how such adaptors work out in the IQ department though.
 
I agree that the prime won't get too close
I found my 17-50 was better for close up work than my primes
find the sweet spot on the kit lens, then work from there
 
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