Photographing Oil Paintings - Upgrading D3200?

Two_In

Two_In

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I use my Nikon D3200 primarily for photographing oil paintings in a studio. I've got two Smartflash lights and a couple of half-decent lenses. I'd like to upgrade my D3200 body. But what to I'm not sure? I'm still on a budget and have looked at 2nd hand D7500 bodies. I could just about stretched to that. But as this is mainly for one specific purpose, is that waste of money? I need to be able to use my current lenses also. A better LCD screen for focusing would be a real bonus, and one that can 'pull out', even better...

Thanks
 
It seems to me a fairly simple Mirrorless camera would be the best option, it does not really need an view finder for that work Just a decent LCD. all a mirror adds to such work is vibration.
using the electronic shutter would also add to stability.[ but not with Flash)
If it were me I would be looking for a basic body and a manual macro lens of suitable focal length For such copy work. It is more likely to have a flat field with minimum distortion..
Depending how large you need to produce the final images APS might be sufficient sensor size.

When I used to shoot paintings many years ago, I preferred continuous lighting as reflections on thick paint can be very unpredictable. and continuous light is easier to position accurately.
I also used to shoot Prints for a screen print artist. In some ways they were easier, but some were very large, some wall sized.
 
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I don't understand why you want to change the body. As said, a macro lens would seem to be ideal, owing to its flat field & rectlinear drawing. If you can get the lighting right (a tale in itself) a sensible option would be to output raw files which are the best foundation for further adjustment (colours, tones). For that, as has been said elsewhere, Nikon studio NX is free.

I have trouble understanding why you have trouble focussing a flat, stationary subject with an optical vf.

I assume (?) that you use a tripod?
 
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My question would be why do you want to change your camera body? At 24mp the D3200 is comparable with the rest of the Nikon DX range, i.e. you won't get a DX body that offers more mp, you need to move to FX for that.

In terms of the screen, why not just tether the camera and use an iPad/phone/laptop to live view?
 
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For your primary purpose it's hard to imagine another crop body could be any better. The thing that will most influence image quality will be the lens you use, all other things being equal. A mirrorless camera will possibly give better live view functionality, but otherwise will make little difference.

In your place I'd get rid of your least good lens and replace it with something much better IF you want to upgrade image quality.
 
Is it possible to replace the 3200's LED screen with something better?
Or how do I hook it up to a PC/Phone for live view and focusing there? Would it actually give a better image?

My problem is the current screen is very grainy, and for manual focusing of a painting that doesn't have much detail - that's a problem. So would upgrading get me a better screen?

Btw. Focusing can be a problem as I've mounted the camera to the ceiling and I'm using ladders to get up there. Also photographing smaller work on the floor with a tripod means the camera can be a bit high for me to get above it easily. But the main problem is photographing paintings that have broad flat areas with little detail. Also my 60mm doesn't do auto focus well or reliably (is that something to do with the lens, lighting or the body?).

A LED screen that folds out would be advantageous for this reason I think?
 
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Two_In said:
Is it possible to replace the 3200's LED screen with something better?
Or how do I hook it up to a PC/Phone for live view and focusing there? Would it actually give a better image?

My problem is the current screen is very grainy, and for manual focusing of a painting that doesn't have much detail - that's a problem. So would upgrading get me a better screen?

Btw. Focusing can be a problem as I've mounted the camera to the ceiling and I'm using ladders to get up there. Also photographing smaller work on the floor with a tripod means the camera can be a bit high for me to get above it easily. But the main problem is photographing paintings that have broad flat areas with little detail. Also my 60mm doesn't do auto focus well or reliably (is that something to do with the lens, lighting or the body?).

A LED screen that folds out would be advantageous for this reason I think?
Click to expand...

Have a look in the manual to see how to tether it, or look online of course, then you'll be able to see whats happening through a laptop/similar. Not sure about the lens but couldn't you put a focus target on the picture, to focus on, then remove the target to take the image?
 
Two_In said:
Is it possible to replace the 3200's LED screen with something better?
Or how do I hook it up to a PC/Phone for live view and focusing there? Would it actually give a better image?

My problem is the current screen is very grainy, and for manual focusing of a painting that doesn't have much detail - that's a problem. So would upgrading get me a better screen?

Btw. Focusing can be a problem as I've mounted the camera to the ceiling and I'm using ladders to get up there. Also photographing smaller work on the floor with a tripod means the camera can be a bit high for me to get above it easily. But the main problem is photographing paintings that have broad flat areas with little detail. Also my 60mm doesn't do auto focus well or reliably (is that something to do with the lens, lighting or the body?).

A LED screen that folds out would be advantageous for this reason I think?
Click to expand...
why not mount the picture on a wall, that is by far the more usual procedure, and everything becomes so much easier. lighting focussing everything.
Most cameras allow you to magnify the image by 10x for focussing, it makes it easy. If there is nothing to focus on hang a target to lay on the surface.
You could fix some adjustable French cleats to the wall to hang the pictures.
 
Two_In said:
Unfortunately my studio is small and full of shelves and stuff...
Click to expand...
my experience is that you need a lot of space to successfully photograph paintings. "Things and stuff" need to be excluded from a studio.
Best of luck.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
my experience is that you need a lot of space to successfully photograph paintings. "Things and stuff" need to be excluded from a studio.
Best of luck.
Click to expand...
That's why I've mounted the camera from the ceiling.
 
Given your constraints, then, as has been suggested above and if you can't focus on the texture of a canvas, you could use a focus target that overlays the painting if the painting might lack contrast / detail. This could be fine lines inked onto white paper, for instance. Or something printed.

It doesn't seem that a camera of any great sophistication or price is needed, since they all have pretty good resolution these days. But it seems that one with a folding screen might be useful, & this could be dslr or mirrorless? But the budget can be kept low.

I'm assuming manual exposure, and you can experiment with this (iso & aperture) to protect any highlights, and evolve a standard setup, even, if the flashes will always be the same distance from the subject & at the same power settings.

Hopefully you are shooting raw, so can tweak colour / tonality without prejudice before outputting your result?
 
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If you are shooting from the ceiling How do you judge the light and possible reflections. you view of the image must be horrible.
 
Two_In said:
Is it possible to replace the 3200's LED screen with something better?
Click to expand...
I would suggest tethering to a laptop for better larger pre/re-view and remote control; the open source freeware digiCamControl supports the D3200 (and it's about the only program that does).
 
Two_In said:
My problem is the current screen is very grainy, and for manual focusing of a painting that doesn't have much detail - that's a problem. So would upgrading get me a better screen?
Click to expand...
I wonder if the graininess could be due to insufficient light on the subject rather than the screen quality/resolution?
 
Don't hold me to this as it was a few years ago, but when I had a D3200 it wasn't possible to tether or add an external monitor to it. I read at the time that none of the D3x00 series did because they were considered to be a beginner's camera that shouldn't need those features.

In the end I sold it and bought a D7200 so I could tether it to Capture One - Lightroom was way too slow to be of any use at all.
 
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