Product Macro Photography - Equipment suggestions up-to £1500?

[Royvdbb]

Hi,

Hope you're all having a good week! I need the advice of you wonderful people regarding a new camera and macro lens. So here's the situation... I currently use my iPhone (I know!) and an Ollo clip macro lens to take macro shots of the luxury pens that we sell as a business. To be fair the results are very good and I've honed the technique, including buying a decent lighting setup. But now the time has come to move on to another level and as such I've spent a considerable amount of time looking at the options, but not being a photography expert I've got lost in the options.

This will be something that I'm prepared to invest time and effort in to, to get the right results, and also to enjoy having a proper setup. It'll be used for standard product photography (and photos in general!) as well of pens, so not all macro (therefore happy to invest in two lenses).

My preference is for a wifi enabled camera, so I can send them straight to my mac or iphone and then upload them to our website etc. I've been looking mostly at Sony (A6500) and Canon (80D but then someone else recommended simply opting for the lesser 1300D) options, but happy to hear suggestions.

I realise that something like the 80D might be overkill, so happy to invest less in the camera and more into the right macro lens (I'm guessing 60mm as the shots are taken very close to the pen itself and not at a distance).

I'd welcome your guidance and any suggestions will be greatly appreciated... I don't want to spend money for the sake of it, but happy to invest in what is a very important part of my business.

Thanks,

Roy

 

[realspeed]

Welcome to TP

a lot of people like the Tamron 90mm macro lens (around £350 mark version should suit) ,I too have one and suits me for macro work.
Of course you will also need a firm tripod and remote shutter release to prevent camera shake. Just something to bear in mind

I posted this in a previous thread which might help

First thing is to decide on a budget you want to spend on a camera.
Second, is to find out the spec that suits your needs.
Third, narrow the ones interested in down to 3/4.
Fourth,go into a camera shop and get a hands on feel.
Fifth ignore the first four and get one you really want

 

[Eyon]

I'll throw the the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro in for a good lens for it's price.

Can't tell you what body to buy if you're looking at Sony/Canon as I shoot Nikon and therefore only really know their products within price brackets. If Nikon was an option (I'm not trying to convert!) I'd be looking at a used D800 or a D7200. My advice, as realspeed says, go to a camera shop and get hands on, what feels best and what works for you? The Sigma and Tamron lenses mentioned will fit all major brands.

Also, invest in a good tripod! For what you're doing it'll make a huge difference to your shots. You say you already have good lighting which is a great start, but the tripod will ensure photo consistency, especially with a remote shutter.

Last point to mention, you say you want to wifi the photos straight from camera to website. I'd strongly suggest investing in some basic photo editing software (Lightroom is only a tenner a month) and learning to edit. This will take your good photos and make them potentially great photos and really bring out the best in your products.

Good luck!

 

[nandbytes]

Looks like you have got the right idea already but first things to invest in would be a good stable tripod, may be macro focussing rail and good lighting.
With the rest of the money you can look at a body and lens.

There are many ways you can go about this, each with their own positives and negatives. Larger sensors provide a shallower field of depth so you need to spend sometime focus stacking so it may not be as simple as shoot a picture send it to your phone and use it. Also as mentioned above might be worth learning to post process your pictures/RAW files which can also yield better results.

 

[Mike.P]

As it looks like you are using this mainly for product type pics and the shots are taken very close to the subject how about a Canon M series camera (M50) and the EF-M 28mm f3.5 Macro IS STM. Nice and portable, same sensor as the 80D, good rear variable screen with touch focusing, EVF, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the lens even has a built in ring light.