X-series Lens suggestion for food photography?

skybushman · Mar 9, 2021

We run a small hotel, and quite often the chef produces some amazingly beautifully crafted and laid out meals, which we'd like to photograph to use in our marketing materials.

Any suggestions for a lens for this type of photography?

a_c_skinner · Mar 9, 2021

Your kit lens will be perfectly good. Your problem will be lighting it.

skybushman · Mar 9, 2021

My X-T4 didn’t come with a lens - (body only)

d2mini · Mar 9, 2021

16-55 or 80 macro on the XT3 are my choices.

dccberry · Mar 9, 2021

The 50mm f/2 would work well, as it is optically very nice, and has a good minimum focus distance- almost macro.

SpeedyNeo · Mar 9, 2021

60 mm.

skybushman · Mar 9, 2021

dccberry said:
The 50mm f/2 would work well, as it is optically very nice, and has a good minimum focus distance- almost macro.

Is there a reason I'd go for the slower 50mm than the faster one?

Appreciate you taking the time to respond. Thanks!

skybushman · Mar 9, 2021

SpeedyNeo said:
60 mm.

2 questions:

Do you feel f2.8 is fast enough for indoor type photography of food?

What other genres of photography would this lens be good for? (assuming Macro) Anything else?

Thanks for your reply.

fujiian · Mar 9, 2021

skybushman said:
dccberry said:

The 50mm f/2 would work well, as it is optically very nice, and has a good minimum focus distance- almost macro.

Click to expand...

Is there a reason I'd go for the slower 50mm than the faster one?

The 50 f/2 has a much better minimum focus distance, so you could get in a lot closer on the food. Plus it's razor sharp.

skybushman said:
Appreciate you taking the time to respond. Thanks!

Not me, but that's what I imagine he'd say ;-)

fujiian · Mar 9, 2021

60mm f/2.4
- lot of people love this lens, it's only "half macro", but that should be more than enough for food
- really nice rendering, one of the cheaper lenses, but perhaps you would choose another lens if you want to do anything else
80mm f/2.8
- this is Fuji's "true macro", and it's supposedly excellent, but it's wicked expensive. Personally, I would use the 60 instead.
16-55mm f/2.8
- great lens, others have mentioned it, but I just don't know if it has the proper close-focusing needed for food.
  - if you're making big plates, this won't matter. But for tapas, small bowls, etc. i don't think it will get close enough.
- If you lack good lighting, you might find shadows eclipsing the food at shorter focal lengths.
50mm f/2
- Excellent all-rounder, would work well, either this or the 16-55 if you don't need a macro

skybushman · Mar 9, 2021

fujiian said:
60mm f/2.4

lot of people love this lens, it's only "half macro", but that should be more than enough for food

really nice rendering, one of the cheaper lenses, but perhaps you would choose another lens if you want to do anything else

80mm f/2.8

this is Fuji's "true macro", and it's supposedly excellent, but it's wicked expensive. Personally, I would use the 60 instead.

16-55mm f/2.8

great lens, others have mentioned it, but I just don't know if it has the proper close-focusing needed for food.

if you're making big plates, this won't matter. But for tapas, small bowls, etc. i don't think it will get close enough.

If you lack good lighting, you might find shadows eclipsing the food at shorter focal lengths.

50mm f/2

Excellent all-rounder, would work well, either this or the 16-55 if you don't need a macro

WOW! Thanks very much for the incredibly detailed response! I was NOT expecting that! Thank you again!

Appreciate the time spent in replying and helping me out with choosing the right lens.

CeeDave · Mar 9, 2021

skybushman said:
We run a small hotel, and quite often the chef produces some amazingly beautifully crafted and laid out meals, which we'd like to photograph to use in our marketing materials.

Any suggestions for a lens for this type of photography?

Myself, I think that magnification doesn’t matter much here (0.1 is probably more than enough), and expanded, kinda splayed out perspective is good for food ... I think the 16/1.4 is a good choice. And it is bright, too...

--
Chris
Striving to make the quotidian quotable

dccberry · Mar 9, 2021

I would never shoot food or macro wide open, so speed is not critical. F/2 is pretty fast anyway.

skybushman · Mar 9, 2021

dccberry said:
I would never shoot food or macro wide open, so speed is not critical. F/2 is pretty fast anyway.

Thanks for the reply!

WhoKnow · Mar 9, 2021

Why not to rent a several lenses for a day or two and try it yourself?

thatrobbiemccguy · Mar 10, 2021

I can say the 50mm F2 has been great for me, the 35mm F1.4 has also been fantastic. With that said, I've also had some budget continuous led lights to help brighten the scene. Shooting around 2.8 gets a really crispy clean result for a budget friendly option. With enough light the "kit" 18-55mm can produce some great results too and give you that ease of zoom to run multiple products or plates in your case wide or tight.

The_Crow · Mar 10, 2021

Not knowing what your space looks like...

- The kit lens at 55mm F4.0 should do. Faster aperture than that and parts of the image will be out of focus. Shorter than 50mm you'll risk barrel distortion.

- The 60mm is a good option, but I'm not sure that macro is needed. For social media, context is key in an image. Super close-ups aren't always flattering in any case. For use around a restaurant (think table photos, team photos, cool pics that seels the vibe) a fixed focal length that long could also be limiting. So I'd say kit or if your budget can stretch the 16-55 will be ideal. Of course for pics around the place where light isn't great the 16-55 will trump the kit lens. But the lens has stabilization!

- 50mm F2 will also be a great option. Small, good at low light, sharp, close focusing, etc. But again, when taking other shots it COULD be limiting.

What I would suggest is to earmark a dedicated spot where you take plate photos and invest in some form of light or flat lay there. Similar looking images will trick the mind into immediately recognizing it as yours. So when scrolling through a feed a user will instantly know it's yours. It can also form part of your "brand".

Also with a flat lay, you can have a dedicated surface that photographs well, you can have one or two small lights that can switch on and off easily for pics (Aputure MC comes to mind), and even get a mount for the camera that keeps it in place and will allow you to use the timer to take a photo to avoid shake. That will also be a great snap-and-go scenario. No need to find lights, a clean surface, "where did I put my camera", etc. Have a dedicated space and you'll DEFINITELY use it more often.

Here's an example: https://www.instagram.com/capeofgoodwine/?hl=en

Flat lay will also afford you the opportunity to add a wine bottle as a pairing suggestion and some other items as props. (Tip: include a plant or something with height to add depth to the image. Example:

- https://www.instagram.com/p/CGuumOepRGf/

-

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Keep in mind that for social media it's important to sell the sizzle and not the steak! Lifestyle over product.

Lens: 16-55 would be my call. Then 18-55. For purely food, I'd say 50mm F2.

To add: food photography is tricky to get right. Including context and being too zoomed in will avoid that to an extend.

JPEGer · Mar 10, 2021

Food (and beer) photography is my hobby and have tried many lenses over the years.

How much space do you have? Give consideration to minimum focus distance as each lens requires it. Overhead shots require less space to work with.
Do you want everything in focus or a certain amount of bokeh? (Intense) bokeh is often preferred in food photography.
Do you want any close focusing or just a general capture of everything on the table? Food photography often combines the two.

At the moment I'm using the 7Artisans 35/0.95, and XF90 (my favourite), and also the XF 56/1.2.

The_Crow · Mar 10, 2021

Porquinho said:
Food (and beer) photography is my hobby and have tried many lenses over the years.

How much space do you have? Give consideration to minimum focus distance as each lens requires it. Overhead shots require less space to work with.

Do you want everything in focus or a certain amount of bokeh? (Intense) bokeh is often preferred in food photography.

Do you want any close focusing or just a general capture of everything on the table? Food photography often combines the two.

At the moment I'm using the 7Artisans 35/0.95, and XF90 (my favourite), and also the XF 56/1.2.

For use on social media, the second image is the banger. The top image is no doubt a great image, but not too many people will pull into a restaurant because of bokeh in an image. Maybe when you add it to a carousel as part of a post, but if the purpose is to take images to show off on social media with the end goal of getting them to pull in for a sit-down, then the second image is where it's at.

--
Instagram & Twitter: @Iwan_Kemp
There's a feeling I get
When I look to the West
And my spirit is crying for leaving

The_Crow · Mar 10, 2021

To add to my two posts:

Reread the OP and for marketing material, shallow depth of field shots will also work as part of the bigger picture where you'd want some variety in your shots. But, if "marketing material" equates to mostly social media then invest time and effort into a flat lay "station" where you can take quality, great looking "point and shoot*" images.

*point and shoot in reference to getting it done as quickly as possible as the plate needs to leave ASAP.

X-series Lens suggestion for food photography?

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