Help Choosing the Best Lens for Product Photography

[BAK]

Harryhoods, remember that if you get a 100mm telephoto lens, you will need to walk across the room to adjust the subject, and then walk back the other way to look through the camera again.

And there's nothing "just" about a T2i. It is a very advanced camera.

BAK

 

[DancingPhotoPanda]

Rarely are they right, but as someone mentioned, perspective control lenses are popular with serious product photographers, and there are no $500 tilt and shift lenses.

BAK

$429
80mm f2.8
http://araxfoto.com/specials/tilt-shift-80/

35mm f2.8
$679
http://araxphoto.com/specials/tilt-shift-35/

I doubt they're as good as the Canon, but there's a medium to have there.

Then again, the OP is worrying about autofocus speed when shooting a stationary subject from close up, so I somehow doubt that he's going to want to deal with any actual level of control over the photography.

 

[AlecThigpen]

You don't have to walk across the room for a 16" item as mentioned in the original post. For that, the 100 2.8 macro is a great choice.

 

[BAK]

You do in my place.

I set my lens at 100mm, I measured an object as two finger spreads, which are about 8 inhes each, and I looked through the camera.

But that was yesterday.

Today I found a 15 inch ruler, and I put it on top of a bookcase.

Horizontally.

I had my 55mm lens on the camera, so I looked through that.

Not particularly inconvenient.

Reminded me of an 85mm lens I used to own, years ago, that I used on a Canon manual focus 35mm camera.

Then I put on a zoom lens that reached to 100mm and set it there.

And I looked through the camera, held horizontally, at the 15 inch ruler, resting horizontally on top of the bookshelf.

And lo and behold, I had to back up a lot.

Far enough that it would be a stroll over to the ruler, to change its angle, say, like product photographers do.

So I'm right.

And I put my stuff away.

BUT THEN, I THOUGHT,

What if the 16 inch subject the original poster was interested in was square?.

So I went back to his original message.

Bingo.

He wrote > I am photographing products that are 16 inches by 16 inches or smaller

SO... I got out the camera again. And I put the telephoto zoom on again,. And I set it at 100mm again.

And I walked over to the ruler and put it vertically into a pencil jar, and then I walked back to my original 100mm horizontal shooting spot and looked through the camera, still held horizontally.

The ruler did not fit in, top to bottom, when the camera was horizontal.

So I backed up further and further.

Good thing it's a fair-sized room.

ALL FORUM MEMBERS with 100mm focal lengths on their lenses are welcome to try the same experiment, and see just how convenient it would be to take your 100mm advice.

Or see if they think, as I do, that a 100mm lens on a T2i is too long a lens for convenient product photography of objects 16x16 and smaller.

And the original poster can experiemnt too, with his telephoto lens set at 100mm.

BAK

 

[AlecThigpen]

Ok, you got me. We didn't discuss the size of the room. Mine is 25x45', so across the room is quite a ways, and the 100mm on a full frame is quite nice.

 

[JSLandscapes]

a zoom might be easier to compose and crop as needed than a straight prime

Get yourself a 50 1.8 and a tripod with a geared head.
Product shots need precise composition.
A 50 on a crop body is a good focal length for what you described.

 

[harryhoods]

Thanks again for everyones thoughts.

So i've pretty much set on the: Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Lens

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-TS-E-45mm-Shift-Cameras/dp/B00009XVCX/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_T1?
ie=UTF8&coliid=I31VMOU4MIXCJA&colid=19KESPD4CKHGW

Is the new 45mm the best option or should I get an older one or a different size?

 

[kb2zuz]

It is a great lens, but be aware of a couple things:

1. It's big and heavy, not terrible, but enough that it can be a little awkward feeling if you're hand-holding the camera. But if it's for product photography you should be on a nice sturdy tripod, so hopefully that's not an issue.
2. It is a manual focus lens, there is no autofocus at all. To get the most out of this lens, you'll want to be using it on a camera than has Live-View that lets you zoom in so that you can really nail the focus.
3. The tilt-shift abilities give you a lot of control over the image, but come with a bit of a learning curve, and even once you know them, it does take a little longer when you start adjusting them, which can slow down your process a little. You do not need to use the tilt-shift controls, you can leave them locked at 0, but if you do, you may want to question if you need this lens, because:
4. It's a bit pricey. A 50mm compact macro is a very sharp lens and costs about $250. Yes the 45mm has a touch less vignetting wide open, feels a bit more solidly constructed (the compact macro does feel a bit cheap and it's auto-focus is an older noisier style than the new USM AF lenses), and it has the added perspective and selective focus controls. It really comes down to a personal decision if these improvements are worth the extra $1150.

Most likely you will be very happy with the 45mm TS-E but I'm listing the flaws and other options only so you can make a fully informed decision.

Here's a comparison of both the 45mm and the 50mm Compact macro:

http://the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=348&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=2&LensComp=287&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=2
--
~K

 

[calson]

It depends upon the products (cars or diamond rings?) and the camera (full frame or APS-C?) as to the focal length and the type of lens. Add in the type of image you need to create. Is it for emotional marketing as with jewelry or for technical product sheets or catalogs.

I deal with images that are from 1/2" x 3" up to 5" x 14" in size and I use 60mm and 105mm macro lenses and the 24-70mm on a full frame camera. When I was using a APS-C camera I used the 17-55mm in place of the 24-70mm lens.

Tilt/Shift lenses have their place but with product photography I can alter the angle and height from which I shoot and use a tripod or flash to use a very small aperture and adequate DOF so the T/S has not been important.

The most important aspect in getting good product shots is the lighting. I use 3-5 strobes and reflectors and light tables and a light tent to get the best lighting for each item I am going to photograph. The lens is the least important aspect of the shoot.