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Help with camera recommendations.


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Those of you who are active on my threads know I've been shooting jewelry in a light tent for a client.

My client has suffered a setback, and now finds himself unable to afford me. He will, at least for a while, have to shoot the jewelry himself.

He has asked me to recommend a camera with good macro capabilities. This camera needs to be all-in-one, like the Sony RX10. No interchangeable lenses. At least 16 mp, but he can't afford the RX10. Needs to have raw capability.

 

I've spent probably 3 hours searching and all I found was:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ 200, but it is only 12.1mp

Nikon Coolpix P7100, but only 10mp

Canon SX50 HS, again only 12mp.

Fujifilm HS50 EXR, 16 mp shoots raw, has a great macro mode. It is said to be noisy at 400 ISO and above, but in a studio setting, that should be a non-factor. This camera is super cheap and that makes me a bit nervous.

 

The client can probably spend up to $900. I am also recommending a light tent and lights, but I have that covered.

He does need an economical tripod and head. I found one on Amazon that comes with a squeeze head, which is all I'm capable of using without spending forever figuring out which knob to turn. It is cheap, very heavy (10 lbs or so) but since it will only be used in front of a light tent, it could work. I will be paid to teach him how to use the camera and tripod. And, OMG, he has Elements 11,has never used it. Neither have I but he will expect me to teach him. OMG. If I end up bald, you will know I pulled all my hair out.

The tripod costs under $100, and is the Ravelli L4 70" tripod. Anything else you can think of that will work better for the money?

 

I am so NOT looking forward to this but he has paid me well in the past and I feel honor-bound to help him in his time of need. If he recovers from his setback, he'll hire me again to shoot the product.

 

I'm not asking any of you to do my research for me because that is time consuming. I just thought maybe some of you have had experience with a certain camera and instantly would have what I need just pop into your mind.

"I Vant To Suck Your Minds" not blood, lol.

 

Betty

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Because he needs fairly large files. These images have to be cropped to square. Even using my 36mp camera I often ended up with files of about 1/4 of what the uncropped files were.

 

If I were shooting a pendant alone, I could zoom in and get a fairly large file. But when shooting a layout of necklace, earrings and bracelet, I had to zoom out more to allow enough room to crop to square.

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Don't most cameras have the option of shooting square at 1:1 ?

I know my Canon 6D does and the Fuji X-T1 and X-Pro1,XE1 did. Ditto for other cameras I've owned thru the years

 

L

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As he shouldn't need to go high ISO or need fast AF or video why not go second-hand? There a lot of last generation cameras that are perfectly capable and lightly used out there. Off the top of my head what about a Fuji X-E1 and 18-55 lens, or the 18Mp+ APS-C offerings from Canon, Nikon, et al with a decent enthusiast rather than pro lens. He will probably be working with live view off the screen rather than the viewfinder so pretty well any should work.

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Because he needs fairly large files. These images have to be cropped to square. Even using my 36mp camera I often ended up with files of about 1/4 of what the uncropped files were.

 

If I were shooting a pendant alone, I could zoom in and get a fairly large file. But when shooting a layout of necklace, earrings and bracelet, I had to zoom out more to allow enough room to crop to square.

 

What's his final output going to be though? 12MP shortest edge in 3:2 format is ~2800 px. At 300dpi that's 9.3 inches. 

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He specifically told me he doesn't want a camera/lens combo. And the output needs to be a minimum of 2300 pixels each side, cropped. As far as cameras shooting in a square format, doesn't that reduce pixels in and of itself?

 

No Ed you wouldn't want to be me. This guy can spend 30 minutes telling something that should take two. So I fear his mind will be all over the place while I'm trying to teach him photography/Elements 101.

 

Frankly, I didn't know he had the website up until yesterday. I looked at it and it is the sorriest website I've seen. My beautiful shots are small and muddy. I think he hired a lousy web designer. Back in the beginning, he told me the web designer wanted the files to be large as possible. Nobody told me why. I know web use doesn't require large files, so I was left wondering.

Look at this cruddy website and tell me what there is about it that would require large files. Please.

And don't judge my photography by what you see here.

Ok, I had another look and it doesn't look as bad to me as it did last night. He doesn't have his prices up yet.

 

louloulux.com

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As he shouldn't need to go high ISO or need fast AF or video why not go second-hand? 

 

I agree.    You can purchase quality gear at good savings if you know what you want.

 

We've sold to and purchased used from KEH.com and have been very pleased.   Their equipment grading is conservative. Their used gear is inspected/certified and comes with 14 day no questions asked return policy.  Not affiliated with them - just a satisfied customer.

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The site looks okay, a little cluttered, as most Websites are. Your images look great. May I suggest an alternative to your present plan?

 

He has already paid you real money to do what you've done, right? How much more is there to do? Or is this project endless and ongoing? Normally I would never suggest or consider this myself . . . but: do the rest of the stuff yourself on spec on a deferred and somewhat reduced payment. That would be possible and more pleasant work than teaching a newbie to do specialized and difficult product photography -- for free.

 

Please. Do not get involved in trying to teach this cowboy how to shoot gems. Those vipers you're petting are all venomous.  :wacko:

 

And . . . if in the most unlikely event that he learns to do this work good enough to suit himself . . . you don't really think he will turn around in the future and give the job back to you? That's not going to happen. 

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I am getting paid for all the research and for the lessons. There is a balance of over $300 on the last advance he gave me, so it's a matter of writing him a check or working it out.

And...ta da, if he decides to do all the work himself after my lessons, I'll throw a block party in celebration. So I actually hope I teach him well.

I would have preferred working the balance out by shooting jewelry rather than giving him lessons, but it is what it is.

If and when he gets back on his feet, if he sells on the website, then the work is ongoing. He still has about 400 sets that haven't been photographed, yet, and if he should be successful, he would continue buying more pieces to convert.

But I want out, in spite of earning $8000 in 4 months. And that is not shooting every day, and with some random weeks off. It has consumed my life, and made me let go of other things important to me.

I think I could get more work like this if I wanted. I wouldn't mind taking the odd job here and there,as long as there was an end in sight. My client has been beating people off with a stick who have seen my work and want to hire me.

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He specifically told me he doesn't want a camera/lens combo. And the output needs to be a minimum of 2300 pixels each side, cropped. As far as cameras shooting in a square format, doesn't that reduce pixels in and of itself?

 

No Ed you wouldn't want to be me. This guy can spend 30 minutes telling something that should take two. So I fear his mind will be all over the place while I'm trying to teach him photography/Elements 101.

 

Frankly, I didn't know he had the website up until yesterday. I looked at it and it is the sorriest website I've seen. My beautiful shots are small and muddy. I think he hired a lousy web designer. Back in the beginning, he told me the web designer wanted the files to be large as possible. Nobody told me why. I know web use doesn't require large files, so I was left wondering.

Look at this cruddy website and tell me what there is about it that would require large files. Please.

And don't judge my photography by what you see here.

Ok, I had another look and it doesn't look as bad to me as it did last night. He doesn't have his prices up yet.

 

louloulux.com

Betty,When friends/clients ask me to be an unpaid teacher I know I could be spending weeks dedicated to their lives at the expense of mine. The site,'Lynda.com' has 30 days of free training for everything digital. I'd be going with that site or similar. You were paid for your professional photography and you did the job. I can see being a good sport helping but sometimes those on the other end need more hand holding than us mere mortals are able to give. Good luck,let us know how it works out.

 

L

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Just adding in my tuppence worth - if you keep clicking through the images on the site you do actually get to a full sized image in the end (which look fab)... if you keep clicking through and realise it goes somewhere.

 

Second hand kit really does seem like the only viable option within his budget.

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Because he needs fairly large files. These images have to be cropped to square. Even using my 36mp camera I often ended up with files of about 1/4 of what the uncropped files were.

If I were shooting a pendant alone, I could zoom in and get a fairly large file. But when shooting a layout of necklace, earrings and bracelet, I had to zoom out more to allow enough room to crop to square.

 

 

What's his final output going to be though? 12MP shortest edge in 3:2 format is ~2800 px. At 300dpi that's 9.3 inches.

Russell, I totally agree with you. Looking at his website he's using small thumbnails, and when I click on them to enlarge, they are still small. I called him tonight and posed the question, "why do you need such large files?"

He didn't know, that's what the web designer requested, but he did look at the largest image, and the properties showed a file that was under 800 largest side. Some are rectangles, not many.

He's supposed to find out for me.

If he truly doesn't need such large files, I have found a 12mp canon Powershot SX50 HS for $399. It is economical, well-rated and shoots RAW.

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Ed, you are not sticking your nose in. I welcome all comments. :)

Linda, I am getting paid for the hand-holding. I just don't look forward to it.

 

Tokyo, I didn't get that far! You would think I would have. A big one, huh?

And I agree about the zero prices is totally bogus. Shame on the web designer.

.

I will get another set of jewelry for myself as a bonus. :)

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Tokyo, I didn't get that far! You would think I would have. A big one, huh?

And I agree about the zero prices is totally bogus. Shame on the web designer.

I would be amazed if anyone got that far! It was only your comment that made me try at all. Totally pointless as a selling tool. There are 100s of gallery plugins that would allow you to show the larger image in a more intuitive way...

 

Glad you're getting something else out of it anyway.

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When I've done consulting work for companies photography and post production needs (and sometimes pr and marketing) I'm $300 an hour and I do give follow up time.I just never make these agreements open ended because it can be a real time suck.

 

Not everyone is going to grasp photography no matter how well you teach.Especially lighting and post processing for images that are trying to sell their products.I've seen horrible results from many that tried.

 

Have fun. Look forward to seeing his attempts.

 

L

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