Could any body offer a little advise please

Bolerus

Bolerus

Bolerus

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7 Jul 2006
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Stoke on Trent
Firstly, let me say hello to everybody (i am finally able to post lol)

I have a question that I am hoping some of you experts can help with.

I work in an antique pottery / collectables shop, we have a website with pictures of all our stock and also sell some things on ebay, so as you can imagine picture quality is quite inportant to us.

we have, up to now, used a standard digital camera. It has been decided that it is time to step up the equipment we have so that we can get better photo's.

After talking to an expert in the field, my boss has been told that the camera he wants (and is now determined to get) is a minolta 7d digital slr

So, i have the job of getting a hold of one.

My question is, once I have managed to get one of these (quite expensive) cams, what lenses do I need.

We have to photograph backstamps and small marks / damage to items as well as the ware in general. sometimes glaze has run into the backstamps / impressions making them hard to see, let alone photograph (our current camera a sony cybershot 3,2 mp one) copes ok on most things but hasnt really got the depth for what we need.

I am guessing that I need some kind of macro lense, or closeup lense, but even those seem to have a wide variety, also I will see a lense that is described as 18"-50". what does that mean in reality.

I know I am a totaly novice to this area, and I am probably asking for the meaning of life in a single sentance containing no repitition, but any assistance would be greatly apreciated.

thank you in advance
 
Bolerus said:
I am guessing that I need some kind of macro lense, or closeup lense, but even those seem to have a wide variety, also I will see a lense that is described as 18"-50". what does that mean in reality.
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A true macro lens is a lens which gives a full size (1:1) reproduction of a subject on the sensor or film frame. They are a by design a specialised lens and as such are expensive. The likes of the sigma 105mm and the tamron 90mm offer fantastic image quality at reasonable prices.

However as you have already found there are alternatives. Many lenses offer a "macro" facility, which in reality is more of a close focussing facility. These will normally offer reproduction of up to half full size (1:2) I would suspect that these might be ideal for you given the subject matter.

Looking at the 18-50 description that describes the focal length of the lens in millimetres. Zoom lenses are x-ymm whilst a true macro is fixed length (a Prime) and would be described as z mm as above. Smaller numbers indicate wider field of view, good for showing a wide landscape. Larger numbers (eg 400mm) have a narrower field of view but distant items appear closer, a bit like a telescope.

With lenses the situation is very much you get what you pay for. Cheap lenses tend to have lower quality build, cheaper glass and poorer image quality. For pictures on auction sites however it's probably not going to be too obvious.

The other thing you might want to consider is how you light the subjects. A "flat" even lighht is usually best for selling goods and things like "light tents" are cheap and help produce good results. You should find them fairly easily through google :)
 
I heard that sony have taken them over But there are still a fair few of themn coming through ebay, both used ones and new ones.

To be completely honest I have tried to talk the boss into going down the nikkon or cannon route, but he is adamant that he want a minolta 7d

its his money, I just have to spend it for him, and of course learn to give him perfect photographs within 20 minutes of the cam arriving :mad:


Thank you for the information DOD greatly appreciated, if any body else has anything to add, that would be good aswell :)
 
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