Nikon D50 - Best Lens for Jewelry Photos?

[jenniedidit]

Hi! I need some help (and I hope that I'm posting this in the right part of the forum).

I am opening a jewelry website and simply cannot afford professional photos right now, so I've been teaching myself how to shoot my own product photos. The jewelry is not high end, nor is it "fancy" .. it's just geared towards a specific crowd .. but .. I want the photos to be great and really showcase the pieces.

Most online retailers that sell similar merchandise steal product photos (most are heavily processed too) from the manufacturers they are buying from (most all of them have the same exact photos) and I don't want to do that. I want my customers to see the actual products, not some generic, highly photo-shopped photo they've seen 100 times. I want them to remember (and recognize) my store and my products! That doesn't mean I won't process mine (because I will have to, I know this, but I don't want them to look "fake" or computer generated like the ones most places are using (I was very disappointed when I checked tiffany's website smh).

I have a Nikon D50, it has just the standard lens it came with, and it's just not capable of doing what I need .. but I am just not sure what lens to buy. I feel like I need a macro lens, but there are so many to choose from that I want to be sure I buy the right one (and not a crappy one for sure).

The jewelry is of course shiny and some do have rhinestones/gemstones .. so I definitely want to showcase how pretty some of the pieces are. The solid silver seems to be the worst at losing it's details.

As you can see in the attached photos this lens just doesn't get the details like I need (either you have to be too far away for it to be clear .. and if you are too close up or using the zoom it destroys the quality) but it should give you an idea of the pieces I'm working with. (these are all straight out of the camera, no editing)





Thanks in Advance for any/all .. advice/guidance
Jennie

 

[TamiAz]

I love my Nikon 105mm macro lens. Takes great macro and portraits. I use it a lot when I shoot food.

 

[jaomul]

The tamron 90mm vc usd or the Sigma 105mm OS are good newer options (the longer focal length means you don't need to be to close so easier to control shadows). You could also buy a set of autofocus macro tubes that are cheap and may do the trick nicely

 

[Orange Elephant]

The D50 is quite an old camera with a DX crop sensor. I would strongly recommend the Nikon AF-S 40mm f/2.8G DX Micro lens for your work. Costs about $276 (Nikon AF-S DX Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G Lens 2200 B&H Photo Video) & should be perfect for you.

 

[jenniedidit]

I am off to go look at these suggestions you've all so wonderfully given me! Thank you

and Yes, my camera is quite old (not unlike me!) lol. I got it when I was in college and took some photography classes for credits. It has barely been used at all, I couldn't believe I even still knew where it was LOL, and luckily I had the forethought to take the battery out and put the dust case on it before storing it!

 

[fmw]

The D50 is quite an old camera with a DX crop sensor. I would strongly recommend the Nikon AF-S 40mm f/2.8G DX Micro lens for your work. Costs about $276 (Nikon AF-S DX Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G Lens 2200 B&H Photo Video) & should be perfect for you.

What you want is a macro lens - what Nikon calls a micro lens. These will allow you to focus closely for a larger image in the frame. The one I use is the AF 60mm f2.8 micro Nikkor. There are also a plethora of macro lenses from other manufacturers like Tamron, Sigma, Tokina etc. Any of these will do the job for you. You don't need anything aspecial for web photos. They are small and low in resolution so there isn't any need to spend more than you have to. Any macro lens that works with your camera will suffice.

Another option would be to use some screw on closeup "filters." The will improve close focus and aren't terribly expensive. Good luck with the site. I've made my living in e-commerce for the past 19 years.

 

[jenniedidit]

Ok .. so I looked at all the lenses suggested. A few of them are out of my price range. I wish I could spend more (and in the future I can, but I just dropped $5k on product so lol .. I should have though about this part 1st, unfortunately .. that duck wasn't in my row when I got started .. hindsight is a B).

The one that was in my price range .. they're all out of country and will take forever to arrive, unless I want to pay almost double for them (which I really don't .. I'm thrifty lol).

So .. Let me run a coouple past you that I found that *seem* like they may work. Reviews mention coins and jewelry .. so I thought they may be worth a mention, plus the prices are good and they are locally available to me to just go pick up (no shipping required).

Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Autofocus Lens AF017NII-700

70-300mm F4-5.6 DG Macro | Sigma Corporation of America

 

[Dave442]

No problem with trying one of those zoom lenses. As usual much of the results will be from how good of lighting (and controlling the lighting) and that will make a bigger difference than the lens and camera, especially when starting out.

A tripod for the camera is a big help for these types of shots so get one if you don't have one already. You might look for an older used one (I have an old heavy Bogen 3011 that sits in front of my product table) and put a new head on it if required.

 

[jenniedidit]

No problem with trying one of those zoom lenses. As usual much of the results will be from how good of lighting (and controlling the lighting) and that will make a bigger difference than the lens and camera, especially when starting out.

A tripod for the camera is a big help for these types of shots so get one if you don't have one already. You might look for an older used one (I have an old heavy Bogen 3011 that sits in front of my product table) and put a new head on it if required.

Thanks!

For the price I found both at .. I may just get them both (just in case).

When I first started I bought a soft box light box. The lighting it came with is "ok" but I actually stopped on my way home and bought a couple more lights, and I have a light table I use to weed my vinyl (for my shirts) that I saw a suggestion (I think it was on here earlier today skimming through older threads) to put it on to soften the shadows from below. The soft box actually came with a pretty nice compact tripod you just sit on the counter .. it has a wide base so it's pretty sturdy, and I bought a remote trigger for my camera.

I also saw a trick to eliminate my/the cameras reflection (even wearing white clothing wasn't helping with the larger silver pendants) by putting a piece of paper around the camera lens .. brilliant!

I wish I had ran across this forum a month ago .. I wouldn't be so stressed and/or rushed! My website is scheduled to open May 1! I'm about to have to kick it up a notch.

 

[Dave442]

I would just get one of the lenses. They are not "real" macro lenses, they don't go to 1:1 magnification, and the money is better spent on other items.
I'm sure you'll be fine with the website. Just keep updating photos and removing old ones. People like to see the new shots and usually there is improvement as you go.

 

[jenniedidit]

There is also this lens .. it is a 1:1, think this one is better?

Tamron SP 272E 90mm F/2.8 Di AF Macro 1:1 Lens For Nikon

 

[Don Kondra]

The reviews on the Tamron lens do sound promising but price wise, I would suggest the Nikon 85mm.

Nikon AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR Lens 2190 B&H Photo

Can you say how much you are willing to spend ? Will you consider buying used ? That will help a lot with suggestions...

My top choice would be the Nikon 105mm. Used, it is selling for ~ $600 on ebay.

I wouldn't recommend a zoom lens as their minimum focusing distance may not allow you to fill the frame with small stuff and you will need to crop the image.

So, we have a camera, a lens that will allow you to get close enough to fill the frame with small stuff and a tripod.

Next is the lighting

This can get as complicated/expensive as you want but a light box with a seamless paper backdrop is an easy way to get started.

It helps a LOT with controlling specular highlights or shiny hot spots.

Ideally, your lights have a temperature of 5500k, pretty well the same as daylight.

If not, you can set a custom white balance in camera or adjust later in post processing.

Cheers, Don

 

[Watchful]

Macro extension tubes

 

[Orange Elephant]

I think it's worth a little explanation about the macro lenses.

Worth noting is that the Nikon micro lenses can also be used in general photography too.

Every "proper" macro lens is a 1:1. All Nikon micro lenses are 1:1. There are several focal lengths available to you:

In the DX range:
AF-S 40mm f/2.8G DX Micro
85mm f/3.5G AF-S VR DX IF-ED Micro

The FX range:
60mm f/2.8G AF-S Micro-Nikkor ED
105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor IF-ED

All these lenses have a 1:1 ratio. They are all of approximately the same sharpness. The DX lenses will be smaller & lighter than the FX lenses.

The focal length differences in your use are based around how close you can get to the subject for 1:1 macro. This is important, say if you are photographing insects. They may not like you being inches away from them. For jewellery, it's not going to be afraid of you being too close, however you need to be aware of being in the way of your own lighting. For what it's worth, my wife runs an Ebay shop & sells jewellery. She used to have a D3300 DX & 40mm f2.8G. She then upgraded to full frame D610 & had loved her 40mm so much that she bought the 60mm f2.8G which is the approximate equivalent in full frame. She also now uses her 60mm f2.8 for baby photos.

To get 1:1 macro you need to be this close with each lens:
40mm f2.8G: 0.53ft
60mm f2.8G: 0.6ft
85mm f3.5G: 0.9ft
105mm f2.8G: 1ft
Of course, you don't have to take everything at 1:1.

My advice is to go for the Nikkor 40mm f2.8G micro. It's a great lens, suited for both closeup work, portraits & general walk about.

 

[fmw]

Ok .. so I looked at all the lenses suggested. A few of them are out of my price range. I wish I could spend more (and in the future I can, but I just dropped $5k on product so lol .. I should have though about this part 1st, unfortunately .. that duck wasn't in my row when I got started .. hindsight is a B).

The one that was in my price range .. they're all out of country and will take forever to arrive, unless I want to pay almost double for them (which I really don't .. I'm thrifty lol).

So .. Let me run a coouple past you that I found that *seem* like they may work. Reviews mention coins and jewelry .. so I thought they may be worth a mention, plus the prices are good and they are locally available to me to just go pick up (no shipping required).

Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Autofocus Lens AF017NII-700

70-300mm F4-5.6 DG Macro | Sigma Corporation of America

Not ideal but these would work to get you started. In the end you will want a true macro lens to give you the best imagery of small jewelry items. Below is an image of my down and dirty small product tabletop set up. It uses a couple of monolight strobes to light a small light tent. It is what I use to shoot small products for my web sites. If you were to send your products to a pro photographer something like this would be used to get the job done.

In the end you will want something like this along with a true macro lens.