Advice on lens

[supersurfindude]

Hi Forum,

I am purchasing a Canon EOS 7D, a full frame DSLR for our product photo studio. We have all the lighting, background, ...ect. I am currently studying camera lenses and would like to hear any advice you may have to help my research.

The jobs I am required to do are:

Take portraiture photos of staff for website profiles.

Take product photos of predominantly furniture from chairs to display cabinets, dining tables to 4 poster beds, coffee tables to TV cabinets.

Take product photos of Clocks, wall art and other 2D products.

Take life-style photos of Room settings and Collections.


All photos are taken indoors with no outdoor light. All Studio.

My question is: What lens/lenses would you prefer to use for these jobs. Wide aperture prime? Medium telephoto? Wide angle?

The product or scene will be on a stage 6m x 6m and the camera would be a further 4m away.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[memento]

the 7d is a crop sensor; not full frame

 

[iolair]

As indicated, the 7D is a crop-sensor camera.

My lens picks for crop.

Take portraiture photos of staff for website profiles.

85mm f/1.8 (assuming head and shoulder shots).
24mm prime or 17-55/2.8 zoom for environmental portraits (showing them in their workplace).

Take product photos of predominantly furniture from chairs to display cabinets, dining tables to 4 poster beds, coffee tables to TV cabinets.

the 17-55mm f/2.8 above would work well again here. Try to keep your distance and shoot at the long end to prevent excess distortion.

Take product photos of Clocks, wall art and other 2D products.

85mm f/1.8 again - gives you enough working distance to show the products without distortion.

Take life-style photos of Room settings and Collections.

17-55 f/2.8 *should* do well here, however if you want to fit in most of an entire room you'll need to go wider still - for example 10-22 f/3.5-4.5.

So, two good lenses - a standard zoom and a portrait telephoto prime - should fill your needs nicely. (There are lenses that cover the full range, e.g. the 15-85mm, but the ability of the 85mm f/1.8 to eliminate any distracting background is a big plus. For the product shots, you don't need wide apertures as you want everything in focus anyway so you'll be shooting at f/11-f/16.

You'll also need education and investment in lighting; it's important to evenly light your products and produce realistic colours and provide flattering light to your staff portraits. To provide consistency in this type of shots, it's worth ALWAYS using a tripod. (You don't need the creative mobility that someone doing a fashion shoot or creative portrait would need).

 

[supersurfindude]

My apologies I meant 6D

 

[supersurfindude]

Thanks iolair

Great information to follow up with my research.

 

[iolair]

My apologies I meant 6D

which of course is full-frame
In that case ...
For the standard zoom, look for Tamron's 28-75mm f/2.8 (or, if you have plenty to spend, one of Canon's 24-70mm)
For the portrait prime, look for a 100mm f/2 (or maybe a 135mm f/2.8)

If you need a wider angle to fit in a whole room, consider Canon's 17-40mm f/4L

 

[supersurfindude]

Thanks again iolair :hug::