Best lens for product photography

[Scatterbrained]

Top down, using a tripod with a horizontal arm.

Tripod with a Horizontal arm ?
What kind of tripod (as in sturdiness) and how far out is the horizontal arm going. This may be making a nice little springboard action upon touching it.

I hope you are not actuating the picture with your own finger. It's probably causing shaking issues. Just in case ... Use a radio remote or corded trigger to minimize that.

I used a horizontal arm too $70 thing and boy .. you have to use a remote release to not have it even slightly bounce.

Depends on the tripod. Most truly studio-quality tripods won't have any issue with a boom. Ours is Manfrotto, and while it's a POS in my opinion, it holds our boom steady. It's also giant, so there's that.

If you put a camera out on a boom there will be some vibration. I don't care what tripod you have. It's one of the reasons why cameras have remotes and mirror lock up. Depending on what your shooting and how long of a shutter speed you're using will determine whether the level of vibration is acceptable or not. Granted cheaper tripods will severely exacerbate the effect as they flex at the apex, but even that can be overcome with proper technique.

 

[Austin Greene]

Top down, using a tripod with a horizontal arm.

Tripod with a Horizontal arm ?
What kind of tripod (as in sturdiness) and how far out is the horizontal arm going. This may be making a nice little springboard action upon touching it.

I hope you are not actuating the picture with your own finger. It's probably causing shaking issues. Just in case ... Use a radio remote or corded trigger to minimize that.

I used a horizontal arm too $70 thing and boy .. you have to use a remote release to not have it even slightly bounce.

Depends on the tripod. Most truly studio-quality tripods won't have any issue with a boom. Ours is Manfrotto, and while it's a POS in my opinion, it holds our boom steady. It's also giant, so there's that.

If you put a camera out on a boom there will be some vibration. I don't care what tripod you have. It's one of the reasons why cameras have remotes and mirror lock up. Depending on what your shooting and how long of a shutter speed you're using will determine whether the level of vibration is acceptable or not. Granted cheaper tripods will severely exacerbate the effect as they flex at the apex, but even that can be overcome with proper technique.

Of course there will be, but how quickly that vibration falls off, and how much there is, is what matters. Studio equipment, true studio weight stuff, does a lot to minimize that to the point where things like mirror lockup aren't needed. Also, knowing how to properly set up a boom does wonders for minimizing vibrations.

If you think it can't be done in a way that doesn't impact workflow, you'd be mistaken. We image thousands of objects a quarter, 70% of which require a boom which we move around quite a bit. None of these images ever have motion issues from vibration.

 

[Scatterbrained]

Top down, using a tripod with a horizontal arm.

Tripod with a Horizontal arm ?
What kind of tripod (as in sturdiness) and how far out is the horizontal arm going. This may be making a nice little springboard action upon touching it.

I hope you are not actuating the picture with your own finger. It's probably causing shaking issues. Just in case ... Use a radio remote or corded trigger to minimize that.

I used a horizontal arm too $70 thing and boy .. you have to use a remote release to not have it even slightly bounce.

Depends on the tripod. Most truly studio-quality tripods won't have any issue with a boom. Ours is Manfrotto, and while it's a POS in my opinion, it holds our boom steady. It's also giant, so there's that.

If you put a camera out on a boom there will be some vibration. I don't care what tripod you have. It's one of the reasons why cameras have remotes and mirror lock up. Depending on what your shooting and how long of a shutter speed you're using will determine whether the level of vibration is acceptable or not. Granted cheaper tripods will severely exacerbate the effect as they flex at the apex, but even that can be overcome with proper technique.

Of course there will be, but how quickly that vibration falls off, and how much there is, is what matters. Studio equipment, true studio weight stuff, does a lot to minimize that to the point where things like mirror lockup aren't needed. Also, knowing how to properly set up a boom does wonders for minimizing vibrations.

If you think it can't be done in a way that doesn't impact workflow, you'd be mistaken. We image thousands of objects a quarter, 70% of which require a boom which we move around quite a bit. None of these images ever have motion issues from vibration.

I didn't say it couldn't. I do a large majority of my shooting from a tripod, in a studio. The difference between our cases and the OP will likely be shutterspeeds/lighting, as well as equipment. When you're working with studio strobes whose duration is measured in the thousandths of a second, the small vibrations from pressing the shutter aren't that big of a deal; even with a cheap tripod. When you're working with a cheap tripod, ambient light, and longish (but not truly long) shutter speeds then those vibrations become a factor. It's why people with the A7R have issues with shutter vibration on images around 1/30th of a second, but not longer exposures or faster ones.

Granted, we don't even know for sure that camera shake is the OPs actually issue. It's all academic at this point. They could just have a really cheap filter on the lens that is causing blur. I don't recall seeing any example images posted so who really knows? At this point what would be best for the OP would be to take a step back and find some entry level educational material. Maybe drop the $25 for a month of KelbyOne, where they can view videos that start at the absolute beginning and work their way up in a structured manner.

 

[epatsellis]

Top down, using a tripod with a horizontal arm.

Tripod with a Horizontal arm ?
What kind of tripod (as in sturdiness) and how far out is the horizontal arm going. This may be making a nice little springboard action upon touching it.

I hope you are not actuating the picture with your own finger. It's probably causing shaking issues. Just in case ... Use a radio remote or corded trigger to minimize that.

I used a horizontal arm too $70 thing and boy .. you have to use a remote release to not have it even slightly bounce.

Depends on the tripod. Most truly studio-quality tripods won't have any issue with a boom. Ours is Manfrotto, and while it's a POS in my opinion, it holds our boom steady. It's also giant, so there's that.

If you put a camera out on a boom there will be some vibration. I don't care what tripod you have. It's one of the reasons why cameras have remotes and mirror lock up. Depending on what your shooting and how long of a shutter speed you're using will determine whether the level of vibration is acceptable or not. Granted cheaper tripods will severely exacerbate the effect as they flex at the apex, but even that can be overcome with proper technique.

Well, maybe with the tripods you have experience with, however..... A tripod is of limited use in a studio environment, a studio stand is far more appropriate. My personal preference is either Foba or Cambo, I currently use a Cambo UST, fully decked out with nearly every accessory they make.

I have nothing against tripods, I could probably fill a pickup truck bed (or in the case of some of them, hold one up) with the tripods I have, from Davis and Sanford to Bogen/Manfrotto, Gitzos, Majestic (with a sidearm), Ries, and even a huge Saltzman, but for studio work, a real studio stand is really the best tool for the job.