Best settings for jewelry shooting?

[Johnster]

An acquaintance of mine has a Canon T3i to sell, and I want to shoot jewelry. It's going to cost me a little bit more than what I intended to spend at the moment, but I think it could still be a valid investment.

Do I need a macro lens to shoot small pieces of jewelry, or could I get good results just with the kit it comes with the device and the device's native zoom settings?

 

[tirediron]

Probably not the best results with the kit lens, however there alternatives to a dedicated macro lens including extension tubes and reversing rings which will give you a macro cabability for far less money. That said, lighting is FAR more important than the camera or lens, and the first thing you should consider buying if you're going to do this seriously, is the lighting bible.

 

[TCampbell]

You will probably benefit from a macro lens for extreme close-up shots of jewelry. e.g. the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM is probably the lowest cost "real" macro lens (true 1:1 scale images) and would run probably around $400-450. There are other ways to shoot "close up" shots.

But more important than the lens is the lighting. Shiny jewelry should be though of as a bunch of mirrors. If I photograph a silver ring, the "color" of the silver is really reflection of whatever happens to be bouncing off that "mirror" surface of the highly polished ring. If I photograph a "gold" ring its the same thing... except it puts a yellow color cast on the reflection.

This means what you really want to do is control the lighting out of the camera frame that you are using to create those reflections. White isn't necessarily best because if everything is white you lose contrast. You may want a combination of "white" and "black" cards (e.g. go to a craft store and buy white & black foam-core boards) and prop them up just out of frame positioned in such a way that you control the reflection... and you also want to control the lights as well. Otherwise you end up with unflattering images that don't show your product.

 

[mcap1972]

Try experimenting with very directional light. Why don't you rent a lens for the shoot. Macro lens is a must in my opinion.

 

[EJayD3300]

An acquaintance of mine has a Canon T3i to sell, and I want to shoot jewelry. It's going to cost me a little bit more than what I intended to spend at the moment, but I think it could still be a valid investment.

Do I need a macro lens to shoot small pieces of jewelry, or could I get good results just with the kit it comes with the device and the device's native zoom settings?

I'd use a Macro lens, and a Ring Flash, if I were you.

 

[Scatterbrained]

An acquaintance of mine has a Canon T3i to sell, and I want to shoot jewelry. It's going to cost me a little bit more than what I intended to spend at the moment, but I think it could still be a valid investment.

Do I need a macro lens to shoot small pieces of jewelry, or could I get good results just with the kit it comes with the device and the device's native zoom settings?

I'd use a Macro lens, and a Ring Flash, if I were you.

Just because it's called a Ring Flash doesn't mean you should use it to light a ring.

 

[Scatterbrained]

Extension tubes on a kit lens will get you by, but DOF (on a kit lens or Macro for that matter) will be quite shallow. Granted focus stacking software can help to alleviate those issues, but it becomes more time consuming. When it comes to shooting shiny bits like watches and jewelry it's important to remember that you aren't shooting the piece itself, you're shooting what's reflected in it. This is why the lighting book recommended above is so important. Learning to light is far more important than whatever camera and lens you settle on for this style of shooting.