Camera & Lighting Gear For Awesome Instagram Photos?

[4Nines]

I'm looking for a camera and lighting set up to take some nice detailed photos of some EDC gear much like this:

Urban EDC Supply (@urbanedcsupply) • Instagram photos and videos

Everyday Carry (@dailycarry.edc) • Instagram photos and videos

I've just been using my iPhone, but I want to up my game and shoot some detail photos with nice lighting. Suggestions?

What are your thoughts about starting out with the new Sony A6400 as the camera for this?

 

[tirediron]

Really, any camera will to the job; the Sony is as good as any other, and if you're not already invested in a system, nothing wrong with starting there. The lens is going to be an important choice; I can't speak for Sony glass, but assuming that your product range is handgun & smaller, than I would want something in the ~60mm macro range. As far as lighting, unless you actually want to invest a lot of money and spend a lot of time learning, than I would recommend a light tent; something like the lastolite Cubelite. Three or four inexpensive speedlights and triggers such as the Yongnuo YN560, a few stands and you're in business. There are hundreds of hours of videos on YouTube and other 'sites that will take you through how to do this.

 

[Tropicalmemories]

I think almost any digital camera body will be OK for these types of shots - the lighting is most important, then a decent tripod, then a lens with a reasonable close focus distance, but you don't really need a full macro lens. The kit lens will probably be OK, and you'll be using manual focus and Instagram will compress your images to a small size - so the capability of the body isn't really important.

For the lighting you can get reasonably price, folding, light-tents with integrated LED lighting - have a look on line, they start at under $50. This make your lighting simpler, and unlike when using flash, the constant LED light will let you see the lighting before you take the shot, so reflections and shadows can be sorted easily.

 

[greybeard]

I have the Sony a6000 which is the for runner to the a6400 and that body with the 16-50 is very capable of fitting your needs. As for lighting, I like the idea of a light tent with built in lighting.

 

[Designer]

Suggestions?

Don't short the lighting. Don't be shocked to find out that you might need to spend almost as much on lighting as you do for the camera, lens, and tripod.

I checked out your portfolio, and while they are pretty arrangements, a good percentage of the shots suffer from poor lighting.

As to camera; you're buying a system, not just the camera. Consider lenses at least as much as you would the camera itself.

 

[4Nines]

Thanks for all the info! Sounds like I should definitely get started with good lighting and go from there. I will research some light tents and find one that fits my needs.

 

[Designer]

Thanks for all the info! Sounds like I should definitely get started with good lighting and go from there. I will research some light tents and find one that fits my needs.

Realistically, an entry level DSLR with lens, a tripod, a cable release, a light tent, (not too small) (I made my own) two small studio flashes (forget continuous lighting because sooner or later you'll want to photograph people, for instance) a cable to fire the flashes, a light stand for each flash, perhaps a diffuser for each flash, and you're in business for less than $1,000.

Do you already have an editing software?

 

[Strodav]

The A6400 is overkill for what you need, but has the advantage of being a great camera for most any type of photography and mirrorless is the way to go if you are buying your first high end camera. In addition, you will need a lens, solid tripod, remote release, computer with post processing software and a better quality photo monitor, lighting. Most any good quality lens will work like the 16-50mm that typically comes in an A6400 kit. I personally like something more like and 85mm f1.4 for catalog shots. Its also a great portrait lens. Look for a larger heavy duty tripod with a gimbal head. You'll want a better desktop or laptop computer with 4 cores or better, 3.4GHz or faster, 16GB main memory or more, a fast SSD main drive at least 512GB, and at least one 2 to 4 terabyte backup drive. For a monitor, look at a Benq SW2700PT or equivalent. My recommendation is continuous lighting, which is much easier to set up for still work than flash or strobes. You can see where your shadows are and make adjustments before you take a shot. A good choice is color adjustable LED panels with diffusers and you may want to pick up some reflectors. A good way to work is to tether your camera to your computer and shoot in Live View mode. Capture One is a good PP package for that workflow as it is one of the fastest for tethering.

 

[Overread]

Light Science and Magic 5th edition is a very solid starting point for lighting, esp with regard to different materials and product photography.

As others have said a good lighting setup helps a lot. Ideally wireless remotes/flashes help because they make it easier to move things around without cables, but cables can be a lot cheaper. Furthermore you'll want to hit up ebay for some cheap tripods and stands for the flashes - a few stands can make a huge difference. Diffusers will vary a lot and you can spend lots or a very little there; so read the above book and get an idea what you want before investing in them.

Product photography can be simple and cheap all the way to expensive and complicated - it depends what you're after.

Note one of the biggest helps (that oft gets forgotten) is a nice clear open working area to do the photography in. Even more ideally is somewhere you can leave the kit out/setup as that cuts down setup time which increases time for positioning and working with the lights.