camera recommendation for taking pictures of products

[smartguy911]

I am trying to take pictures of products for a website and I need recommendation on what type of camera i should buy. Currently looking into Canon PowerShot A570 or Canon PowerShot G9. I like the canon powershot a570 price (around $150) but I am not sure if I will be able to edit the pictures later on. The images are for websites and the maximum size will be around 800x600. Basically only editing I will be doing is removing the background or maybe adjust the contrast etc. Also, what is the best way to remove background of images. do you guys recommend buying this plugin for background removal - http://www.digitalfilmtools.com/ezmask/ thanks

 

[Atropine]

The G9 is a wonderful camera, but if you don't need any higher resolution on the photos I would recommend buying a used dslr shooting raw, a good 70mm lens, a sturdy tripod and a cable release instead. There are a lot of second hand dslr cameras for sale pretty cheap only because their owners want higher resolution cameras.

Why are you going to mask the products? If you want the products on a white bg (as most websites do) you will save a lot of time using white backdrop in your studio/softbox and correct lighting. As a big plus- you will achieve natural shadows instead of those ugly artificial drop shadows people tend to use all too often.

 

[jstuedle]

Atropine is correct, any DSLR ever made can do great work for you in this department for web shots. For years I shot a 2 1/5 MP DSLR for web images of live bands with great results. Even at this resolution you will need to downsize the image for the web.

 

[smartguy911]

used dslr, backdrop, lighting will prob cost too much. I am currently not in a situation to spend that much. Looking for a solution around $150-$200. The pic below i took it with my old camera that got stolen :-(. that's why I am looking for new one and this time trying to find one that is cheap and take good pictures. Do you guys really think a dslr will make that much difference when it comes to taking product pics? can i just use a nice canon point and shoot with white background to take product pics?

 

[jstuedle]

used dslr, backdrop, lighting will prob cost too much. I am currently not in a situation to spend that much. Looking for a solution around $150-$200. The pic below i took it with my old camera that got stolen :-(. that's why I am looking for new one and this time trying to find one that is cheap and take good pictures. Do you guys really think a dslr will make that much difference when it comes to taking product pics? can i just use a nice canon point and shoot with white background to take product pics?

If you were happy with that pic, then just about any P&S camera will do. Not to nit-pick, but I noticed the white balance seems off, There is a hot spot in the center of the frame from an on-camera flash and part of the product is cropped off the frame.

As for your "studio" setup, a white sheet and a couple of hardware store flood lights would make your set. For a few hundred a older DSLR with a normal 50mm f/1.8 can be had and it would allow you to fix the W.B. issue, give you clean and crisp images with more control of the final product and give you a start on other types of photography as well.