Is this lens good for gem photography?

[NighthawkProduction]

Hi i am looking at the tokina AT-X M100 AF 100mm f/2.8 for gem stone photography.
My brother in law collects and cuts the stones for competitions and asked me if i could help him to get some nice shots of the stones.
We are working on the lighting using mirrors and product soft boxes and just need a good lens to go with it.

This is the best lens i came up with that is still in the affordable range and seems to have lots of good reviews.

Also i am using a crop sensor and seen on other forums people say this lens shines on FF. which i will get eventually but for now its crop for me and is this lens worth it on crop?

 

[tirediron]

I can't speak to that lens specifically, but a macro lens is what's best for this. Bear in mind that your DoF will be very shallow (as little as 1-2mm) and that lighting is critical and can be very complex.

 

[NighthawkProduction]

Yea the lighting is pretty complex. We have found placing the cut stone on a mirror helps but still working on the best solution

 

[jake337]

Just make sure to stop down with the tokina. It shows the most CA when wide open.

I've used it on Dx and FF. It worked well on both.

The biggest issue with the tokina is the CA which can be strong wide open.

Depending on the size of the gems you may want to focus stack or maybe look into a tilt/shift lens.

 

[beagle100]

Hi i am looking at the tokina AT-X M100 AF 100mm f/2.8 for gem stone photography.
My brother in law collects and cuts the stones for competitions and asked me if i could help him to get some nice shots of the stones.
We are working on the lighting using mirrors and product soft boxes and just need a good lens to go with it.

This is the best lens i came up with that is still in the affordable range and seems to have lots of good reviews.

Also i am using a crop sensor and seen on other forums people say this lens shines on FF. which i will get eventually but for now its crop for me and is this lens worth it on crop?

the Tokina will work, maybe better a Canon 100mm 2.8 macro (non L) , Tamron 90mm 2.8 macro