Lens for Nikon d5100

Brond · Mar 10, 2015

Hello!

I have a nikon d5100 and I want to use it for product photography. It is lamps, the smallest being 8" x 4".

I'm considering buying a new lens (so far I've been using the stock 18-55). My question is, what lens would you recommend?

ruifo · Mar 10, 2015

Here two options:

Derrel · Mar 10, 2015

I saw your earlier post. A lot of your work should be done with the camera mounted on a tripod, so you can slow the shutter speed down and use small lens openings, like f/11 or f/16, in order to get plenty of the product in good,sharp focus.

When you shoot these kinds of still-life images, the longer the lens focal length, the narrower the angle of view is BEHIND the subject!!!! That becomes a very critical aspect of background control and picture composition. If the background paper is narrow, like say 4.5 foot wide paper, then on a larger lamp, say a table lamp, the lens focal length NEEDS to be longer, rather than shorter, because by the time the camera is backed away far enough to show the lamp from the shade to the base, the angle of view that a short focal length lens creates behind the lamp will literally, show the edges of the paper, or maybe the bottom of the background. For this reason, I would not suggest the 35 or 40mm length lenses...those are going to force you VERY close to many items, and that closeness will cause a lot of perspective distortion, where whatever is closest to the lens will appear unnaturally larger than stuff that is even six inches behind.

I think the 18-55mm lens could be used for a number of shots on stuff like lamps. Have you tried it?

Brond · Mar 10, 2015

Thanks for your replies!

Derrel, that is exactly how I was planning to do it - low apeture, slow shutter speed, trying to keep ISO low too...

Okay, so throwing in the term "focal lenght" just threw me for a loop, but google is awesome, and I think that I understand, that it refers to the way the image looks, where a short focal length gives a wide angle with little magnification, and a long focal length gives a narrow angle, like a crop, but with higher magnification.

So if I understand you correctly, you're saying that I need a longer focal point because I need to be at a certain distance from the lamp for it not to be distorted, and with a short focal length the wide angle would mean that I would capture a lot of the background.

Please correct me if I have misunderstood - it is all a bit new to me.

No, I have not tried with the 18-55mm. I am still in the process of buying lights, diffusers, etc. But I read that the standard lens that comes with a camera is often not the best quality. I also read that on the nikon d5100 it is actually not too bad. But again, I really don't know. And I read that upgrading your lens is the easiest way to get the most out of your camera.

astroNikon · Mar 10, 2015

Brond said:
Derrel, that is exactly how I was planning to do it - low apeture, slow shutter speed, trying to keep ISO low too...

low aperture like f/8 and larger number right?
not f/5.6 and smaller number?
because the smaller number affects the Depth of Field, so you want a larger aperture number (smaller opening) like Derrel says.

DGMPhotography · Mar 10, 2015

Brond said:
Thanks for your replies!

Derrel, that is exactly how I was planning to do it - low apeture, slow shutter speed, trying to keep ISO low too...

Okay, so throwing in the term "focal lenght" just threw me for a loop, but google is awesome, and I think that I understand, that it refers to the way the image looks, where a short focal length gives a wide angle with little magnification, and a long focal length gives a narrow angle, like a crop, but with higher magnification.

So if I understand you correctly, you're saying that I need a longer focal point because I need to be at a certain distance from the lamp for it not to be distorted, and with a short focal length the wide angle would mean that I would capture a lot of the background.

Please correct me if I have misunderstood - it is all a bit new to me.

No, I have not tried with the 18-55mm. I am still in the process of buying lights, diffusers, etc. But I read that the standard lens that comes with a camera is often not the best quality. I also read that on the nikon d5100 it is actually not too bad. But again, I really don't know. And I read that upgrading your lens is the easiest way to get the most out of your camera.

Focal length is, in basic terms, the amount of zoom you're currently at. So 18-55mm means when you're zoomed all the way out, you're at 18mm focal length.

The 18-55mm is good for a lot of things, but one lens every photographer should probably have in their kit is the 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4. This lens can be used for a variety of things, and it's certainly the most versatile and most used lens in my kit.

Good glass is definitely a good step towards better photography, and the aperture opens you up to different options. But it comes down to practice. I've done a little bit of product photography myself, and it's pretty fun once you get the hang of it.

Brond · Mar 10, 2015

astroNikon: Thanks for pointing that out.

I have read people recommending f/8 - f/9 - but I guess that is more for rings and other small items. Then I have read people recommend from f/11 up to f/20. I guess that is more in line with what you and Derek are saying.

When I try to use f/8 it seems to have the effect that only what I am focusing on is sharp, and everything else is blurred. When I use f/20 the background is also sharp(-ish)... I guess practice makes... better

Brond · Mar 10, 2015

DGMPhotography: Thank you for that explanation!

So looking at 50mm f/1.8 I see a price range from $100 to $500 on amazon just on the first page... would you recommend any specifically?

Dave442 · Mar 10, 2015

With the D5100 you want to use "G" lenses, such as 50mm f/1.8 G. There are 50mm D lenses that will not auto-focus on the D5100 body, it will fit and work fine other that that. Your manual probably talks about the level of compatibility of older lenses.
I suggest just using the kit lens and a tripod, it can certainly work for many types of product photography.

Brond · Mar 10, 2015

Dave442. Thanks for that input.

I assumed that since the D5100 is an F mount camera that as long as the lens is F mount I should be okay?

Doing product photography of still images, my idea was to place the camera on the tripod, use the manual focus with the live view finder, zoom in and manually set the focus that way.

Seeing that you are not the first person to recommend me to use the kit lens, I think I am going to wait until the light arrives (it's being shipped today) and see if I can't get good results with what I have.

At the end of the day, as long as I can get quality comparable to this, I'm happy - do you think that is possible?

Alexr25 · Mar 11, 2015

Dave442 said:
With the D5100 you want to use "G" lenses, such as 50mm f/1.8 G. There are 50mm D lenses that will not auto-focus on the D5100 body, it will fit and work fine other that that. Your manual probably talks about the level of compatibility of older lenses.

That is not correct. The G suffix just indicates that the lens has no aperture ring and aperture setting must be done through the camera control dial. The D suffix in the lens name indicates that the lens can send distance information back to the camera to increase light metering accuracy.

Since the D5100 does not have an internal focusing motor you need to use a lens with an inbuilt motor if you want it to auto-focus. In the Nikon lens range this means using a AF-S or AF-I lens, though the AF-I is no longer made and was only used for some telephoto lenses.

Before you rush out to buy a new lens however I would try using your 18-55mm kit lens. Optically it is quite good and it will focus down to 28cm/11 inches so you will have no trouble filling the frame plus you don't need a fast lens since you will need to stop down to a small aperture (large f number) to get the depth of field to cover both the lamp and the lampshade.
What you will need though is a tripod and a remote release of some sort so you can trip the shutter without touching the camera.

Brond · Mar 11, 2015

Alex! Thank you for clearing that up - and for your sound advice! I will do as you suggests, keeping the kit lens for now, and invest in a remote release - that is a great idea, so I don't cause a tremor in the camera. I already have a tripod, not super quality, but good enough to begin with.

Brond · Mar 11, 2015

I did a search for remote release and found that they range a lot in pricing - from $ to $40...

Is there a reason why I shouldn't buy the following?

Premium RC-5 Wireless Remote Control For Nikon D3200, D5100, D5000 for $5.99
Premium RC 5 Wireless Remote Control FOR Nikon D3200 D5100 D5000 eBay

DGMPhotography · Mar 11, 2015

Brond said:
DGMPhotography: Thank you for that explanation!

So looking at 50mm f/1.8 I see a price range from $100 to $500 on amazon just on the first page... would you recommend any specifically?

Well everyone else sorta elaborated already what I was going to. But what you'll want is probably the 50mm f/1.8 AF-S lens. It should cost about $180. Money well invested.

Brond · Mar 11, 2015

DGMphotography: For a newbie like me, the same good advice can never be repeated too often!! When getting a new lens, the 50mm f/1.8 AF-S lens seems so far to be a sure winner in terms of price and versatility.

This forum is awesome!