Monte saying hello from Washington State! Looking for camera recommendation. Appreciate any opinions!

[TorchHypnosis]

Good day to you all!

I just joined because we have been having a hard time finding a good photographer. I'm a tech head, and want to try taking some photos of the product we make at work for our website. I was going to go with a middle of the road Nikon, but one of our IT guys got great results with a Sony A7RV.

I understand if you aren't going to do anything but adjust color levels, number of mega pixels isn't that important. But it would be nice if I could rotate an image to square things up, so I should probably get something with some headroom. I also understand that a decent lens that fits your application is a MUST. And of course, I would like to invest in something that is somewhat "future-proof". I don't want to buy something that is going to be out-dated in a couple years.

That being said, I like how the guy used a gray card to calibrate the colors with his Sony A7RV...like I said, the photos turned out great...vibrant colors and true.

I am not trying to spend money on a top of the line camera, but I don't want to sacrifice quality. Isn't that the age old caveat! But of course I am willing to spend what I need to in order to achieve results. You can see some examples of what I will be photographing at www.windfall.design.

Anyone have any recommendations? Thanks for reading!

-Monte

 

[DanOstergren]

I don't think you will be disappointed with any camera in the Sony A7 series.

 

[TorchHypnosis]

I don't think you will be disappointed with any camera in the Sony A7 series.

Thanks for the reply Dan!

...um, yea...paying two mortgages ATM, just saw the price on that Sony. It's a bit over my budget. I would like to get something that retails for under $1,000 new, and maybe buy it used. I already have some lenses, I know I have a Nikon lens, and I think a Canon, but I will have to dig them up. Hopefully they still fit newer camera models.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Jeff15]

Hello Monte and welcome ...

 

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day Mate

I would suggest you look into any of the pre-loved units appearing in the dealers' sites
The most critical thing for you will be the lens unit - sharpness, and the ability to close the lens down to create good depth-of-field to give you sharpness across the whole of the product. Overall the camera is much like a motor car ... it goes 'click' in your case

A good tripod to hold the camera still and secure, and maybe--depending on what the actual product is--possibly several LED lighting units may come in useful

ps- trying to reach your website my browser gave me a security warning not to continue. You might need your I.T fellers to look at it
Hope this helps
Phil

 

[TorchHypnosis]

Weird...did you spell it right? Im sure you did, but I had to ask. I would like to get to the bottom of this, we pay our IT contractor and web developers way too much for a security warning to pop up. Im sure we have an SSL certificate, its possible they did some recent work to the website and messed something up.

Between us and our sister company Mountain Lumber we make all of the wood products for all Starbucks locations in the US. We even made a board room table for Mark Zucherberg. We are not a huge company, but we've been atound over 15 years. This issue you say you experienced simply will not fly. May I ask what browser you are using? I will talk with our web developers in the morning and double check our SSL Certificate here in a few.

Thanks!
-Monte

 

[JoeW]

The camera makes very little difference. It's like telling a good chef "wow--you must have a great oven!" The lens matters more than the camera. But for product photography, there are about 150, maybe 250 different camera bodies that will do what you want to do (ie: product photography).

First, look at a pre-owned camera. Because the focus (no pun intended) is on mirrorless, you can get an excellent used DSLR (ie: not mirrorless) camera with a lens for $500. It will be bigger and heavier than a mirrorless. But it will do everything you want. In fact, if you're shooting photos to go on the web (so "smaller photos" with fewer pixels) then there are probably about 300-350 different camera bodies that will suit your purpose.

Second, what you need that is essential is some training on product photography. There are a lot of recommendations I could make but I don't know details. What products? What lighting? What setting? I looked at your website and if those are photos you want to duplicate, it's not product photography. Frankly, it's more "interiors" or architectural work. For that, the lighting setup (so you don't have hot spots on metal or glass, you don't have harsh shadows, you don't have areas that are blown-out) is critical. That isn't about the camera, it's about the setup and lighting.

Third, you said you don't want something that will be outdated in a bit. Given where the camera world is and is going, anything less than $4,000 will be passed by technologically within a year. That doesn't mean it will be worthless, just that innovations (which are coming fast and furious) are continuing. Let me give you an example: do you need a camera that allows you to set auto-focus for the eyes of a bird (not just an animal, a bird)? Well, what's coming will be autofocus for specific types of bird eyes. Do you need that? I doubt it. Do you need to be able to shoot 30 frames per second? I doubt it and certainly not for the type of photography you're talking about in this instance.

I'm not trying to be insulting here. But you don't know what you don't know. None of us want to buy something that will be passed by technologically in a year or two. But when you're talking cameras that means you either buy a top of the line (like a Nikon Z9 which is designed for professionals and probably won't be bypassed for at least another 2-3 years) or you recognize that 95% of the technological advances (like shooting video, better sound recording, autofocus for specific animals, more FPS so you can shoot a hummingbird at 50 frames per second) aren't relevant to you. If you buy a camera, lens, and possibly lighting setup, that is a fit for what you're trying to shoot, then it doesn't become obsolete for you.

Get a used DSLR. You can get a good one with an appropriate lens for $500 and it will shoot what you need to shoot. Hire a photographer to teach you how to use that camera and how to light and shoot interiors (because that setup will matter far more than the camera). Consider buying a professional grade tripod (ie: nothing less than $75 and probably more like $200).

Good luck and welcome!

 

[TorchHypnosis]

Thanks for the great info Joe! Like I said, I have a couple good lenses around here somewhere, one or two Nikons for sure, and I think a Canon. Now I guess I should do some research on exactly how Digital Single-Lens Relflex cameras are different from other types of cameras.

We have a guy in-house that knows photography, the one with the $3500 Sony. He can show me the basics of lighting (much of which I already know as I used to photograph glass art) and show me how to use a gray card. We bought professional lighting we keep at the lab where we take the photos, and a number of tripods.

I'm not sure if I need to use a gray card, but from what I understand it calibrates the contrast so the colors you end up with in the photographs reflect those in the environment the pictures are taken. Can most DSLR cameras use this feature?

Thanks again Joe!

-Monte

 

[Ozzie_Traveller]

Weird...did you spell it right? Im sure you did, but I had to ask. I would like to get to the bottom of this, we pay our IT contractor and web developers way too much for a security warning to pop up. Im sure we have an SSL certificate, its possible they did some recent work to the website and messed something up. .......

Thanks!
-Monte

G'day mate
Tried it again this morning and it worked perfectly --- must have been one of those momentary glitches that happens occasionally. ps- your site and products look okay too
Phil