Nikon vs. Olympus

[untamedmenagerie]

Hi! First of all I am brand new to this forum and brand new to photography. I'm hoping to get advice on which camera would be best to use to photograph small items (like jewelry).

I don't know what to look for in a camera. Until recently I thought you measured the power/strength of the camera by megapixels.

For taking close up photos of small items, would you recommend a Nikon (8 megapixels) or an Olympus (12 megapixels).

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

What is your goal for taking these close up shots? Is it for computer/web viewing or do you want top quality and the ability to make large prints?

You are on the right track...Mega Pixels isn't really the way to judge the quality of a camera.

Some 8 MP cameras are better than some 12 MP cameras and vice versa.

 

[ScottS]

You need to worry about the lens, not the camera for close up stuff.

 

[untamedmenagerie]

Thank you both for your responses! The images will be used online, and I doubt I will ever have the need to have them printed.

The two cameras currently in my budget are the Nikon Coolpix S510 and the Olympus 1200.

http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-Camera/25582/COOLPIX-S510.html

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1311

What kind of lens should I be looking for? The Olympus offers "super micro" and the Nikon does not, at least in that particular model.

 

[usayit]

At the start of this thread, there was an assumption that you were looking at DSLRs. This was later followed up by a recommendation to look at lenses rather than camera bodies.

now that we know you are looking at P&S, the lens is not interchangable so you must base you decision on the camera(+lens) as a whole.

For online images, either camera will most likely work as the final quality of the images is not so important for online use. Mpix count isn't going to be a big factor either since all your images will be scaled down for online use.

I would give the edge out to the Olympus 1200 due to the 10cm macro range and the fact that I have experience with some of Olympus's P&S cameras. They all have been pretty good.

the more important decision you will have to make is how you will setup the lighting.

 

[Mike_E]

Hi Untamed, welcome to the forum. Could your budget be bumped up a little? A used 6 megapixel camera with a 50mm f1.8 lens and some inexpensive extension tubes would give you far better Macro/Micro photos than a P&S. Even if the P&S had 20 MPx.

There are things to be considered like Depth of Field (gets small with tubes I know but it's still doable) and selective exposure that you would need for great product shots that you just can't do with a P&S. A DSLR would also have a hotshoe for flash photography.

P.S. the learning curve is greater for a DSLR so if you are going to need this right away then the Oly looks to be the pick.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Really more importantly (everyone says that) with specular objects like jewelry, is lighting.

You need to set up the camera on a tripod and turn off the flash. Diffuse the ambient lighting somehow so that you can get better looking images.