Product Photography DSLR + Lens Choice

HOOT

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Second post here on the forums (after the intro), hope you guys can help me out and get started off in the right direction.

As the topic title describes I am on the market for a DSLR to be exclusively used for product photography. More precisely the camera will be used to take photos of the products I sell on eBay and e-commerce. I plan on doing all of my shooting indoors and of course the end result I am aiming for is the typical studio product shot with the seamless white background, soft lighting and accurate color portrayal. I am aware of the fact that all of this won't be immediate at first and most importantly the camera is going to be only the starting piece of equipment since the appropriate lens/lenses will have to be purchased and a beginners "studio" set up for the correct lighting and backdrop.

What I will be primarily taking photographs of is a variety of product sizes ranging from large backpacks/kitbags (up to 2 meters in length) down to smaller objects approximately the size of a phone, with the ability of taking close up shots of tags and other smaller details.

I did some research already (keeping in mind I am not very knowledgable on the subject) and it looks like the D90 could serve me well, but I'm open to any suggestions regarding both the body and lenses required to achieve the results I mentioned.

Look forward to receiving some helpful input.

Thanks
-Tom
 
How big is your studio? It helps to know that so we can recommend lenses for shooting the larger stuff. What is your budget? Will you ever want to shoot video? We can discuss that if you wish - the reasons why, the kind of video and the technicalities.

I do a lot of product photography, for both print and the web. Although I use 4x5 film for some pictures, mostly I use a Nikon D3. The lens I use most is the 85 mm PC-E, sometimes with a Canon close-up lens (diopter) on the front. I use the shorter PC-E lenses (24 mm and 45 mm) when necessary for large items (because of limitations on how far I can get away from the object) or to give a closer feel to the image. I also use a Zeiss S-Planar 74 mm lens for really small details.

All those lenses are used with perspective control and tilt. Those features allow adjustments of perspective (mostly vertical) and focus.

If I was buying a camera now, putting aside expensive cameras, I would probably go for the D800 or the D4, or if I didn't need video, a used D3s or D3. Lens choice would depend on the budget.

That's all I have time for right now. I'll go through the reasons I chose what I use, what factors would affect your choice and all the rest of the stuff later. Just ask.

Oh, and here is a page with some of my stuff on it. It's not all my stuff, and it isn't on white seamless... http://www.facebook.com/garrettwadeco
 
First off, thanks for the reply, I appreciate the helpful input.

I do not plan to shoot any kind of video, hence that would not really be a concern for me. I will get the measurements of the room and a couple photos as soon as possible, just to paint a picture for the time being its going to be a relatively small apartment room with an average ceiling and carpet on the floor. Unfortunately I'm aware that this is not the best solution by any means, but then again I will have to make do with what I currently have available in terms of "location".

I also want to clarify that this is an aside business of mine, more so a hobby which happens to be financially profitable aswell, keeping that in mind I do not want to go overboard with the start up expenses since other than the DSLR body and lenses I will have to invest in the studio gear/equipment aswell.

One last thing I thought I'd mention is that the items I shoot 90% of the time are no bigger than a hiking backpack, that said I do sometimes need to take photos of larger items which is why, although not the norm, I mentioned the necessity of doing so in my first post.
 
Is there someone that could help me out in the decision making process as far as the DSLR body goes ?
 

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