Taking photos of vinyls, CDs, books etc.

[Greendrake]

Hello everyone. I am a collector of rare CDs, vinyls, magazines etc. I am in the process of creating a digital version of my collection, thus I need to take really good photos of all the items I have. Scanning will be done as well, but I can't get away with scans only, because many of the items are not just plain pictures on flat surfaces but really good tactile things that are worth taking photos.

Details are important — the photos must be hi-resolution close-ups.

It would be great to hear some advices on:

• What lens to choose (for Canon EOS 50D)?
• What particular equipment is recommended? (lights, umbrellas, etc.)
• Anything else that is worth taking into account.

Many thanks .

 

[chaosrealm93]

i would go with a nice long lens to minimize distortion. maybe a 85mm 1.8 or longer? a two point lighting setup would be nice. use umbrellas to eliminate harsh shadows

 

[tirediron]

If it's nothing larger than a vinyl LP, pick yourself up a light tent. They normally come with lights, and are designed to produce a nice, even lighting suitable for products (They're what many eBay vendors use to photograph their stock). You can get them in sizes from a 12" to several feet and from $20 - $1000. I'm not a Canonite, so I can't speak to a specific lens, but I would think that for this sort of work, pretty much any lens, right down to an inexpensive kit lens would suffice. The 85mm recommended above would probably be a bit long on an APS-C body for use with a light tent however, if you did choose to go that route.