Which camera to buy for large oil murals?

Ok, all your murals are on canvas? How large of an area do you use to photograph? On a D3400 camera a 30mm lens is considered a standard lens. You will get about a 40 degree angle of view. A 20mm lens on the D3400 will give you about a 55 degree angle of view. And a 15mm lens on the D3400 will give you about a 74 degree angle of view. It's better to use a long lens as possible. So if you can stand back some and use a long lens thats best.

Depending on where you take the picture you may not need lighting. You can adjust the camera for different type of artificial lights you already have. If your location has the same bulbs in every light (same color / K temperatures). For example 3,200k or 2,500k color temp light bulbs. You can adjust white balance in the camera for those bulbs. That's if the lights are consistent and provide full coverage of your work. Or of course if you have a studio with large windows and get very good morning or late afternoon light. That would be good too.


Yes all the paintings are on canvas. The area is basically the size of a large living room so I do get very good natural lighting. What I do need suggestions on is what lights to get for the paintings that have varnish because they tend to produce reflections and are nearly impossible to photograph without any reflections showing.

These are the ones I'm looking at so far.. thoughts and suggestions?

Amazon.com : Nikon D3400 DSLR Camera with AF-P DX 18-55mm Lens (Black), + Flash + SLR Photo Bag + Batteries and Charger + Remote + 48GB Card Bundle : Electronics

It might not be the longest lens but I'm sure it will be sufficient considering I have the space to place the painting far enough from the tripod and camera...if you know of a better alternative than this lens Id really appreciate it if you send me links from amazon.

Amazon.com : Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras : Camera Lenses : Camera & Photo

Thank you very much!

Skip that bundle!!!!! They take out Nikon items and give you cheap junky knock off items (battery / charger for one, probably cables and software)!!! The only thing good in the kit is the camera and lens. Just buy the camera and its kit lens! I think $496 from AMAZON. Not a third party seller on Amazon. Sometimes they even message you saying your buying this kit, such and such is not that good would you like to upgrade this or that for $xxx more? And then they don't even sell you good stuff, but more off brand stuff.

The 35mm F1.8 lens is good choice.
 
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A good tripod so you can make sure it's plum to the painting. Wired or wireless shutter release. White balance cards to ensure proper color. I would make sure you have those things, try them with your 14mp camera. If your still not satisfied with the quality of the image, we could go from there. That is my opinion.

If you are planning to build a portfolio to present to potential dealers, you may want to consider hiring a professional.

If those are not viable options, then you may want to consider a used Sony A7 first generation. You can get them pretty reasonable and the full frame image quality is excellent for what your intended use is. A 50mm prime lens ( used Minolta Maxxum AF 50mm f/1.4) would be a solid choice to minimize distortion and offer excellent micro contrast, color saturation, and sharpness.


Thanks for the tip about the white balance cards, I had no idea what they were until I looked them up on amazon. Looks they come with an Instruction Guide on how to use them. Phew!

The thing is my paintings have quite a bit of detail which means I would have to photograph each painting in sections of 6 or more to get everything in the final image for the prints. That's something I don't think I'm looking forward to getting into haha considering how much work it was to photograph each painting in two halves and putting them together in photoshop!! :)
 
These are the ones I'm looking at so far.. thoughts and suggestions?

Amazon.com : Nikon D3400 DSLR Camera with AF-P DX 18-55mm Lens (Black), + Flash + SLR Photo Bag + Batteries and Charger + Remote + 48GB Card Bundle : Electronics

It might not be the longest lens but I'm sure it will be sufficient considering I have the space to place the painting far enough from the tripod and camera...if you know of a better alternative than this lens Id really appreciate it if you send me links from amazon.

Amazon.com : Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras : Camera Lenses : Camera & Photo

Thank you very much!

1 or 2 of these. These are not the fastest now but for the price very good cards, and still quick. For what your doing these are more than enough. I have several for my D3300, D600. I do have slower ones as well and do just fine.

Amazon.com: SanDisk Extreme Pro 32GB SDHC UHS-I Card (SDSDXXG-032G-GN4IN): Computers & Accessories
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Ok, all your murals are on canvas? How large of an area do you use to photograph? On a D3400 camera a 30mm lens is considered a standard lens. You will get about a 40 degree angle of view. A 20mm lens on the D3400 will give you about a 55 degree angle of view. And a 15mm lens on the D3400 will give you about a 74 degree angle of view. It's better to use a long lens as possible. So if you can stand back some and use a long lens thats best.

Depending on where you take the picture you may not need lighting. You can adjust the camera for different type of artificial lights you already have. If your location has the same bulbs in every light (same color / K temperatures). For example 3,200k or 2,500k color temp light bulbs. You can adjust white balance in the camera for those bulbs. That's if the lights are consistent and provide full coverage of your work. Or of course if you have a studio with large windows and get very good morning or late afternoon light. That would be good too.


Yes all the paintings are on canvas. The area is basically the size of a large living room so I do get very good natural lighting. What I do need suggestions on is what lights to get for the paintings that have varnish because they tend to produce reflections and are nearly impossible to photograph without any reflections showing.

These are the ones I'm looking at so far.. thoughts and suggestions?

Amazon.com : Nikon D3400 DSLR Camera with AF-P DX 18-55mm Lens (Black), + Flash + SLR Photo Bag + Batteries and Charger + Remote + 48GB Card Bundle : Electronics

It might not be the longest lens but I'm sure it will be sufficient considering I have the space to place the painting far enough from the tripod and camera...if you know of a better alternative than this lens Id really appreciate it if you send me links from amazon.

Amazon.com : Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras : Camera Lenses : Camera & Photo

Thank you very much!

Skip that bundle!!!!! They take out Nikon items and give you cheap junky knock off items (battery / charger for one, probably cables and software)!!! The only thing good in the kit is the camera and lens. Just buy the camera and its kit lens! I think $496 from AMAZON. Not a third party seller on Amazon. Sometimes they even message you saying your buying this kit, such and such is not that good would you like to upgrade this or that for $xxx more? And then they don't even sell you good stuff, but more off brand stuff.

The 35mm F1.8 lens is good choice.

See.. now that's why I am here! :D Thank you for the heads up!

Very Appreciated.
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
A good tripod so you can make sure it's plum to the painting. Wired or wireless shutter release. White balance cards to ensure proper color. I would make sure you have those things, try them with your 14mp camera. If your still not satisfied with the quality of the image, we could go from there. That is my opinion.

If you are planning to build a portfolio to present to potential dealers, you may want to consider hiring a professional.

If those are not viable options, then you may want to consider a used Sony A7 first generation. You can get them pretty reasonable and the full frame image quality is excellent for what your intended use is. A 50mm prime lens ( used Minolta Maxxum AF 50mm f/1.4) would be a solid choice to minimize distortion and offer excellent micro contrast, color saturation, and sharpness.


Thanks for the tip about the white balance cards, I had no idea what they were until I looked them up on amazon. Looks they come with an Instruction Guide on how to use them. Phew!

The thing is my paintings have quite a bit of detail which means I would have to photograph each painting in sections of 6 or more to get everything in the final image for the prints. That's something I don't think I'm looking forward to getting into haha considering how much work it was to photograph each painting in two halves and putting them together in photoshop!! :)

When I was painting, some of my pieces were as big, if not bigger. I had a professional photographer do my images. He used a Mamiya 7 with a 43mm or 80mm lens (he couldn't recall) digitize my images for a dealer that took me on in Chicago. I ran into him at a funeral a couple months ago, I know he took only single frames but may have bracketed. We shot them in my studio that had major natural light coming in from all angles. He used some speed lights for fill in. I used to buy his binned photos by the shoe box. I didn't know or care anything photography then. He is a self employed professional product photographer and I was lucky enough to utilize him when he was starting out.
 
These are the ones I'm looking at so far.. thoughts and suggestions?

Amazon.com : Nikon D3400 DSLR Camera with AF-P DX 18-55mm Lens (Black), + Flash + SLR Photo Bag + Batteries and Charger + Remote + 48GB Card Bundle : Electronics

It might not be the longest lens but I'm sure it will be sufficient considering I have the space to place the painting far enough from the tripod and camera...if you know of a better alternative than this lens Id really appreciate it if you send me links from amazon.

Amazon.com : Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras : Camera Lenses : Camera & Photo

Thank you very much!

1 or 2 of these. These are not the fastest now but for the price very good cards, and still quick. For what your doing these are more than enough. I have several for my D3300, D600. I do have slower ones as well and do just fine.

Amazon.com: SanDisk Extreme Pro 32GB SDHC UHS-I Card (SDSDXXG-032G-GN4IN): Computers & Accessories


Found this Camera and Lens...correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the lens that comes with the camera a longer lens than the 30mm lens I linked you earlier? If it gives me the same results I just might spend $100 less

https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-70-300mm-4-5-6-3G/dp/B01N6ERCXI/ref=sr_1_8?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1500591018&sr=1-8&keywords=Nikon+D3400+DSLR+Camera&refinements=p_n_feature_two_browse-bin:10705382011,p_89:Nikon

I remember someone suggested a telephoto lens.. are there any benefits over a 30-35mm lens? If there is please be so kind to recommend one to get? :)
 
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As for lighting your going to want softboxes. Probably 2 for your larger pieces. The should be a good size too. Large enough you may consider buying monolights or hotlights instead of flashes (monolights are just big flashes, hotlights are basically lights, called hot since they stay on all the time, just like leaving a table lamp on. Large soft boxes need more light. If your taking the pictures in your own studio and can use regular ac electric plug in lights (either hot lights or monolights). That would be less expensive. You would need lighting stands, softboxes and a way to trigger the monolights. Many have an optical sensor and by firing your on camera flash they flash also (as long as sensor picks up the camera flash). Using optical trigger you will be setting the power output on the monolights manually. Since your using digital there is only wasted time experimenting with light power and positions of the lights. You can also buy lights that have wireless triggering. With the D3400 you would also need to buy a transmitter and put on the flash hot shoe. Some of these systems are just simple triggers and you still have to set lights manually at each light. And more expensive ones you can set remotely using the transmitter mounted to the camera. And there is the old fashioned way and you can use wires. And plug in an adapter on the hot shoe and run cables to the lights. And set the lights manually.

I myself have flashes and monolights. I use cheaper radio triggers most of the time (have to set power at each light manually). But have used optical. And I have used Nikons own wireless system which is light pulses with appropriate Nikon flashes.
 
if you need to stitch shots together accuratley I'd really reccomend getting a rotating base, slide and an L bracket. Look in to Nodal points (basically rotating the camera around the lens aperture). Makes stitching a breeze with minimal distorsion. I do it for panoramas and I notice the difference now in post between shots around the tripod screw and when I've used the nodal point. There's various options on the market, from RRS to Nodal Ninja or you can put together your own kit. I put my own together for £160, and while that seems like a lot of extra cash it pales in comparison to a medium format digital camera. 200mpx image...no problem! Could probably put one together for your purposes for under £100, as you won't need a leveling base or indexing rotator.

if your subject is static and using stitching you can get some fantastic detail especially with a resonably sharp lens.
 
Found this Camera and Lens...correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the lens that comes with the camera a longer lens than the 30mm lens I linked you earlier? If it gives me the same results I just might spend $100 less

I remember someone suggested a telephoto lens.. are there any benefits over a 30-35mm lens?

Longer focal length lenses have a flattening effect. And tend to have less distortions. But you need to be farther away from the subject to get everything in the frame of the picture. If you have a long studio you can use a long lens. If you have a small room, your going to need a wider lens to get the whole artwork in the picture.

As for the "kit" lens and the 35mm f/1.8 lens. The kit lens (18-55mm) will make you use about 2 full shutter speeds slower to take your pictures. Or maybe higher ISO settings. Or different apertures if you can't add more light. This is where some studying comes in. Need to learn the correlation between shutter speed, aperture, and iso settings. It will give you a better understanding of the differences of lens settings too (aperture). And help in purchasing lenses themselves. Basically the 35mm f/1.8 can work in lower light situations than the kit lens can. If - you can use the larger apertures in your pictures (lower numbers). So, you may not need the 35mm f/1.8 especially if you used artificial lighting. But the 35mm f/1.8 is better optically too. Will give you a better quality picture with less distortions than the kit lens. For $150 or so its a really good lens to have. The kit lens is a decent do all lens. And you can get good pictures from it. But it's a jack of all trades lens.
 
Found this Camera and Lens...correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the lens that comes with the camera a longer lens than the 30mm lens I linked you earlier? If it gives me the same results I just might spend $100 less

I remember someone suggested a telephoto lens.. are there any benefits over a 30-35mm lens?

Longer focal length lenses have a flattening effect. And tend to have less distortions. But you need to be farther away from the subject to get everything in the frame of the picture. If you have a long studio you can use a long lens. If you have a small room, your going to need a wider lens to get the whole artwork in the picture.

As for the "kit" lens and the 35mm f/1.8 lens. The kit lens (18-55mm) will make you use about 2 full shutter speeds slower to take your pictures. Or maybe higher ISO settings. Or different apertures if you can't add more light. This is where some studying comes in. Need to learn the correlation between shutter speed, aperture, and iso settings. It will give you a better understanding of the differences of lens settings too (aperture). And help in purchasing lenses themselves. Basically the 35mm f/1.8 can work in lower light situations than the kit lens can. If - you can use the larger apertures in your pictures (lower numbers). So, you may not need the 35mm f/1.8 especially if you used artificial lighting. But the 35mm f/1.8 is better optically too. Will give you a better quality picture with less distortions than the kit lens. For $150 or so its a really good lens to have. The kit lens is a decent do all lens. And you can get good pictures from it. But it's a jack of all trades lens.

Guess in my case it's a bit of a no brainer and will stick with the 30mm lens for now and perhaps a 20mm in the future.

Thanks!
 
if you need to stitch shots together accuratley I'd really reccomend getting a rotating base, slide and an L bracket. Look in to Nodal points (basically rotating the camera around the lens aperture). Makes stitching a breeze with minimal distorsion. I do it for panoramas and I notice the difference now in post between shots around the tripod screw and when I've used the nodal point. There's various options on the market, from RRS to Nodal Ninja or you can put together your own kit. I put my own together for £160, and while that seems like a lot of extra cash it pales in comparison to a medium format digital camera. 200mpx image...no problem! Could probably put one together for your purposes for under £100, as you won't need a leveling base or indexing rotator.

if your subject is static and using stitching you can get some fantastic detail especially with a resonably sharp lens.

Thank you for the info...would have come in very handy when I was taking two shots of each painting then stitching them together. Did I say two? I meant at least 40 of each half hahah!... I will have to look into it a bit more now that I've discovered the power of forums! :D
 
I forget do you already have a decent tripod? If so, you will have enough to get going and practice some. You don't want to buy too much right away. Learn some first. And you will be better informed in your later purchases.
 
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That will do for now with inside work. Just don't bump it. :aiwebs_016:

When you take pictures of your work, use the self timer on the camera. That way you hitting the shutter will not shake the camera.
 

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