drjoelfinlay

I need a basic camera that will handle making closeup photographs of jewelry and other small items to place in ads on internet sites. My phone does not take very good photos for this purpose. As this is not a big business, I cannot afford the recommended uglyhedgehog.com cameras. Isn't there an inexpensive camera, maybe even refurbished or good quality used, that will meet my needs for closeups and has an image stabilizer?

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Is the Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS70 ($347.99 new) within your budget?

Used = $259.95
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=DC-ZS70&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=&usedSearch=1

BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan

Get a better phone? I have a Galaxy 6 and have used it to take great closeups. Maybe not magazine quality but great for internet sales. I have a friend who owns a jewelry store and also sells online and she also uses her phone to great effect. Learn what lighting does best for your products. Also, my Galaxy 6 has a pro mode so if I want to I can shoot RAW and choose my own settings. It's over 4 years old, so the newer models must do even better.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

What is your definition inexpensive? A price range that you are willing to pay would be helpful.

Vietnam Vet

CO

You might consider the Nikon D3500 ($396) with Nikon Micro 85mm f/3.5G ED VR DX lens ($556). I've used that lens on my D7000. It's a DX format lens so it's lighter and more compact than macro lenses designed for full frame. It has vibration reduction.

The Nikon Micro 40mm f/2.8G DX lens ($276) is also an excellent macro lens. It's very sharp. I had that lens. The only reason I sold it is because I wasn't doing a lot of macro photography. It doesn't have vibration reduction though. The 85mm micro does have VR.

User ID

".....My phone does not take very good
photos for this purpose....." says to me
that your phone takes good photos for
other purposes. You can get the same
inferior results from all the cameras that
are recommended above. No camera will
make an attractive picture if the scene
in front of it is not attractive. You must
learn to make attractive, properly built
and lit stagings for your jewelry. Then
almost ANY camera will do. When the
scene is very "camera friendly" a $4000
camera has very little advantage over a
phone. Fancy cameras are important for
conquering "unfriendly" scenes.

It's verrrrry unlikely that you need any of
the cameras promoted above, if you have
access to a recent smartphone. There is
no special camera gear needed. What is
needed is a "camera friendly" scene that
makes your jewelry look right. Then any
smartphone will be plenty of camera.

Your main problem with jewelry is not the
camera. Most phones are quite suitable.
But you hafta create and illuminate the
surroundings of your small shiny subjects,
cuz they reflect whatever surrounds them.
Any decent phone camera can do the job,
once you create the scene for it to shoot.

I won't waste space here describing how
to create the scenes cuz I expect there's
plenty of advice online already about how
to build and light jewelry product scenes.
Once you build a scene that looks good,
you just snap it with your phone. It's all
about Set Design and Lighting.

To start your online edumacation, I can
recommend a couple of search terms:

"Photographing Jewelry" [sooprize!] and
"Light Tent" [NOT camping gear so you
may need to add "Photographic" to it]


.

gnadeau80 Loc: Rowley,MA

Head to your local camera shop and browse around. They carry both new and used.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

A tripod is the best stabilizer.

Piltdown1952

You can get a used Nikon D70 (body only) for around $50-65. There are two great things about this. It can do all kinds of sophisticated stuff as you get more into it, but you can simply put it on "A" (for auto) and it is as easy to use as your iPhone. If you buy a body only and you are only or mostly shooting jewelry. you might go with a macro lens or at least one that can zoom in very close. I kept my D70 as a back-up when I moved to a D7100. You will often see the body bundled with a AF-S Nikkor 18-55 mm 1:3-5~5.6G (27~82.5 mm in 35 mm film equivalent). That would work but might not get you close enough. I also use a AF-S Micro Nikkor 40 mm 1:2.8G (60 mm in 35 mm film equivalent) for macro work.

lsaguy Loc: Udall, KS, USA

I upped my game by going to a DSLR for one reason; I was tired of fighting with auto focus on my bridge camera when trying to get a specific detail of an aircraft assembly for an article I was writing. The setup I use now is;
Pentax K20D $175 (used from KEH)
Pentax 135mm f3.5 lens $ 18 (used local DAV)
Extension tubes $ 10 (new Amazon)
Tripod (Zomei 818) $104 (new Amazon)

Total $307

Now if I want to make the 3rd rivet from the left the component in sharp focus I can easily instead of taking 10 or more shots trying to trick my little Fuji bridge camera into doing it then cropping to get the image to fit into the column/page space I have available.

BebuLamar

I think you would need some lighting equipment as well like a lighting tent. A small one wouldn't be expensive. I have an old Nikon Coolpix 5000 and I think it's perfect for this purpose. It has a 28-85mm 35mm equivalent lens and 5MP. At 85mm it provide decent distance for small objects. Smallest aperture is f/8 and it would provide good depth of field. 5MP and it can shoot RAW should be enough for any online images. It's only good at ISO 100 but since you will have to use extra lighting and a tripod can be used it's not a problem.

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

If this is the only need for a camera is in your business, then maybe investigate add on lenses to your phone.
They work. A sampling, no more than twenty dollars for the lenses used.
Shop Ebay first, prices, not quality, vary greatly.
Bill

Freshwater clams, largest 15mm.

(Download)

Zipper on my camera bag.

(Download)

Cicada wing

(Download)

Piltdown1952

P.S. just thought of the fact that if you are buying the gear to photograph and promote your jewelry your tax advisor might tell you that they are deductible from your income tax.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

I second the opinion that the camera is irrelevant. Lighting and staging is the key.
Read up on 'product photography' & 'Product lighting'.

If you insist on getting a great cheap camera - go second hand....Some Photographers constantly seem to prefer 'upgrading' over technique.

have fun