Settings and lenses for jewelry

melizzzah

Hey there, this is an awesome forum! Thanks for all your help, these posts are great.

I just sort of apprehended a task at my current job of taking photos of jewelry in our lighted, photo dome with a Canon 60D camera with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens. I'm so totally new at using DSLR's, I have no idea how to work it! :( I have used one before, but never intensely or for such a specific purpose.

I was just wondering if any of you had any suggestions on which lenses were good to use, ISO, white balance, macro settings, etc... Basically you can assume I know nothing if you feel so inclined to offer any kind of guidance.

If you do offer any sort of help, I would really appreciate it! Thanks so much.

- Melissa

Moose

Howdy @melizzzah - As you may have already found out, the 18-55mm has a very small magnification of 0.34x, which results in less than stellar macro shots.

In order to get increased magnification with superior detail, it's best to buy a dedicated macro lens like the Canon 100mm f/2.8 USM (see here), especially for the purpose of photographing jewelry.

If you don't have the budget for a dedicated macro lens and are just looking to dabble with macro shots, I recommend looking at Raynox DCR-250 macro adapter. It's a fantastic little adapter that attaches directly to your 18-55mm kit lens and instantly increases your magnification, allowing you to capture microscopic detail.

As for settings and setup, it really depends on which route you take (dedicated lens or macro adapter). Let me know and I'd be glad to give you some suggestions. Happy shooting! :)

melizzzah

Thank you so much for your response! I was just doing more research on lenses and googled something similar and found this post! After some hands on experimenting, this post makes much more sense now! Thank you for taking the time to respond with such great information.

I'm still learning! :)

yatendra21

I'm new to DSLR photography and hold practically no knowledge of the art. This is the wrong camera forum but the only related post that I could find.

Just wanted to know if I do go with this Raynox DCR-250 adapter what settings would I need on the camera Nikon D90 with 18-55mm kit lens?

I have to use it mainly for jewelry photography. I have a light diffusion box set. The images need to be very highly detailed.

Thanks!

PBked

Hi,
Having done a lot of macro work in connection with one of my occupations, I can recommend all that liontamer has said. Please note that you need to purchase special bulbs for these table-top set-ups. Sometimes they are referred to as blue lamps or photographic bulbs, but more commonly called daylight bulbs. It would still benefit you to set a custom white balance as per your manual, or you can search these forums for information on how to set a custom white balance.
The Raynox wasn't around in my day, so I chose to use close-up lenses. They can be bought in sets or singles and screwed onto your lens like a filter. The amount of detail that can be captured with these close-up lenses is terrific.
Regards, PBked

PBked

I've come to the conclusion that you and I are a couple of old dinosaurs. Still, they were around for 65 million years. Yes, those were the days my friend.

MisterD

@liontamer
Absolute cracker of a retort!