Hi everyone,

I finally ready to invest in a digital camera to take picture of my jewelry (yeah!).  I need your help and expertise.  I am VERY electronically illiterate.  What camera do you use?  I would like to spend only around $100 and I want something that will take great pictures and be relatively easy to use (no bells and whistles).  I would love to hear everyone's opinion on some great cameras out there and why they are so great.

Thanks in advance,

Laura

Hi Laura, Wow, I don't know what you can get for a $100.00 that is any good. Whatever you decide to buy make sure the store has a decent return policy incase the images are not so great. Issues that you run into with a cheaper camera is grain. Also, make sure the camera has manual functions. This is VERY important because you will not want to photograph your jewelry with the on camera flash at all. If your camera has manual settings all you will need is a lighting setup and a tripod. You can use regular lamps and white paper to diffuse the light. Whatever you decide on, take some pictures and post them. I can give you some tips from there. Regards, Sandra

My husband just bought me a camera for christmas. He looked on CNET.com to find which camera would take the best pics in macro mode. He found Cannon "Power Shot" SD880 IS. I think he spent around $300 at walmart online. You can see the picture quality on my website. I used the camera for these pics.. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20877965 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20736354 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20005873 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19834877 I love the camera because my old camera didn't take very good macro shots. The flash on the jewelry would glare too much. So I was using my scanner or taking pictures outside. I hope this helps. Janine

Hi there,

Thanks for the help.  I actually found a camera on Amazon.  I ended up getting a Canon PowerShot A590 IS.  I think it will fill my needs and it only cost $109.  All of the reviews were excellent and it has 8 MP's, macro mode, and white balance control, which I found out on www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com, is what you need for taking good pictures of jewelry.  As soon as I post some, you guys can decide if I did good or not.

Laura

 Hi,

I checked out the photos and you are on the right track!  One thing you'll want to do it shoot from over the jewelery, a bit more and if possible use a tripod.  A tripod will help eliminate camera shake.  Also, whatever lightsource you use, be sure to let your camera know that.  The usual settings are:

Daylight

Fluorescent

Incandescent

Shade

Auto

Each of the light sources above has it own color.  Light from a regualr light bulb is usually yellowish, fluorescent light is greenish, and daylight is a nice crisp white. I think shade is blue.  In any event you'll want to tell your camera,"Hey I'm shooting with yellow light, please act as if its white."  If you do not do this your jewelry will have the color of the light source which in some cases is undesirable.

Daylight makes great light for taking photos of jewelry.  If your camera has manual settings use these:

F/16 @125 ISO 100

Sandra
 

 

 

 

Here is a photo I took with a VERY VERY old digital camera.  I took the photo on white paper using a tripod.  I metered the paper and set the camera to photograph two stops over what the reading was.  If I had diffused the light, there would not be hot spots on the pearls at all.  I was too lazy to get my diffuser!  I think that if a 9 year old digital point and shoot camera can take a decent photo, then anything on the market today can as well.  I did not make this necklace.  It is from Silpada.

 

the close up is here: 

http://www.syoungerphotography.com/necklace.jpg 

 

Sandra 

Sandra,

Thank you so much for the guidance.  I really do not know anything about digital cameras, so I definitely need you experienced ones to help me.  I guess I'll also learn from my mistakes.

Laura

Laura,

Have you considered using a scanner for your photos?  Photographing your jewelry so it looks professional and is of good quality can be quite a process.  I use a scanner for all my web photos and they quality is simply amazing.

Check it out:  www.linnygirldesigns.com

You don't have to be a great photographer to get good photos for your website.   Having a little knowlege of software like Photoshop or any kind of photography compuer software is helpful.

Good luck!

Linda Guzik

LinnyGirl Designs