Different products include cosmetics, jewelry, household products, apparels, and many more, are the subject of photography for online selling. If you are working as a professional photographer for E-commerce portals then while choosing your product photography lens you have to consider various aspects into mind such as the subject size, distance that need to be kept from the subject, lighting setup, Studio space, etc. Two main things have to be kept in mind while choosing the appropriate lens because what is required from such lens is the sharpness and the appropriate focal length which would help to get the images of the desired quality.
Different types of lenses are available from different brands in the market that can fit the requirement. For jewelry photography, the clicks have to be made from 1-2 feet away from the product, which is quite close distance. The focus has to be entirely on the product, so the camera and the lens should be able to control the aperture settings aptly. Almost all the DSLR or mirrorless cameras can help you do the same, so choosing the best could be confusing at times. Listed below are the top few budget cameras which are affordable and can help you to get the images the way you want. But it is always recommended to get the professional jewellery photography course along with learning the basic usage of DSLR like setting the aperture and shutter speed.
1) Nikon D3500
This is one of the perfect cameras for capturing the products images for online selling purpose as it would make the product look like in real life rather than glorifying them with wide-angle lenses.
Available in the affordable price range, this camera is good for every kind of photographer be it beginner or beginner or expert. The lens of the camera can be used for portraits, street photography, and many other subjects.
2) Canon T6 16 megapixel DSLR
The camera is ideal for any professional photographer or an amateur who is looking forward to creating magic with clicks. The device is equipped with an 18.0 megapixel CMOS image sensor and many other creative and automatic options.
Powerful DIGIC 4+ image processor helps to click clear images even in the low light conditions.
3) Mirrorless Sony A6000
This DSLR camera from the brand Sony will help you test your limits of creativity because the device focus on speed and you can take from fast action to candid photographs of the moving and the still subjects easily. The device has the world’s fastest autofocus 6 that can help you click crucial movements in a blink be it lifestyle photography or fashion photoshoot.
The BIONZ X image processor in the device can reproduce the textures in the details in the real-time, delivering true to life images. The details which are visible to the naked eyes can be captured well in the still or video mode.
Diving into Lens details
Best lenses for jewelry photography includes 18-55 mm lenses as these are suitable for all kind of product shoot.
In most of the cases, there would be no need for a macro lens or any additional lens for small jewelry pieces like rings or studs because online product images do not need too big images. So 18-55mm lens can work wonders for such jewelry products, e.g., necklaces, Chunky earrings, Bracelet or rings, etc.
A macro lens is needed when the pictures have to be of the poster size. Some most preferred macro lens are:-
- Nikon 105mm macro
- Canon 100mm
- Sony 90mm
If you have to get a full-page ad of small products like a ring or studs in a glossy magazine, a macro lens can capture a high-quality image for printing purpose. But if the image of jewelry has to be printed on a website page in thumbnail size, a regular lens can also justify the pixels.
The lens focal range
The jewelry photography has to be from the close quarters, and it is very important to pay attention to the details, so a macro focal range or minimal focus distance is suitable. Macro lenses help to focus on products closer than any other kind of lenses, and smaller is the distance better would be the photographs for the jewelry.
Prime lenses give sharper images while the non-prime lens comes with fixed zoom hence these have to be moved closer to the subject to get the product in the frame.
If you are engaged in full-time photography, for fashion photoshoot or online product images shooting it is always better to have a different set of lenses. But if you are involved in photography only for the jewelry of your eCommerce store, then a kit lens Plus a set of the macro lens can suffice your purpose.
Prime lenses are a good option if the products you have to shoot are of similar size; otherwise, it will take a lot of time to get the product fit fully into your frame and give it the desired look.
Portrait photographers preferred prime lenses because they have to click photographs of different people from the same distance and does not have to move back and forth between the different shots. This lens helps them to get better image quality.