Need a suggestion for a macro lens to photograph my jewelry

[divella]

Hey there! I make jewelry and am looking for a true macro lens for my Canon T6. I've read so many different blogs, posts and I'm more confused than ever. I don't have thousands to spend and a new camera isn't an option at the moment. I've been getting along okay with my 50, but want to up the quality of my photos a bit. Can anyone help with some suggestion?

[divella]

I do have and use the PS suite, I was just hoping to pick up better/deeper detail. My jewelry only ranges in price from $38-$300 USD so it's true, I don't want to spend the time stacking. It's really not a good use of my studio time.

[kvbarkley]

There is also the EF-S 35mm macro that has the cute little ring light built in. It's only fault is that the working distance at 1:1 is about 3 inches from the front of the lens.

[johnrmoyer]

Long ago, my wife sold jewelry online. To photograph it, I purchased a light box that included a mount for the camera and then I used the free Canon software for remote shooting.  The Canon EF-S 24mm is an inexpensive lens that works well for this and focuses at a distance of about 6 inches. The free Canon DPP will do image stack (focus compositing) if you need more depth of field. The "EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM" is more expensive, but allows one to adjust the framing to the size of the object without moving the camera. Neither of these are true macro lenses, but they work well for closeups. One may use a cell phone with the Canon app as a remote trigger or connect the camera to a computer using a USB cable and then use the free Canon EOS Utility to remotely trigger the shutter. If using the free Canon DPP software and saving raw images, then the "digital lens optimizer" will remove most small aperture diffraction blur permitting greater depth of field by using large F numbers.

I hope some of this might help.

John

[kvbarkley]

"If using the free Canon DPP software and saving raw images, then the "digital lens optimizer" will remove most small aperture diffraction blur permitting greater depth of field by using large F numbers."

Good call, I had not thought about that!

[ebiggs1]

Using the lenses the OP has and adding editing software, DPP4 or PSE or full PS, is the right move. Until folks use photo editing software they do not realize its power.