Need professional advise for product photography lens for Canon 7D

[Amscot56]

I am a graphic designer with a lot of experience in the studio but I now find myself needing to do my own product shots in my home studio space of 12' x 12.' I am looking hard at the Canon 7D moving up from 40D and I need to know the best lens or lenses to shoot items such as rifles, glassware, china, and small housewares, etc. I will also need to purchase either soft boxes or umbrellas and am looking for advise on this issue as well. Photos will be used for e-commerce and possibly for catalogs. All comments appreciated!

[HDCamTeam]

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@Amscot56 wrote:

I am a graphic designer with a lot of experience in the studio but I now find myself needing to do my own product shots in my home studio space of 12' x 12.' I am looking hard at the Canon 7D moving up from 40D and I need to know the best lens or lenses to shoot items such as rifles, glassware, china, and small housewares, etc. I will also need to purchase either soft boxes or umbrellas and am looking for advise on this issue as well. Photos will be used for e-commerce and possibly for catalogs. All comments appreciated!

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Hi,

This is not an easy question that can be answered with a short reply, but here there are some items you might find helpful:

LENSES:

Considering the 1.6x crop factor of your EOS 7D, I think a Canon 50mm 1.4 USM should be fine for many of your shots, assuming you have enough space in your room and the item is not too large, otherwise you should go wider to EF 35mm f/2.0 IS USM or the more expensive EF 35mm f/1.4L USM

Of course, if you want a wider range of focal lengths to work with and lot more versatility, then you might want a Caon EF 24-70 2.8L II USM (our favorite) which has excellent sharpness and IQ, but it's more expensive. It's not so "fast" compared to the above, but in studio conditions you'll probably won't use faster apertures than f/2.8 or f/4

The advantage of these lenses compared to EF-S ones, is that if you switch to a full frame camera in future, you will be able to use them as well without any issues. Good investments in our opinion.

LIGHT STANDS & ACCESSORIES:

These are some cheap but very nice built quality stands & accessories that won't hurt your budget:

- Impact - Air-Cushioned Heavy Duty Light Stand - Black,9.5' (2.9m)

- Impact - Telescopic Collapsible Reflector Holder

- Impact - Umbrella Bracket with Adjustable Shoe

- Impact - Umbrella - White Translucent (43")

- Impact - Convertible Umbrella - White Satin with Removable Black Backing - 45"

Of course there are lot of other options, but these ones have worked pretty good for us, considering their price.

You can also attach softbox, etc.

Hope this helps!

Regards

[Amscot56]

Thanks for your comments. I didn't realize that the Canon 7D was a crop body. I might want to spring for the 6D body and pair with a lens I will use if I decide to move up from my current 40D. What would you think about the 40D as a studio camera? I currently only have the standard zoom kit lens. Some comments suggest a 100mm but it seems to long a focal length for studio work.

[hsbn]

I have used the 30D for years for studio work. It works great. The 40D is even better. In studio, you are in a controlled-lighting situation so crop or full frame doesn't really matter much. IMHO, I think the TS-E lens is the best for product photography since you can precisely control the Depth of Field. With TS-E lens you can make photo that you cannot make with other lens unless you do DOF stacking. The drawback is TS-E doesn't have auto focus but shooting in studio on tripod for products, you should use Manual focus with live view anyway.

[Skirball]

I would stick with Crop unless you have other reasons to go Full Frame.  Crop gets a bad rap.  High ISO is where it truly fails, most other areas are more subjective, depending on your needs.  If you’re doing product photography you’re going to be using studio lighting, so you can shoot low ISO and you’ll be fine.  I would invest in lenses way before a new camera.  If you start blowing up product shots to 20” x 30” then maybe look at upgrading, but for anything less you’re 40D will be just fine with decent glass and lighting skills.  It won’t hold you back for e-commerce at all. 

First things I’d get, no question about it, is the 100mm Macro (non-L).  It will knock your socks off.  It was the first time I remember being blown away by the ability of a lens.  It’s so good you’ll get frustrated over the dust and hairs and whatnot that show up on your picks that you either have to re-do or fix in post.

It’s a tight lens on a crop, so it may not be wide enough for something like a rifle, but you can always move it back, or just get a decent wide-angle.  I know the 50mm 1.4 was mentioned, but I have to disagree.  It’s fine if you’re using it for portraiture, but I can never get mine to come close to the sharpness of my macro lens.   Really the 100mm should be fine for just about anything if you’re doing plain background product shots.  The only reason you need a different focal length is to give a different FOV relative to a background.  Still, it can’t hurt to have a 50 and maybe a 35 in the arsenal.

I’m also going to have to disagree with the 24-70 II.  Yes, it’s an amazing lens, but at $2500 I think it’s a silly suggestion for someone looking at getting into product photography.  I know, it’s the internet, everyone needs a 5d3. 600RT and the 24-70 II.   Get a couple of decent primes and you’ll be just fine for product photography.  There’s going to be enough hidden costs in the rabbit hole known as off-camera flash.  Enjoy, it’s a lot of fun.

Edit:  I meant to mention Tilt Shift, but looks like HSBN got it.  If you're going to drop a lot of cash on a lens for product photography, that's where to do it.  But first just spend some time learning lighting and enjoying the 100mm Macro.

[ebiggs1]

Your 40D and the 7D are the same 1.6x crop. So if you are happy with the 40D the 7D will show the same thing. By all means the 7D is the way to go.

However, in a 12 x 12 foot area, a crop camera may not be best. I am not a fan of the 6D, so I would suggest the 5D Mk III or if money is an issue the 5D Mk II (used).

If you are photographing objects for ads, you need a lot of light. A lot of light! You also need back drops, table and stands.

Of course the nominal 24-70mm f2.8 II and 70-200mm f2.8 II are going to just about cover anything you need.

Another choice would by thw 24-105mm f4 IS.

[ebiggs1]

Oh, and of coures Photo Shop. Not Light Romm but full Photo Shop or even CS6.

[Skirball]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

Oh, and of coures Photo Shop. Not Light Romm but full Photo Shop or even CS6.

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Your advice continues to amaze and confuse me.  Can you elaborate on why Light Room isn't sufficient for product photography?  And you realize that CS6 is Photoshop, right?

[Amscot56]

Photoshop is not an issue since I subscribe to Creative Cloud and have LR and PS CS6 installed.

[Skirball]

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@Amscot56 wrote:

Photoshop is not an issue since I subscribe to Creative Cloud and have LR and PS CS6 installed.

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Nice.   Photoshop is good for fixing blemishes, and removing feet nubs or supports or something if you have too, but most the stuff you can easily do in LR.  The better I get with product photography the less I use PS.