Best Cameras For Jewelry Photography
A very large part of managing your own jewelry business is being able to professionally present your jewelry products to your customers. Without being able to display your products in a manner that highlights the quality of the work or the special details in a piece you are trying to sell there is very little chance of your business doing well in the long run. If you are mainly trying to sell your line directly to customers in a face-to-face manner then this should not be a huge concern as your customers can examine your pieces on their own. If your business is centered around selling your creations on the Internet then you will need a better way of conveying the quality of your products.
Unless you are willing to pay for a professional photographer to take high quality pictures of your work then you are going to need to be able to take the pictures on your own. While it is really important to know how to frame a shot and use lighting to highlight the attributes of the product you are taking a picture of, the camera you select to take the pictures themselves is equally important. Selecting the camera you will be using to take the pictures is a huge decision and should not be made lightly.
When selecting a camera to use to photograph your work the first thing you should consider is your budget. This will be a key determinate of what kind of cameras you can choose from when making your decision. Some jewelry makes that are just starting out can make do with generic digital cameras, if this isn't for you then there are several options to choose from. The main thing to decide if you are using a digital camera is how many pixels you want for the pictures; generally, anything over 3 megapixels is a good choice. You also want to consider two other features: Macro Mode (a closer focus mode that lets you get extremely close to items and provides a nice clean shot) and White Balance (different programming in the cameras that allow them to compensate for reflective nature of jewelry pieces).
Most jewelry professionals recommend purchasing a DSLR. These are digital single-lens reflex cameras. Professionals really like these cameras because of their ability to pretty accurately preview the picture you will be taking as well as giving you the option to use interchangeable lenses for different types of shots. When it comes down to choosing between different DSLR's it is really all about personal preference as to whether or not you like one brand over another or how many different functional options you want to come with the camera.
Canon has excellent reviews for shooting still life items such as jewelry. A lot of full time home jewelers that take their own pictures recommend the Canon Rebel series. There are different options, and different price ranges for the various options in the Rebel series, but all have really good reviews on performance and quality of the pictures that are taken. I would recommend buying a lower end DSLR and splurging on a really good Macro lense. In the end, however, it really does just come down to personal preference. Luckily most high-end camera stores will let you try out their products before you actually select one, so you can try out a few different types before committing to one over another.
Interchangeable Lens Camera
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