Posted: 2/17/2012 6:59:27 PM EDT
| I need a camera to take excellent quality photos of my firearms. I'd like to spend under $300. What do you guys recommend? |
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Quoted:
I need a camera to take excellent quality photos of my firearms. I'd like to spend under $300. What do you guys recommend? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/752212-REG/Panasonic_DMC_TS3D_Lumix_DMC_TS3_Digital_Camera.html Though if you can wait a month, the canon elph 520 will be out, it offers several improvements over the panasonic. |
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is this for gun broker or something like that? you don't need to spend a lot of money on a camera - it's all technique. you need to have a camera that has a manual setting and can do macro. tricks - create a light box if you can, or at a minimum use a low wattage fluorecent bulb place a few feet above and to opposite sides of the item being photographed. you can use a bulb in a swing arm desk lamp, which will allow you to move the light around a bit. you place them to the sides so you still have shadows to see inscribed lettering and such. elevate the item above the background by putting something underneath it, so it doesn't blend into the background. just a little bit will do. use a tripod to hold the camera steady and at keep it at a set height, so once you dial in your exposure, you will only need to do minimal changes there after. use a slow iso - 50 or 100. use a f stop of around 5.7 or higher. don't use the flash, or if you use a flash, set it at a lower level. if you use a flash, the shutter speed will have to be under 1/60 or 1/30 th of a second, i think. use a tape measure to measure the distance from the camera lens to the part of the object you want to emphasize and use that measurement for the distance when focusing using the macro setting. play with the settings, primarily with the shutter speed, to get the right exposure. when taking the actual photo you want, use the self timer to get all motion out of the system when the shot is taken. otherwise, for just simple shots, when shooting things to have a record for insurance purposes, i have a old 3 mp cannon powershot?, i use a light background (a smooth cotton bedsheet), use a slow iso - 50, f stop around 5, shutter usually around 1/15 or so, with the flash set at the lowest setting, and measure the distance to the object and set the macro distance, and shoot from an angle to the object. I get some sharp shadows with loss of details from the flash, but for insurance purposes, it shows the up the imprinting and seial numbers nicely. |
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Given that price range, I vote for the Canon G series of cameras...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/used/518209/Canon_2082B001_PowerShot_G9_Digital_Camera.html |