[BlueHawaii]

Hi all,

My wife has been wanting a new digital camera and the reason I bring it up here is because I would like to get one that I can use to photograph my watches! There are some excellent photographers here so I was wondering about the following:

What brand(s) you use
Megapixels
Zoom

Also, any advice or links to articles on how to get quality shots would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Rusty]

I highly recommend Canon cameras. We have owned 5 over the years.

I just purchased a new Canon PowerShot A570 because it was a great deal AND had all the features I wanted: AA battery power, manual viewfinder as well as a 2.5" LCD version, 7.1 megapixels (plenty for what I do), auto and manual controls, and the first budget priced PowerShot with image stabilization.

The software that comes with it makes transfers to my computer very easy. My wife can use it and if I want to experiment and try to get fancy-shmancy, it has just enough extras to make it interesting. The best part was that it was selling for $229 last summer and fall and I bought it in January for $129. It takes great closeups of watches.

 

[mgiraz]

I shoot a Canon Power Shot SD630 6.0 mega pixels...For close ups of your watches make sure it has a Macro setting...That will get you the very nice close ups. You don't need a lot of mega pixels to get a great picture but you do need that macro setting...Our Forum owner will soon be coming out with a book soon on watch photography....Otherwise I've just learned through experience....

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your collection.

 

[mgiraz]

Here's info on the book...

http://watchtalkforums.info/forums/showthread.php?t=3747

 

[BlueHawaii]

It looks like Canon is the way to go. I thought I would need a higher-end model but it sounds like you can do some good work with the reasonably priced ones. Thanks for the help!

 

[Rusty]

It looks like Canon is the way to go. I thought I would need a higher-end model but it sounds like you can do some good work with the reasonably priced ones. Thanks for the help!

One caveat, Blue. With Canon, you can only take pix of Hamilton watches. . . :scared:

 

[Tom Barry]

It looks like Canon is the way to go. I thought I would need a higher-end model but it sounds like you can do some good work with the reasonably priced ones. Thanks for the help!

That is exactly right. There are several strings in the watch photography forum on this site covering most of the issues..

 

[BlueHawaii]

Boy do I feel dumb! I told my wife about the macro feature and she said, "Our camera has that!" I plan to take some photos of my Hammies and hopefully post them this weekend. Appreciate the help everyone, and I will search the forum for tips on photography. My wife still wants a new camera though...:001_rolleyes:

 

[Scott D]

Hey BlueHawaii,

Yes, the macro setting is far more important that zoom or megapixels. For megapixels, almost all new cameras will be fine. The only question you want to ask yourself is will you be cropping your photo's a fair amount? If so, you'll want a slightly higher Megapixel camera as it'll give you better images when you crop them as there's more pixels to play with.

One word of caution on picking cameras based on the zoom. The more you zoom in macro shooting 2 things will happen.

1) You'll let less light into the sensor, forcing you to use more light. Macro shooting requires far more light that you'd think. So you want plenty of natural color light. You usually don't want to use the flash because it's too harsh for close ups. So when you zoom, you'll need even more light.

2) Your depth of focus will decrease. Basically, less of the subject will be in focus unless your shooting at perfectly parallel lines to the lens. So if you want to shoot down the length of the watch, or have the background not be 100% blurred, you want deep field of focus.

I really try to avoid any zooming when macro shooting. I may zoom in to focus on my primary focal point if manually focusing, but I'll zoom out to shoot the frame & crop the picture post exposure if I want it 'closer-in'.

Not to pull you out of the Hamilton Forum, but do browse over at the photo forum too. There's some good info there for cameras & such, and feel free to ask questions there too... Good luck!!! :thumbup1:

 

[GradyPhilpott]

Good post. Thanks.

 

[BlueHawaii]

Scott, thanks for the tips. You are right, the photo forum has some good stuff as well. I tried a few macro shots yesterday and it was alot of fun! Looking forward to posting some soon.

 

[Scott D]

Scott, thanks for the tips. You are right, the photo forum has some good stuff as well. I tried a few macro shots yesterday and it was alot of fun! Looking forward to posting some soon.

Looking forward to seeing them.. It is alot of fun, but can be very frustrating too. Sometimes, I'll shoot 100 pictures just to get the 1 I want. Thank god for digital!!! You definitely want to set time aside for your 'studio time' so you don't feel rushed or frustrated.

Careful though.. Watch photography can be just as addictive as watch collecting! :scared: :thumbup1:

 

[jas32]

Boy do I feel dumb! I told my wife about the macro feature and she said, "Our camera has that!" I plan to take some photos of my Hammies and hopefully post them this weekend. Appreciate the help everyone, and I will search the forum for tips on photography. My wife still wants a new camera though...:001_rolleyes:

Just a word of caution... Not all Macro settings are created equal. Almost all digital cameras in the market have a Macro setting. My least expensive digital camera (a Nikon Coolpix 3200) takes the best macro shots, much better than a more expensive Sony or even my Pentax DSLR (w/std lens).

I suggest going to BestBuy or other similar stores and try out and compare the different cameras you are considering and check out their Macro picture taking ability. Compare maximum close-up shots with the best sharpness. Wrist shot comparisons will typically suffice.

Of course an DSLR with a very specific Macro lens would work the best.

 

[mgiraz]

Hurry up...Because you have collection we are all waiting to see!