What does YOUR photo "Lab" consist of?

[Nifty_Nives]

Hey guys, thought i would compare some stats with you guys to see how you guys take pics of your knives.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX110 IS
Tripod: None yet, plan to get one soon.
Lighting: Natural sunlight + Fluorescent bulbs + Camera flash
Stand for knife: Cool folding bench thing-
Why i take photos: Because im a showoff, and i love seeing the HD of my knives, and makes them look impressive

[CanisMajor]

Good stuff, no offense or anything but this should really be in "Off-Topic" section.

Canis

[Nifty_Nives]

Good stuff, no offense or anything but this should really be in "Off-Topic" section.

Canis

can we get this moved then?

[CanisMajor]

I'm not sure how, someone else will have to chime in.

Canis

[Nifty_Nives]

guys, anyone else post the same info i did, but what YOU use! i want to know how i stack up against others!

[BuffaloBill]

Use a Nikon D60
use the macro setting, and sometimes play with the aperature mode (for knife pictures). slowly learning the ins and outs of the manual settings.

no tripod as of yet, but i will probably get one as early as tomorrow maybe.

usually shoot on the back patio in natural light. or if indoors under compact flourescent bulbs.

and i usually just put my knives on a picnic table. light grey gives me a pretty decent dull backing to allow the knives to stand out a bit.

[vampyrewolf]

5mp HP point and shoot with a horrible focal point. no macros :mad: Miss my last digi that I ended up giving to my sister. 2.2mb kodak that could take standard lenses... macro city.

I'd set the good camera up but I don't take enough photos to make it worth firing off a roll for a couple pics unless I'm being paid to be there.

Can always thief the digi cams from work for a good macro though.

Still waiting for the price for a 10-12mb dslr to come down, if not a 14 or 15mb to make it comparable to film. The money I spend on computers would buy a nice dlsr, but I still use film when it has to count.

[BuffaloBill]

i waiting for the price of macro lenses to come down.

[The Deacon]

One of two cameras - Kodak Z740 or Nikon D60, but leaning more to the Nikon these days. Inexpensive tripod from WalMart, ballasted so that it can be tilted forward. Portable lightbox setup from Think Geek. Mine was a gift from my buddy Chad, but definitely a worthwhile investment.
Keep the lightbox set up on an old TV stand.

BuffaloBill, if you don't already have one get the Nikon remote release. With that, a tripod, and aperture priority at F22, you may find you don't really need a macro lens, at least not for totally inanimate subjects like knives where multi-seconds exposure times are not a problem.

[Echo63]

I use a Canon 1dmk2n with one of a few lenses, either a Sigma 24-70 f2.8, or a Canon 50mm f1.8

i now have a Canon 24-70 f2.8L to use, but havent done any knife/light pics yet.

as background, i use a white styrofoam box, with a piece of A4 paper stuck in it to form a curve, and just fire a flash, (synced with Cactus V4 radio slaves) through either the top, or one of the ends of the box.
Camera is generally hand held, and the flash is held up with the tripod.

Card are then Ingested into Lightroom (on a macbook), basic Raw Conversion and editing, colour correction etc is done, then i use photoshop to clone dust spots out, clone dust of the blade, and do a final levels/sharpen/resize for web.

i generally spend an hour or so shooting different knives and setups, then another half an hour to an hour in lightroom/photoshop.

I am a professional photographer, and i actually take to many knife shots, maybe once every 2 months, i will get the blades and camera out for a play

[ozspyder]

Nikon D80 with a 18-200mm zoom lens primarily - sometimes a 60mm macro lens but I am lazy and can't be arsed most times to change lenses. No tripod once again because of lack of effort and/or time.

Sometimes I will use my Canon IXUS P&S camera and go to town with it. The macro function on this is very impressive and on many occasions it will shoot better macros than the Nikon D80.

I will usually use various locations in my garden and the different backgrounds are from the various hard and soft landscapings contained therein. Brick, sandstone, grass, poolside, mulch, along with grasses, flowers, shrubs, trees, hedges and leaf litter all come into play.

I try not to use the flash at all, mostly will go outdoors to shoot in any light conditions which give the different characteristics to my knife shots. Though the more idiot-proof shooting comes in overcast conditions and more knife details are evident then.

[BuffaloBill]

BuffaloBill, if you don't already have one get the Nikon remote release. With that, a tripod, and aperture priority at F22, you may find you don't really need a macro lens, at least not for totally inanimate subjects like knives where multi-seconds exposure times are not a problem.

yea, thats what i've been doing. i need a decent tripod though which i'll probably be getting this weekend.

some of the shots i dont know if i posted them or not, i shot like you suggested at f22 and exposure time came out to like 2-3 seconds put it on 5 second timer, only problem is i am rather limited to angles and whatnot because of my lack of a decent tripod.

[Noble]

Canon XTi, SunPak Tri-Pod (the good one from best buy! LOL), stock flash, Sigma 18-50 2.8f DG EX lense, various HOYA filters, small light tent, ... thats pretty much all.

[BuffaloBill]

Canon XTi, SunPak Tri-Pod (the good one from best buy! LOL), stock flash, Sigma 18-50 2.8f DG EX lense, various HOYA filters, small light tent, ... thats pretty much all.

how is that sunpak tripod?

that was the brand i was looking to get:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 4332008836

how do you like it?

[Mr.Sparkitle]

I dont take many pics of my knives for some odd reason, but if I do I use a Canon 50d. I usually shoot with my Nikon 105mm f2.8 when doing product/table top stuff. I also have a 16-35 f2.8 L, 70-200 f4 L, and a Nikon 50 and 28 f2.8. When i shoot film i usually use my Hasselblad 500cm or my Cambo 4x5. Too many toys.

[ront]

i waiting for the price of macro lenses to come down.

Good luck with that!! Prices for good glass rarely drop in price .

Ron

[Noble]

how is that sunpak tripod?

that was the brand i was looking to get:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 4332008836

how do you like it?

Its a great tri-pod IMHO. All i added to make it better was a smallish sandbag hanging from the middle to make it less likely so sail off in the event of a strong gust. Otherwise, I totally dig it. I think you will too.

[Mr.Sparkitle]

If you want a macro lens why not just buy a set of extensions tubes. You can't essentially turn any lens you own into a rather decent macro. You do lose a lot of depth of field, but the work great.

[Echo63]

I dont take many pics of my knives for some odd reason, but if I do I use a Canon 50d. I usually shoot with my Nikon 105mm f2.8 when doing product/table top stuff. I also have a 16-35 f2.8 L, 70-200 f4 L, and a Nikon 50 and 28 f2.8. When i shoot film i usually use my Hasselblad 500cm or my Cambo 4x5. Too many toys.

that sounds like a nice set of gear.
i was looking at a hasselblad earlier in the year, but decided the money would be better spent on more lenses for my canon setup, that and i dont shoot much film any more.

i should get issued a 50mm f2.5 macro soon, so expect more knife pics from me in the next few weeks

[fret]

I have an old HP digital with 3 power zoom. I have a typewriter table from years ago with a florescent light above it on two speaker boxes. I use an old tripod for the camera. It works ok but not the best setup . I also use my scanner sometimes. It works ok most of the time. I have to remove the card from the camera and put it into the pc to get the photos. Very time consuming.