I just purchased a d800e and wanted to get your opinions on macro lenses for use in jewelry photography. I photograph a lot if smaller gold pins and chains and some diamond pendants and necklaces as well. Your opinion is greatly appreciated.
Some of the ones I have been looking at are the 105vr Nikon, the 150 sigma, and then the slightly out of my price range Zeiss 100mm f2
Almost all macro lenses are great at what they do. The Tamron 90/2.8 is another excellent macro. You probably don't need the 150mm as that is better used for insects that are easily spooked and it gives you additional working distance.
I believe the Zeiss is 1:2 not 1:1 so need to add extension tubes to get to 1:1 (if ever required). It is clearly the best lens overall though most people buy this as a portrait lens not as a dedicated macro, for which it is simply stunning
For your use I'd go for the Tamron 90, Sigma 105 or the Nikon 105.
When shooting jewelry your lighting setup will,probably be small scale also. A 105 macro will be fine. You could look for an older non VR Nikon macro and be fine as you will probably be on a tripod and shooting with mirror lockup, thus no need for VR. I've done a lot of work with the 105 non VR and it is a great lens.
p.1 #10 · Best macro lens for jewelry photography?
I just shot some jewelry for a web page with my Sig 150 OS. I found that the extra working distance was very good to have. Also the 150 has replaced my 135 for some portrait work.
p.1 #11 · Best macro lens for jewelry photography?
Of those you've listed, I prefer the Sigma 150, because of its wider range of uses. All are great, though.
For dedicated tabletop use, though, my inclination would probably be to go with either a more basic 90-105mm macro lens (even an older 105/2.8 AIS would work great) or to make the leap up to MikeW's suggestion of an 85mm perspective control. Provided you take the time to master it, that would make more of a difference for this kind of work than the relatively subtle differences between the lenses you've listed.
p.1 #12 · Best macro lens for jewelry photography?
Nikon 70-180 zoom macro. I don't shoot jewelry often, and have never done so professionally, but I want one of these anyway. Seems like for small product photography it would make the workflow easier and speedier...
p.1 #15 · Best macro lens for jewelry photography?
I have both the Zeiss 100MP and the Nikon 105VR. I used to own the Tammy 90 that I have sold. Also, I owned the Sigma 90 Macro, that I returned because it did not work properly. I got the Tammy 90 in its place.
The Zeiss does only 1/2x mag and the barrel extends when focusing. Those two are my nits about this lens. For macro level work, you probably will depend more on MF than AF, so the MF Zeiss works very well.
Said all this, my recommendation will be the Nikon 105VR.
p.1 #16 · Best macro lens for jewelry photography?
Hi,
I'm currently using a sigma non-os 150mm macro on my D800 for shiny/high contrast stuff like jewelery with good results, though depending on your workspace you might actually have too much working distance with it if you're shooting larger stuff like a decent sized necklace laid out.
Depending on your shooting style/what the clients want, you might consider a PC lens as well - I actually end up doing a lot of work that doesn't require the D800's resolution/DR with a Canon 5DMKII and their 90mm T/S lens using either tubes or sometimes a dichromat close-up lens - getting a copy of the nikon 85mm PC in and testing it to see if its good enough for the camera is on my list...
FWIW, be sure to actually test any lens you get - I had a heck of a time finding lenses that out-resolved the D800's sensor, and I'm sure this is going to be worse with the D800E.
I'm doing a lot of work where I'm right at the limits of the D800's resolution (I could get much better results by compositing, but a lot of clients are too cheap to pay the few extra bucks for that - but I digress), shooting shiny items with lots of high contrast edges/spectal highlights and find that the "usual" assembly errors, CA issues (more than a pixel is a LOT, particularly when the edge highlights run in all directions which the usual CA reduction software usually seems to make a mess of) are really visible/become a pain to deal with.
I'm actually packing up a nikon 60mm macro right now to send back under warranty due to CA issues and a soft corner). I didn't think to test it for CA on really harsh highlight transitions originally or it would have gone back for replacement/trade for a zeiss 50mm makro then - I found the slightly soft corner when I initially tested it but was able to work around it (lengthy diatribe with pointers to images, etc deleted).
p.1 #17 · Best macro lens for jewelry photography?
My gut feeling is that the success of your shots is not going to be about your lens choice, it's going to be about your lighting choice. Especially if you want diamonds to sparkle. A Zeiss with crappy lighting won't give as nice a result as a 105/4 AI and good lighting.
I have the 105VR, and it does a great job with my casual macro work, while also giving me a decent VR portait lens and short tele. But if you are wanting to do primarily macro work, the focus breathing might drive you crazy. As you focus, the object grows/shrinks in your viewfinder, so you may need to reframe. This is one of those cases where Ken Rockwell was right, and I should have listened to him.
p.1 #18 · Best macro lens for jewelry photography?
I new or used Nikon 105mm VR lens would be my first choice. It is long enough for jewelry sized items and provides enough working distance for flash. The VR helps for non-flash or fill flash photography and is a good general purpose and portrait lens.
The longer the focal length the less the DOF will be at any given aperture and with jewelry you may want to have the entire item sharp. 1/3 of the DOF is in front of the point of focus so what may seem to be 1 inch available DOF is in reality only 0.66 inch.
The Nikon RC macro flash setup would be perfect for jewelry as they are small enough to be easily placed around or under small subjects.
I use Interfit Cocoon light tents for product photography and being able to have flash from the bottom and rear as well as the sides that is diffused by the light tent makes for great pictures straight out of the camera with minimal post processing required. They are also made with stiff plastic so no fabric wrinkles and it is close to a seamless setup with the curved rear section.
p.1 #19 · Best macro lens for jewelry photography?
Something in the 90-100mm focal length should be just the ticket, long enough to give you lighting flexibility but close enough to adjust the jewelry if needed from behind the camera. The 70-180 would be awesome if you shoot different sized jewelry in one session as it will allow for cropping without moving the camera (which I am assuming would be on a tripod), and the aperture stays constant as well at close up distances if I recall correctly, making lighting easier.
I would think that the 150's or longer focal lengths may place you quite a ways from the subject, though if you want that perspective that's OK as well.
p.1 #20 · Best macro lens for jewelry photography?
The 105mm F2.8 AFD is another option, excellent optics, but avoid F16. Personally I would avoid a 150mm lens, you might find too much working distance, and end up at the edge of the room. It depends on the size of the items of course.
Lighting wise, the Nikon macro flash is excellent, and you can also use an on camera flash with a plastic diffuser, as I am sure you know.
rkgatteleport wrote:
I'm actually packing up a nikon 60mm macro right now to send back under warranty due to CA issues and a soft corner). I didn't think to test it for CA on really harsh highlight transitions originally or it would have gone back for replacement/trade for a zeiss 50mm makro then - I found the slightly soft corner when I initially tested it but was able to work around it (lengthy diatribe with pointers to images, etc deleted).
As you clearly know that lens should not show much CA. I have both versions - AFS, and AF - and I have never seen CA in 20 years of using the AF, and 2 years using the AFS. Neither has soft corners when stopped down, the AF is said to be a bit soft wide open at infinity.
