product photography kit?

[drazin]

hey all,

i am helping a friend take by taking pictures of their products for a catalog and for a website.

can anyone recommend a 'kit' to buy for this task?

 

[Godfrey]

i am helping a friend take by taking pictures of their products for a catalog and for a website.

can anyone recommend a 'kit' to buy for this task?

My 'kit' for this work is comprised of a couple of light stands, a few flash units, remotes (cable, RF and/or optical) for the flash units, a remote release for the camera, a bunch of pieces of mat board, a light tent, 48" seamless backdrop paper, and a selection of lenses from 35mm Macro to 135mm. Along with the inevitable collection of clamps, gaffer's tape, some color gels for the flash units, etc. For one of my cameras, I have the software and cabling set up to do the job tethered as well.

I've accumulated this stuff one bit at a time by shooting table top of different subjects. You don't say what sorts of products you're going to be shooting so it's hard to be more specific.

 

[jlm]

if you are interested in a tungsten setup, I have a like new Lowel three light DV pro kit i would sell at 76% of B&H new price. i'll check the exact spec tomorrow

 

[Jack]

How "big" are the products, or more accurately, how big is the biggest item you need to photograph?

 

[tokengirl]

How "big" are the products, or more accurately, how big is the biggest item you need to photograph?

I was going to ask the same question. If the stuff is not too big, this works pretty well without breaking the bank:

Lowel 2-Light Kit

 

[S.P.]

A 'kit' doesn´t take the pictures. Forget it.

 

[MMPhoto]

I have been running my own studio for the last 25 years now and the (kit) does not exist. My equipment are just very Modular so I can change from one to the other, for lights I have Broncolor with many light shapers for any situations, as for Manfrotto grips with many accessories for the flexibility.

By buying a top brand, you can buy accessories as you go along. The most important is a glue gun so you can build many devices using foam core or card boards and wood, the rest are supply from hard wears stores like 2" wood spring clamps and 4" spring clamps, fishing line needle pins and more.

Just buy a Modular system for the grips and lights. Then you slowly get other accessories as you go a long. Spend more money on little items like glue guns an spring clamps, get 1 or 2 medium tool box to store and carry your little items. Foam core is very important for any size reflector and stands and many other devices to hold products.

 

[drazin]

thanks guys. i am looking for somethign like this

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/310575-REG/Impact_DLH_KS_Small_Digital_Lighthouse_Kit.html

i have the camera and everything, i saw these kits on bh and thought someone might know a good one to get.

we are shooting small items like like shampoo bottles and cosmetics.

 

[fotografz]

thanks guys. i am looking for somethign like this

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/310575-REG/Impact_DLH_KS_Small_Digital_Lighthouse_Kit.html

i have the camera and everything, i saw these kits on bh and thought someone might know a good one to get.

we are shooting small items like like shampoo bottles and cosmetics.

Hot lights are okay for some product photography like environmental food shots with limited depth-of-field ... but for small products in studio you usually use a basic 100mm macro lens or a standard lens with close-up tubes.

So you'll need to stop down to keep the product in focus front-to-back and/or top-to-bottom ... because as you get closer and closer, the depth-of-field will become less and less. This forces you to stop down the aperture quite a bit to keep everything in focus. The more you stop down, the more light you'll need. Hot lights then become quite limited because despite claims of 500 watts that isn't the same as 500 w/s of strobe lighting. Not even close.

One of the least expensive studio mono strobes available is Alien Bees by Paul Buff.

http://www.alienbees.com/flash.html

Even less expensive is this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/500434-REG/Interfit_INT118_EXD200_Digital_Flash_Head.html

My first studio strobe cost me less than $100. and I just gave it to my assistant because it's still is going strong.:thumbup:

Also, if you are using flash with your current camera you can use multiple speed lights in combination with that sort of light tent shown in the kit you were considering, (Those light tents are available separately). But be aware that speed-lights are not as powerful as studio strobes. Even the smallest Alien Bee is twice as powerful as the top speed-lights from Canon or Nikon. Plus, the speed lights are not as versatile as studio strobes when it comes to modifying the light quality.

One thing you can do is get one studio mono-light for over-all lighting, and use your speed-lights as accent lighting. For example a broader diffused overhead light on a transparent shampoo bottle that is then back-lit by a speed-light. You'll need some radio triggers ... but those are also available from Alien Bee .. (cyber-sync).

BTW, I've found that those light tents are pretty limited in actual use and tend to produce flat lighting which you then struggle to overcome.

Better to get a nice piece of 3' X 6', 1/8" thick white plex at a local supplier (cheap) and make a little table cove by taping it to a wall and curve it onto a table secured with gaffer's tape (or silver heating duct tape)..

This allows you to place strips of black or white reflectors to create highlights and shadows where you want them.

This kind of product photography is fun, and need not be horribly expensive when doing smaller stuff like you'll be doing.

Attached is a shot using one overhead diffused strobe slightly forward of the product and on a slight angle toward the product then using a piece of white Foam-core held just out of camera view to reflect fill light back into the face of the product. Lighting need not be complex ... in fact the simpler the better.

-Marc

 

[jlm]

finally got back...
here is my tungsten kit , also listed in the buy/sell section
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...ail&A=showMultipleImages&Q=&sku=285780&is=REG