DSLR for taking pictures of artwork?

[MichelleMacPhearson]

My husband would like a DSLR for taking pictures of his artwork (he paints and draws) for his portfolio.

He'll likely use the camera for other things too - pictures of the kids at home, at sports, that sort of day-to-day stuff.

He does not have the patience to use / learn anything far beyond "Auto" mode when shooting. He will not take a class, etc. If he reads more than 10 pages of the manual, it'll be a miracle.

We've gotten by with our iPhone 4's OK. I wish it took better pics in low light and I wish it zoomed without getting fuzzy so quick. So that's our current skill level & wish list.

But for his art, the iPhone won't cut it and we need something that'll produce an image more representative of what he's photographing, with vibrant color and crispness.

Budget is around $1000. It can be higher if there's a good reason to go with a more expensive model, but I'm not looking to overspend on a first DSLR.

I'd like to get him one for Christmas.

Suggestions are VERY much appreciated!

-Michelle

[daft_biker]

The fist thing I'd consider is the lens - for creating records of art I'd choose something like a Canon 50mm macro because it's really good at creating very detailed and accurate records and does so with minimal drawing distortion.....this should let you get detail right into the corners and the edges of the pictures and any straight lines should still look straight. A less spe******ed lens is likely to be a bit fuzzy in the corners and distort the image so any straight lines in the painting appear curved in the photo.

Next....a sturdy tripod. A sturdy tripod holding the camera still is likely to result in higher quality images than handholding the images. I see a tripod as a fairly important bit of kit but it's possibly something you might want to get later if he thinks he needs one.....unless budget allows for one now

Camera......as I've suggested a Canon lens it'll need to be a Canon DSLR but any of the new ones will do nicely, and since you want to be able to use the camera for a range of stuff I'd suggest getting the kit lens in the box with the camera.....use the zoom for family snaps and the 50mm macro when wanting high quality records of art.

[zona5101]

"Wow, your pictures are fantastic, you must have an excellent camera!"

Hint, hint, hint, it's not the camera.

If he's not willing to learn, stick with the iPhone and buy him more canvas, oils, brushes , and pencils.

[Doug Pardee]

Photographing artwork is tricky, and requires a fair amount of specialty equipment — for example, lighting equipment that provides even coverage of the artwork with daylight-spectrum light without introducing specular reflections. If he's not willing to learn anything beyond shooting Auto, he's not going to be happy with any photo of his artwork that he takes himself. The colors will be off, the shapes will be distorted, some areas will be too bright and some too dark, there will be reflections, etc.

My suggestion is to put the money into hiring a professional photographer who is experienced in artwork photography and has the necessary equipment.

[ceremus]

What will be the output of the photographs? Digital images? Prints? If so, what size? If you're making larger printouts you may very well need a DSLR with a larger sensor, which can take images at higher resolutions with better quality than a smaller sensor P&S.

On the other hand, if it's going to be shot primarily in auto and it will also be for general use, I'd almost be inclined to advise against a DSLR. A DSLR isn't a straightforward upgrade from a point and shoot camera. Depending on how you use it and what you expect from it, switching to a DSLR might just end up causing you disappointment and frustration.

Firstly, I'd recommend thumbing through this questionnaire written by inkista: Entry level DSLR Recommendation

[MichelleMacPhearson]

Originally Posted by daft_biker

The fist thing I'd consider is the lens - for creating records of art I'd choose something like a Canon 50mm macro because it's really good at creating very detailed and accurate records and does so with minimal drawing distortion.....

That's exceptionally helpful - thank you! I noticed that "bend" effect on all the camera's (various prices / brands of digital point and shoots) we'd tried to use to take these kinds of pictures. Really appreciate that tip!

Originally Posted by zona5101

If he's not willing to learn, stick with the iPhone and buy him more canvas, oils, brushes , and pencils.

Brushes and canvas won't help him if he can't photograph the art in his portfolio to sell it, LOL!

I'm in internet marketing. I build sites, do SEO and monetize them for a living. I'm very serious about it. But would I tell someone who wants to start a Blogger blog that they should just stick to pen and paper if they aren't willing to take a class in blogging or read all the "Help" files? Of course not, that's rubbish!

Lots of folks learn via experimentation and without formal training.

Saying that someone isn't "willing to learn" because they aren't interested in classes or manuals is really just saying that the way you envision "learning" is the ONLY way to learn.

I only mentioned that he's not a "classes" kind of guy because I saw someone ask that in another thread. Was trying to be proactive. And I've touched a nerve, obviously!

Originally Posted by Doug Pardee

Photographing artwork is tricky, and requires a fair amount of specialty equipment — for example, lighting equipment that provides even coverage of the artwork with daylight-spectrum light without introducing specular reflections.

I get what you're saying, I do - and I also know people manage to take great pics of their artwork for places like Etsy without spending professional-grade money. I think we're comparing apples to oranges here - not looking for museum quality at a $1000 price tag. Just good enough and at entry-level price tag.

Originally Posted by ceremus

What will be the output of the photographs? Digital images? Prints? If so, what size? If you're making larger printouts you may very well need a DSLR with a larger sensor, which can take images at higher resolutions with better quality than a smaller sensor P&S.

The output is for the web.

My thought was that perhaps the photos could *ALSO* be used to take shots of his larger pieces so we could get those digitized as well and create scaled-down (11 x 14, for example) prints of them. But I'm not really sure how that works.

Ideally we could do pics for his web portfolio AND make prints from the photos, but I'm not sure if that's possible?

HTH!

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by MichelleMacPhearson

Brushes and canvas won't help him if he can't photograph the art in his portfolio to sell it, LOL!

Was trying to be proactive. And I've touched a nerve, obviously!
HTH!

No nerve touched. You said he won't spend the time to learn. And my point was it's not the camera that makes the photograph. Better to buy him something he can use. Read Doug's post, he's saying it's not just a snapshot, photographing artwork takes some specialized knowledge...beyond knowing what the buttons on the camera do.

So having said all that for under a grand:
Canon - EOS Rebel T2i 18.0-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Black - Rebel T2i Kit
Nikon - D5100 16.2-Megapixel DSLR Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens - Black - D5100 with 18-55mm VR Lens

[bigben6]

I would spend as little as possible then. If the goal is just to snap pics and throw them online for viewers, your not gonna been a ton of MP, and special lenses wont make a huge difference once the image is compressed and shrunk down to a thumbnail for a web site.

my.02 would be to buy a used D3000 and a new 50mm f/1.8 and call it done, maybe a tripod, but it could be pretty entry level. This sounds like a x tool for y job kind of purchase not a new hobby or interest. So don;t spend 1K if 500 will get the job done just as well.

[NathanFranke]

Originally Posted by Doug Pardee

Photographing artwork is tricky, and requires a fair amount of specialty equipment — for example, lighting equipment that provides even coverage of the artwork with daylight-spectrum light without introducing specular reflections. If he's not willing to learn anything beyond shooting Auto, he's not going to be happy with any photo of his artwork that he takes himself. The colors will be off, the shapes will be distorted, some areas will be too bright and some too dark, there will be reflections, etc.

My suggestion is to put the money into hiring a professional photographer who is experienced in artwork photography and has the necessary equipment.

Originally Posted by bigben6

I would spend as little as possible then. If the goal is just to snap pics and throw them online for viewers, your not gonna been a ton of MP, and special lenses wont make a huge difference once the image is compressed and shrunk down to a thumbnail for a web site.

my.02 would be to buy a used D3000 and a new 50mm f/1.8 and call it done, maybe a tripod, but it could be pretty entry level. This sounds like a x tool for y job kind of purchase not a new hobby or interest. So don;t spend 1K if 500 will get the job done just as well.

^Truth.
If you're just needing a camera to grab thumbnails for a website, don't spend a lot on a camera that can do a lot of stuff you don't need. A used Canon Rebel will work as well as the Nikon Bigben recommends. Craigslist, at least where I live, has Rebels for sale every single day.

If you want to make prints from the images, you may want something higher end, but it might be easier to just hire a professional for that on an as-needed basis. As Doug said, there's specialized equipment (specialized=expensive) involved, and all the training/experience that goes with it.

[daft_biker]

Originally Posted by MichelleMacPhearson

That's exceptionally helpful - thank you! I noticed that "bend" effect on all the camera's (various prices / brands of digital point and shoots) we'd tried to use to take these kinds of pictures. Really appreciate that tip!

Glad to have been of service

Originally Posted by MichelleMacPhearson

Lots of folks learn via experimentation and without formal training.

Indeed. Seemed to work for me.

And talking about learning from experimentation here's the results of a little experiment I did which will hopefully demonstrate a key reason why I suggested a macro lens over something like a 50mm f/1.8.

I took this using my 50mm f/1.4:

Hopefully you can see that the subject is flat but only the centre of the frame is sharp - this is due to curvature of field. There's nothing wrong with my lens, it's just not a very good choice for document copying in a controlled environment.

This was taken using a macro lens:

Hopefully this time you can see that the flat subject is sharp throghout as macro lenses are usually pretty well corrected for keeping the plane of focus flat.