Hey guys,
My camera knowledge, sadly is very limited
I'm looking to buy a camera to take general shots(of my collection ect), but want one that will take nice clear COO pics for example when needed.I can't afford an SLR or any high end cameras, just looking for a reasonablly priced good all rounder.Any help on a good start up camera will be greatly appreciated
Cheers Andy.

I'm not a camera guy either but I've heard one of the keys is getting the lighting correct ( lightbox ) Then even a 'cheap' camera will work well ( even an I-phone! )

I myself have always been a Nikon fan and I love there SLR's
but I recently picked up a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ20 Bridge camera for my daughter to help get her into photography, I was very surprised at this little camera the quality of the pictures is great and its nice and easy to use.
As for a portable studio (lightbox) they are well worth the money, I picked mine up cheap from maplins on ebay.

Thanks A.J. and Gorneesh  Got light box on order(cheers chris75 ) so hopefully i'll get some decent pics on the go, that Lumix DMC-LZ20 looks a tidy camera mate

I've been a Nikon fan for as long as I can remember. Well, that is up until about 4 years ago when I switched loyalty over to Canon.

I have two Canons right now... a pocket sized Canon Powershot SD990IS (15 MP) and a bigger Canon PowerShot SX500 (16 MP).
I picked up the SX500 a few months back and it rocks. However, even though it is really good for macro photography (which is the feature most useful for taking pictures of figures), the macro on it is not as good as the pocketsized SD990IS I have.
The issue lies in the huge lens on the SX which rocks for zooming in on large objects and has a nice wide area but there is too much curvature when in macro mode and it just doesn't look as good as its little brother.
So I just continue to use the little guy. Anyone would be happy with the SX, don't get me wrong, but since I had both, I favored the SD when comparing images taken at the same time.

Anyway.... the light tent is the best upgrade to start with and from there, if thinking about a new camera, make sure it has a good macro ability. There are tons of sites that review the macro capability out there (bug and flower people mostly).

There are at least three other threads here, each with great tips and suggestions, but the best one I believe and I will leave you with when it comes to actual shooting is to play around and learn manual mode and set a 2 second delay on your shots (at least) so the camera is perfectly still at the time the image is taken.

Anyway, here are some more threads here:
Here
Here
Here



cheers, Nico!

Can't wait to see pics from your new setup.

Camera = Samsung MV800
Light Box = My conservatory table with the blinds drawn LOL!!!

walkie wrote:

Camera = Samsung MV800
Light Box  = My conservatory table with the blinds drawn LOL!!!

I do have to say you must have a great, bright, well lit room, Stef!
Your pictures are very good for no setup at all.

Do you by chance have a skylight in that room?  

My house only gets good sunlight on one side and the windows aren't placed very well to capture it... hence the need for a light tent.

I get the sun over my back garden in the evening and my conservatory has a see-though corrugated plastic roof so I get plenty of light from above. However I have to draw the blinds to reduce the amount of shadow.

I'd say my photos were ok but not great, I should invest in a light tent but photography etc but I'm too lazy

Stef, I'd say your pics are very good mate

Jay thanks for the tips mate and the threads were a great read

Cheers for the help guys, much appreciated  

With good lighting anything is possible. Even an iPhone or iPad will do the trick to get great detail as long as the light is good.

Another one of my "low budget" techniques

I'm currently using my old Panasonic Lumix FZ7 but it still seems to give decent results.  As for a lightbox, I'm just using an old Amazon box with holes cut into it then covered with tracing paper.  Some ok results, but will be looking to upgrade to a more professional setup soon.

I use my Nikon D80 when taking photos of my figures and just about everything else. My wife had a D5100.

A cheap Olympus Fe 4000 12 megapixel on macro setting,
and a cheap $40 light tent from china.
Need to upgrade soon. 

Stefan, your method certainly works mate, great pic


Got my light box/tent now, so will be running a few tests.

Great Stormie in the pic Stef

That photo was taken on a dark day so it came out darker then I would have liked.