OT - Food Camera - Advice needed

rtt121

Hello and Happy New Year.

I know that some of you on here are excellent photographers.  I was hoping to get some advice.

My wife took a new job as head of marketing for a small natural food chain of grocery stores.  Part of what she does requires her to take good photographs. Sometimes of plated food or products. She was going to go buy a nice camera and I said wait, I think I know a place where we can get some good advice.

What camera would you recommend for someone who needs to take good food photographs.  If possible I would like it to double for landscape photography for myself (I know the opposite - Most likely a different lense?)

Would like to be around $1000 but if you say you have to bump up for quality; we probably would.

Thanks in advance!  

Chubbs

@hapster @mattman3969 @cazzy

lousubcap

And @NPHuskerFL and @tarheelmatt

badinfluence

I have a canon 70D. Really like it. You are correct about the lense. I like to use a macro lense for the food pictures and a wide angle for landscape. Now here is where you can drop a lot of money. I was lucky when I bought my macro last Christmas as it was on a rebate...300.00 off, but was still 600.00. It is a money pit just like the BGE is...lol nice flash..500.00 camara body...1200.00....lense...sky is the limit.....lighting...800.00....backdrops....oh the list goes on and on.

maybe I'm not the right person to answer this question as I am happy to spend your money...lol and I'm sure you can find something a whole lot cheaper to do what you want to do.

NPHuskerFL

ALL of my pics, gifs and videos are done via my phone. HTC One M8. Waiting to see what specs offer on the M10 when it's finally released. It's not always about high end cameras (we do own one) but, it's about angles, point of view (pov), lighting, plating itself etc. And you have to work fast because that beautiful medium rare color & juices don't have a pause button. Lots of timing.  

NPHuskerFL

lousubcap said:

And @NPHuskerFL and @tarheelmatt

Thanks man. 

fishlessman

i think it depends on how far she wants to get into it, my picture taking was way better with an old fuji point and shoot with 10x zoom than it is with my dslr nikon . mostl it has to do with lighting and higher fstops with the dslr and the lense that comes with it, its useless indoors or on dark days to me with the standard setup

Davec433

A few years ago bought my wife a Rebel T3I, a couple lenses and a bag. It's a real good mid range camera and depending on the zoom you need adjust your lenses accordingly. I think I spent around 12-1300$.

Mattman3969

I am not even close to being on the same level as the other guys listed but thanks @chubbs.  

I just an iPhone 6 and run thru an editing app called Snapseed that @hapster told me about.  

Davec433

If if I wanted an SLR to take pictures of food I'd lose the 75-300 lense since you won't need to zoom in. But this is what I got for 12-1300$ years ago.

rtt121

She has an i phone and a small Light studio for things as small as a product or plate.  Not getting it done. 

Thanks for input. And for call outs.

Any input @cazzy

jimithing

Yeah, any somewhat recent DSLR with a macro lens would be great for food photography.  I also have a T3i and really like it.  The only thing it doesn't do that I wish it did is auto focus during video.  I believe the T4i does that if that's something you're interested in.  You should be able to get either of them used for a decent price.

Depending on what your wife's needs are you may want to consider a macro ring flash.

The professional line of cameras from Canon will start with a number instead of T.  So 50D, 60D, 70D, etc.  Those can get expensive and may be more than you need.

badinfluence

Depending on what your wife's needs are you may want to consider a macro ring flash.

Oh snap...I so want one of these....another 800.00....poof...gone....lol

I do agree my 70D is most likely way more then what you need...it then becomes do you WANT it. I can tell you I can take one mean picture of a outhouse or a barn. I have not really played much with the macro lense with food but love it for taking pictures of flowers and insects.

rtt121

badinfluence said:

Depending on what your wife's needs are you may want to consider a macro ring flash.

Oh snap...I so want one of these....another 800.00....poof...gone....lol

I do agree my 70D is most likely way more then what you need...it then becomes do you WANT it. I can tell you I can take one mean picture of a outhouse or a barn. I have not really played much with the macro lense with food but love it for taking pictures of flowers and insects.

This $800?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/239656-USA/Canon_2357A002_MT_24EX_Macro_Twin_Lite.html

Davec433

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/986389-REG/canon_8469b002_canon_eos_70d_dslr.html

This is is what they are talking about. You'll also need a couple lenses, SD cards and a tripod to go with it.

badinfluence

@rtt121 yeah that...lol it is defiantly a WANT and not a need for sure. It is only used for the macro lense. It would be wonderful for flower pictures. I have a remote flash so different shadows are possible with food. Also have lighting to do the same affect, but to get a picture of a honey bee on a flower the macro lense flash would be a huge plus.

DaveRichardson

just about any dslr will be more than enough. Lighting is the key. 

rtt121

@DaveRichardson

That is awesome! Thank you!  

She has an apparatus much like first pic but needs this type of instruction!

badinfluence

That bottom cupcake picture was taken with a macro lense. Correct me if I'm wrong @daverichardson

Davec433

@DaveRichardson that is an amazing setup.

cazzy

Some good tips listed here already:

She can spend alot of money on a body, but I'd focus on glass at first.  Good glass will outlast your body.  For food photography, I use my 105mm f/2.8 macro lens most of the time.  I will also use a wide angle lens from time to time, which will come in handy if you do take up landscape photography.

She will need lighting and some foam board, plus other items to stage pics.  Dave covered that above.  She'll also need to study composition and will need to learn how to use the camera.  Otherwise, it will just be a big P&S.

DaveRichardson

Actually the cupcake was for a friends business. Shot with a Canon Rebel That's now 10+ years old with the cheap "Nifty 50" lens that's a fixed focal length of 50mm and steps down to f1.8 to get a good depth of field to blur out and give the background a fuzzy appearance for a low-res website icon. 

badinfluence

Lol...see I was wrong...lol

DaveRichardson

@badinfluence no worries, just got very lucky with the shot. That narrow depth of field is a great tool to use to save a lot of work in post-processing. 

YukonRon

This is the coolest sight ever.

victor1

any decent dslr with a good macro lens will work.  the skill is in the lighting.
i've done a lot of food work with a 100 mm lens with excellent results.  let your aperture control your depth of field.

NPHuskerFL

Guess I'll stay over here in amateur hour with my $hitty beef, pork, chicken, pizza etc pics  

https://youtu.be/ZSnLH6iaAgI

cazzy

DaveRichardson said:

Actually the cupcake was for a friends business. Shot with a Canon Rebel That's now 10+ years old with the cheap "Nifty 50" lens that's a fixed focal length of 50mm and steps down to f1.8 to get a good depth of field to blur out and give the background a fuzzy appearance for a low-res website icon. 

DaveRichardson said:

@badinfluence no worries, just got very lucky with the shot. That narrow depth of field is a great tool to use to save a lot of work in post-processing. 

LOL. why you messing with them Dave?  maybe cause they overlooked the Taylor Mathis Photography signature.   

https://fstoppers.com/food/how-choose-aperture-your-food-photography-4739

tarheelmatt

I will offer up my two cents here.  

1 - If buying a DSLR, I recommend a used one, but a higher end one.  However, first go try some out somewhere where you can touch and feel a camera brand to see what you like.  There's a huge difference.  KEH is a great place to buy used cameras and lenses.  

1a - Buy good glass!  Skimp on the camera and get something nice for your lens.  A 50mm is a great lens for food photography for someone starting out.  

 2- Learn how to use that camera.  I cannot stress this enough.  You should be able to shoot in full manual.  Learn what ISO, aperture, and shutter speed does.  Cover the rear up and learn to shoot in manual without using the rear screen.  

3 - Learn lighting (all types).  Natural diffused light is the best option.  

4 - Learn lighting along with your manual settings.  Shooting flash manually IS the best way.  

5 - Find what works for you for lighting.  Some like different items.  

hapster

Tell her to hire a photographer with a portfolio she likes... and stick to what she already knows and is good at, being the head of marketing.

That's the best advice I can offer... Photography can be frustrating, food & macro, dealing with lighting etc even more so

Besides, most of my food images are taken with my iphone... it's not about the gear, it's about the eye.

Good luck and I hope she takes my advice and saves herself the headache... I'm sure being the head of marketing is tough enough without trying to learn an entirely different profession. It's kind of like going to law school because you want to fight a parking ticket, just ain't worth the trouble

H

NPHuskerFL

This is so far outta my wheelhouse. I take (literally) hundreds of pics (each meal, life fun and work related stuff) from my phone and do so because A> The M8 takes a decent pic B> I always have my phone C> The pics can be uploaded quickly w/out much editing especially w/ the new apps available. I'm excited for the release of the M10, M10 Max, O2 or whatever they decide to name it. The front & rear camera are said to be probably much better than the M8 (M9 lacked imo in comparison to the 8). 4K resolution, 4K video and gnats ass pic clarity boast this to be pretty damn good. No actual details have been released but, it is said to go on the market sometime in 2016. DSLR no doubt has benefits but, the ingenuity and convenience have me coming back to HTC. YMMV. Could just be my lame ass opinion.