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Choosing a DIGITAL CAMERA for pictures
of gemstones and jewelry.
There are so many great digital cameras available
out there for taking pictures of diamonds, gemstones and jewelry.
The problem is, there are so many jewelry websites out there
who have taken their own product pictures and the pictures
are just plain ugly. If you are planning to put pictures of
your own product on the internet, then this article is for
you.
FIRST OF ALL, there are a few very important
camera features for taking pictures of jewelry. In no order
of priority, they are the "macro mode", the "white
balance" controls and the camera resolution. Macro
mode - The macro mode on a digital camera is a close-focus
mode that allows you to get extra close to your subject for
a clear shot. Without this feature, it's almost impossible
to get a sharp photo of something as small and detailed as
jewelry.
White balance - White balance
is a camera feature that compensates for the color cast of
the light that's present when you take the picture, which
is extremely important when photographing jewelry. Some digital
cameras' white balance mode is programmed for certain types
of lighting, such as sunlight or fluorescent light. Other
cameras have a white balance feature you can set yourself.
Either way, being able to adjust a camera for the color cast
of the present lighting makes a huge difference in the quality
and accuracy of jewelry photos.
Camera resolution
- It is so easy to get caught up and confused with "3
megapixel this" and "6 megapixel that", while
what most folks don't realize is that most of your camera
resolution is just overkill if you are putting jewelry images
on your website. A "megapixel" is simply one million
pixels (or picture elements). It is a measure of the 'grid'
that makes up an images width and height. If it helps to think
of it this way, a picture that is 3 thousand inches high by
5 thousand inches wide would be 15 "megainches",
if there were such a thing.
 Consider
these image size examples...
A picture that is 640 x 480 pixels
is 0.3 megapixels.
A picture that is 1280 x 960 pixels is 1.2
megapixels.
A 3 megapixel picture would be slightly
larger than 1920 x 1440 pixels.
A 5 megapixel picture would be roughly 2560
x 1920 pixels.
The sample picture to the right is 250 pixels wide
x 180 pixels high which is a mere 0.045 megapixels
SO.... you'd have to shrink a 5 megapixel image down to less
than 1% of it's original size to get the image just above.
Any picture you take with even a 2 megapixel camera or better
is most likely going to be shrunk (or 'resampled') down by
your website designer. So in this case, bigger isn't necessarily
better. Camera with higher megapixel ratings tend to be newer
and have more features though.
SECOND, there are some other considerations when looking
for a digital camera to take pictures of jewelry images...
Large view finder : At least a 2.0-inch TFT
LCD display. Bigger is better (and easier) for you. Some are
2.5 inch displays or larger and they are excellent for previewing
the image you just took.
Connects directly to computer : Connects
to PCs and Macs via USB cable. For ease of use and transferring
pictures to your computer.
Get a camera with a zoom : At least 3X optical
zoom. Optical zoom uses the optics (lens) of the camera to
bring the subject closer. A digital zoom only enlarges a portion
of the image, thus 'simulating' optical zoom. Basically, when
using digital zoom, the camera crops a portion of the image
and then enlarges it back to original size and in so doing,
loses image quality. So optical zoom is what is most important.
3 or more megapixel (MP) resolution. As we've
indicated, this is much larger than you will display on a
website. Starting with a high resolution image give you the
ability to scale down to the size you want and not lose clarity.
The three or more megapixel recommendation is simply to ensure
you have a newer camera with some of the other important features
mentioned here. Since the local Best Buy, Ultimate Electronics
or Sears will tout the megapixel rating of their cameras long
before the cameras' white balance or viewfinder dimensions,
3MP is a good place to start.
Can be mounted on tripod : This is to help
with "shake free" pictures. A little threaded screw
hole on the bottom of the camera will tell you it can be tripod-mounted.
Has a remote control : This is for hands-free
operation. Also to aid in "shake free" pictures
that are not blurry.
JPG/JPEG file format : Avoid cameras with proprietary image
file formats. Make sure they support industry standard JPG
format files so you don't have to 'convert' your images for
use on the web. The sample image above is a standard JPG image
(pronounced "jay peg").
LASTLY, Get the necessary extras that make
the different between okay pictures and GREAT pictures. Do
not ignore this section. These extras only cost roughly $100-$150
dollars, but they will make a world of difference.
A desk or free standing tripod to mount your camera. Which
depends upon where you plan to take your pictures.
A remote control for your camera if it didn't come with one.
A 12" light tent from from Table Top Studios (or equivalent)
http://www.tabletopstudio.com A large, transparent, opaque
Rubbermaid storage container just might do the job too as
it will diffuse direct light as well.
Acrylic risers to go inside your light tent. Get a clear and
a black riser. A riser is just a piece of bent acrylic that
you place your jewelry on. It elevates the piece up off of
the floor of the light tent.
A brightly lit room. Fluorescent or incandescent light source
will depend upon your preference and experimentation.
A light set if a brightly lit room is not available. This
will require a little experimentation (test pictures!) on
your part. See what makes you happy. Honestly, the "light
set" can even be a couple of desk lamps with their lamp
shapes removed! Anything is better than nothing.
Black construction paper to eliminate glare off of light tent
walls if using black riser and taking pictures for a website
with a dark background color.
Make sure you thoroughly clean the item you are photographing!
November 2006 List : There are some good
choices for a digital camera to shoot jewelry images.
Here are a few we'd be more than happy with...
Nikon Coolpix L4 : 5MP Digital Camera, 3x Optical Zoom, 2.0in
LCD
Nikon Coolpix L3 : 5MP Digital Camera, 3x Optical Zoom, 2.0in
LCD
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 : 6MP Digital Camera, 12x Optical
Zoom, 2.5in LCD
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 : 5MP Digital Camera, 10x Optical
Zoom, 2.5in LCD
Fuji FinePix E550 : 6MP Digital Camera, 4x Optical Zoom, 2.0in
LCD
HP Photosmart R817 : 5MP Digital Camera, 5X Optical Zoom,
2.0in LCD
Olympus Stylus 800 : 8MP Digital Camera, 3x Optical Zoom,
2.5in LCD
Casio Exilim EX-S500 :: 5MP Digital Camera, 3X Optical Zoom,
2.2in LCD
Casio Exilim EX-P505 :: 5MP Digital Camera, 5X Optical Zoom,
2.0in LCD
Kodak EasyShare V610 : 6MP Digital Camera, 10x Optical Zoom,
2.8in LCD
Kodak EasyShare V550 : 5MP Digital Camera, 3x Optical Zoom,
2.5in LCD
Kodak EasyShare V530 : 5MP Digital Camera, 3x Optical Zoom,
2.0in LCD
Canon PowerShot A630 : 8MP Digital Camera, 4X Optical Zoom,
2.5in LCD
Canon PowerShot S3 IS : 6MP Digital Camera, 12X Optical Zoom,
2.0in LCD
Canon PowerShot SD550 : 7MP Digital Camera, 3X Optical Zoom,
2.5in LCD
Canon PowerShot SD450 : 5MP Digital Camera, 3X Optical Zoom,
2.5in LCD
September 2004 List : This list of cameras
was selected a couple years ago and are still great choices
when taking pictures for the web.
Nikon CoolPix 4300 : 4MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom
Pentax Optio 550 : 5MP Digital Camera with 5X Optical Zoom
Pentax Optio S4i : 4MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom
Canon PowerShot A80 : 4MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom
Canon PowerShot S410 : 4MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical
Zoom
Kodak EasyShare DX6490 : 4MP Digital Camera with 10X Optical
Zoom
Kodak EasyShare DX7440 : 4MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical
Zoom
Olympus C-5000 : 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom
Nikon Coolpix 5200 : 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
Sony Cybershot DSCP93 : 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical
Zoom
Sony DSCV1 Cyber-shot : 5MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom
Sony DSCF717 : 5MP Digital Still Camera w/ 5x Optical Zoom
Nikon Coolpix 5700 : 5MP Digital Camera w/ 8x Optical Zoom
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