Great pics

[shappa]

Hi guys, I've seen some fantastic pics here of knives. I'm looking to get a digital camera soon and was wondering what you guys use to get those great shots.
What should I look for in a camera and what should I avoid?
Brand names/models welcomed.
Help me spend my money

 

[bigbore.45]

Hi shappa
i`m a bloody amateur, (as you can see at my pics) -
but i`m very sure a X000$ camera wouldnt rise my skills.
So i make good old pics with a good old Minolta and with the
paperpics i buy a CD with the images.
Cheap, available, and you can edit the pics with your PC later.
But it lasts a few days.
The rest of my life i try to learn how to make better pics
There have been some really good tips on photographing in this forums. THX

 

[Buzzbait]

I use a Fuji MX-1200 digital camera that I picked up a couple years ago. It wasn’t anything expensive, just a $150.00 camera from Wal-Mart. The key is to look for a camera with a short focal length. My camera has a special micro-mode, which allows me to take pictures close up without blurring. Just about every digital camera manufacturer makes an inexpensive digital camera with a short focal length mode.

Then just make sure to get lots of good lighting. Digital cameras are notorious for needing lots of light. Natural or fluorescent light seems to work best.

Here are a few pics I’ve done with my cheapo Fuji.

 

[Gollnick]

In photographing polished, reflective objects like knives, two of the biggest problems you face is glare and reflections. Both of these come down to angles. You've seen this. You've been driving when suddenly the sun glares right off some bit of chrome on the car in front of you. What do you do? You move your head slightly. You do this without thinking. But, what you're really doing is changing the angle. Just a few degrees can make all the difference.

Some digital cameras have a viewfinder that is separate from the lens that takes the picture. This is fine when the subject is more than about five feet away. But, for knife photography we are often a lot closer (the Macro mode that Mr. Buzzbait pointed out). When the camera is only a foot away from the subject, a one-inch distance between the lens and the viewfinder translates into almost five degrees of angle. That can easily be the difference between nasty glare and even illumination.

So, for good knife pictures, it's important that you get a camera that lets you look through the same lens that you'll be taking the picture through. Better digital cameras have an LCD viewfinder. This is just fine.

After that, lighting is the key. But, that's a whole new subject.