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- Jan 3, 2013
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Thanks for the tips and links everyone. I should have looked for a sub forum. 
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What do you use to take photos of your traditional knives?
- Thread starter Woodrow F Call
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 15, 1998
- Messages
- 3,105
Lots of great info. Here's one of my posts in that forum last year on camera gear: Do-I-need-expensive-camera-gear-to-take-knife-photos-The-answer-lies-within.
Currently I shoot with one of these setups, you can probably guess which one.
My phone takes decent pics, but if a photo is worth taking it deserves better equipment. I consider my phone an emergency camera, for use when I want a pic but don't have a real camera available. In answer to the original question, I shoot with Canon gear, a 5D MK III body with a 70D as backup, L zoom lenses, 100 macro, and if I need to ensure sharp photos, a Manfrotto tripod. Shoot in RAW mode, convert and process in Photoshop CS6. Host my photos on my own website so I ensure there are no shenanigans like recompressing to smaller, less detailed files. Overkill? absolutely ...
If you want accurate color, buy a camera that can shoot in RAW, use a gray reference card (whibal is the best for the money, I own products that cost many times more that are no better), and convert the RAWs to jpgs using your gray reference card to set the white balance. If you want sharp photos, use lots of light or a tripod. Bright, indirect light works best (in the shade on a sunny day). Move to different angles while looking through the viewfinder and observe what angle gives the best detail. Use the lowest ISO for the best quality, setting it high overdrives the electronics in the camera, like overdriving a stereo it creates distortion which shows up as grain in your pics. Take lots of pics, practice by trying to emulate pics you like. Ain't rocket science but does take a little effort ...
Currently I shoot with one of these setups, you can probably guess which one.
My phone takes decent pics, but if a photo is worth taking it deserves better equipment. I consider my phone an emergency camera, for use when I want a pic but don't have a real camera available. In answer to the original question, I shoot with Canon gear, a 5D MK III body with a 70D as backup, L zoom lenses, 100 macro, and if I need to ensure sharp photos, a Manfrotto tripod. Shoot in RAW mode, convert and process in Photoshop CS6. Host my photos on my own website so I ensure there are no shenanigans like recompressing to smaller, less detailed files. Overkill? absolutely ...
If you want accurate color, buy a camera that can shoot in RAW, use a gray reference card (whibal is the best for the money, I own products that cost many times more that are no better), and convert the RAWs to jpgs using your gray reference card to set the white balance. If you want sharp photos, use lots of light or a tripod. Bright, indirect light works best (in the shade on a sunny day). Move to different angles while looking through the viewfinder and observe what angle gives the best detail. Use the lowest ISO for the best quality, setting it high overdrives the electronics in the camera, like overdriving a stereo it creates distortion which shows up as grain in your pics. Take lots of pics, practice by trying to emulate pics you like. Ain't rocket science but does take a little effort ...
