I am posting this in the hope that I can get some good advice.
I am not a photographer, neither professional nor amateur, but, for my job, I need to take photographs of pieces of jewellery. I currently do this using a Canon Powershot A640 tethered to an iMac, and the jewellery is illuminated in a lightbox link this:
http://www.techlamps.co.uk/mini-photo-studios-c-82/dib-0806-digital-imag…
I use the Canon bundled software, but it is unreliable, and I would like to change it for some other product, but, from my research it probably means I am going to have to buy a new camera.
The photo's are for record keeping purposes only, and I don't spend much time on each picture, and so I really don't want to spend any more than I need to to get reasonable pictures and a reliable setup. I don't own a digital SLR but, as well as the Canon, I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7, though I would be prepared to buy a new camera & lens if necessary. I would be grateful of any camera/lens/software advice to get me to that situation. The one feature I really like on my current situation is the ability to see the “viewfinder” on my desktop, and after that my main requirements would be speed and ease of use. I know aperture supports tethered shooting, and I have come across Sofortbilt but I haven't trailed either because I don't have a compatible camera.
Many thanks for any advice offered.
Mitch
Mitch,
If you want to use Aperture, it does work tethered with many cameras as you said, however yours isn’t one of them. There’s a complete list of supported cameras in this article Aperture 3: Tips on tethered shooting. You do need a dSLR, or actually an iPhone will work too. Never tried with a point-and-shoot but none are listed.
The ability to see the viewfinder on your computer screen is ideal for what you’re doing for sure. You should check out the software dSLR Camera Remote from OnOne Software if you use an iPhone or iPad. With this you can shoot tethered while previewing the camera’s view on you iPod/iPhone or iPad. However the images captured will just go into a folder, and then have to be imported into Aperture. Which is easy and fast, but it’s another step.
I suppose it depends on what’s most important. Do you need to get them shot and into Aperture for color correction and output in record time? If so, you’ll want to shoot directly into Aperture and probably give up the camera-view on-screen. If that’s not a priority, then I’d tether with something like dSLR Remote that lets you see the what you’re shooting on screen.
And no you’re not imagining things… the Canon bundled software sucks.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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Hi Joseph
Thanks very much for your reply. Of the two options you suggest I would prefer to go with Aperture. With that in mind, which of the supported cameras do you think I should buy to get the best from Aperture when photographing jewellery?
Thanks again,
Mitch
Mitch,
to be clear… using one of the other tools doesn’t prevent you from using Aperture, it just means you have to import as a second step—which of course isn’t hard to do and will be very fast since your photos will already be on the hard drive.
As far as a camera is concerned, I really can’t recommend a particular model. Far too many variables, but you should check out the website dpreview.com as it’s a fantastic resource of all things camera. Personally I’m a Canon shooter, and from what you’ve told me a cheap Rebel body with a Macro lens will probably do what you need. But again, this isn’t really the place to get help with that decision.
Remember you can always rent gear to try stuff out. The link in your original post is in the UK so I suspect you may not be in the US, but if you are, check out borrowlenses.com as a place to try out loaner gear.
good luck,
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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Hi Joseph
Thanks very much for your reply. I am grateful for the advice on camera’s, and renting one might be a good idea.
Mitch