# Question on recommended lense...



## Mark (Mar 26, 2010)

Plz Help... I am not a photographer by any means. :frown:

I have a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi camera. I bought it on a whim and found it to be a great camera. Anyway, for those that know photography,,,

what lense should I be looking for, in order to get the close-up pix that are - oh so - necessary in photographing pens?

Thanks much, Mark


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## PTownSubbie (Mar 26, 2010)

I am in the process of completing my first photography class and I am learning a ton of good information on how to use my camera and properly compose your pictures.....Anyway.....

I think what you are looking for is probably a Macro lense or a fixed lense. 

What kind of lenses do you have right now that are not working for you? A standard lense should be able to get you close enough to get the detail you are looking for. IMHO.....


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## turbowagon (Mar 26, 2010)

If you want to take great pictures, I would start with a photo tent and tripod, and see how the pictures come out with your current lens.  Use the custom white balance feature on your camera to get the colors correct, and set the aperture small enough (high number) so the whole pen is in focus.  In addition to the tripod, you can enable the mirror lock-up feature and a 2 second timer to ensure no camera shake.

If you decide you want to upgrade your lens, there are some good recommendations in this thread:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33635

I just got a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro and it's great, but I was interested in macro photography as well... it might be overkill to get it just for pen photography unless you are really serious about it.


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## knifecut (Mar 26, 2010)

I've an XT and get good pictures with the EF100mm f/2.8 macro lens.


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## glycerine (Mar 26, 2010)

I'm with the other guys in wanting to know what you have already.  You also need to look at lighting as well as your aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc...


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## Mark (Mar 26, 2010)

Ok. I will get it out tonight and post what it is currently. I was reading the book that came with it and saw something about distance to object no less than 3 feet. In order to fill the frame I am closer to 12 - 16 inches from the pen. 

I will post what the lense is tonight and try to get the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc... Thx much. I'll be in touch......

Also looking into a tent/photo box. Thx.


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## turbowagon (Mar 26, 2010)

You also don't need to fill the frame... you can take the pics at a high resolution, and then use any image editing program to crop them.


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## Mark (Mar 26, 2010)

Ok here is what I got off the camera lens.
EFS 18-55mm
.28m/0.9ft

Canon Zoom Lens EF-S
18-55mm
1:3.5-5.6
58mm

I don't know what it means...
The camera is set to Auto, so I don't set the shutter, aperture, brightness, etc.
I don't even focus it. I adjust the image in the viewfinder and it focuses the picture.
It is set on the highest resolution. There are three settings and I took the highest.

That is all I know about the camera. I'm learning, but it's slow going. Thanks for all your help.. -M


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## knifecut (Mar 27, 2010)

http://www.usa.canon.com/content/Rebel_lessons/index.html

Tutorial 13 for closeups


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## DCBluesman (Mar 27, 2010)

Mark - You've got all the camera and all the lens you need to take great pen photos.  You just need to learn the camera.  Try the "Magic Lantern Guide" from Lark Books.  They make great, easy-to-use guides for most cameras, including yours.  You should be able to pick it up through Amazon.


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## Mark (Mar 27, 2010)

Thank you. I will go look for that Guide right now and hit the links mentioned above. I appreciate everyone's time and advice. It's one thing to make a great pen, that you are really proud of. It's another to try and get a picture of it... lol


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## Mark (Mar 27, 2010)

Wow, great tutorial. http://www.usa.canon.com/content/Reb...ons/index.html

It's like learning a whole new hobby.


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## themartaman (Mar 28, 2010)

Perspective changes with different focal length lenses. Something around 100mm is good. Zoom lense will work fine. I use a lot of Sigma lense. Some of the macro specific lense are flat field which is the best and also most expensive. Telephoto brings objects from front to back closer together. Wide angle separates them more.


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## Sylvanite (Mar 28, 2010)

themartaman said:


> Perspective changes with different focal length lenses. Something around 100mm is good. Zoom lense will work fine. ... Telephoto brings objects from front to back closer together. Wide angle separates them more.


In photo terminology, it's called "foreshortening".  In reality, it's a function of how close you are to the object being photographed, not the lens used.  But, since you tend to get closer with a wide-angle lens than a telephoto lens, people associate foreshortening with focal length.

I use a Canon 28-135mm EF IS lens for most of my pen photos.  It also makes a good "walk-around" lens as it covers the most commonly useful focal lengths for everyday shooting.  I wouldn't use (nor recommend) a "macro" lens for pen photography.  I prefer to shoot from farther away (to reduce foreshortening) and use a longer lens.  

Regards,
Eric


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## programmergeek (Apr 16, 2010)

The tororal 13 is good for basics but they state a rig flash will not cause shadows, this is not true.  Don't use a ring flash for pens a light tent is much better.  A ring flash is only good for things like flowers and insects where you can't change the envirnment and you really need to get close and need a light source.  Overall most people that get them don't use them.


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## DJS588 (Apr 16, 2010)

*Macro Tubes*

One other thing you might find handy is to get a set of Kenko Extension Rings. It changes the focal point of the host lens, i.e. if you use the 18-55mm lens set at 18mm, then the 50mm tube(s) between the camera body and lens, you will have magnification of the image of 50/18= 2.77x.
Just a thought for real close-up work.


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## moke (Apr 16, 2010)

I second what DCbluesman said...you have what you need.  For closeups of parts or small sections, don't worry so much about being close physically, use your zoom or crop in a manipultive software. Remember that particularly for the photos on this site they can not be a high res or high meg--so cropping in software will work fine.

Lighting will make far more impact on your pens than a lens.  There are some great tutorials about lighting tents----or get a book about small product photography.  Tents are not all the answers, but certainly a really good answer.  
If you want to PM me I can give you some other cheaper lighting ideas...
Mike   aka:Moke
Mike  aka: moke


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## stolicky (Apr 16, 2010)

Good lighting and a tripod will do much better, and be cheaper, than another lens.


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