Digital Camera for Web graphics only

suggestions

[jaski]

Hi,
I need to buy a digital camera for creating catalogs for an online store. I need to take close ups of small objects - eg. CDs, books, gifts etc.

I believe I do not need high mega pixels because I don't need to take print outs. Is that correct .. and what else do I need to look out for?

Jaski

[mivox]

Don't bother with anything below 3 megapixels, IMO. That gives you enough image data to do a bit of serious editing, if need be.

I used to use a 1.2mp camera, and if the original image wasn't almost perfect, there wasn't much I could do to fix it. Now I have a 5mp camera... I keep it set to 3.1mp most of the time, and those images can be cropped, enlarged and otherwise 'fixed' to my heart's content.

(The 5mp setting is good for that occassional "OhmiGOD" amazing photo that comes along...)

[TGecho]

You don't need high resolution for purely web shots, but you'll still want a decent camera as sheer resolution isn't everything.

I'd say get a low-midrange ($200-300 at least 2mp) camera with basic manual controls. This combined with a tripod and decent lighting (nothing fancy) will make it much easier to take those close-ups.

Look for accurate color, good contrast, and the like. Lowlight performance doesn't need to be spectacular, unless you want to use it outside of a controlled enviroment. Keep in mind that you may want to use this camera for more than product shots.

The key is to figure out what you need (research terms, read guides,...). Find a few cameras that seem to meet your requirements, then start checking reviews. >> "camera name model" review << on Google will usually get you tons of reviews.

[limbo]

I find still life photography, for products an alike, it is much better for any lighting to be separate from the flash

This gives more interesting depth/contrast from the shadows and highlights.

For real close-ups you might wan to look into macro lenses.

Agree with Mivox - 300Mega Pixel should be your bench mark.

[georgeek]

I use a Olympus D-550 for this sort of thing at the moment and I can't fault it. It has a macro feature as well as an optical zoom. As mivox said at 3mp that's enough to crop and edit without running out of pixels. It's available at around $200 because it has been superseded by a newer model and represents very good value for money. Batteries are a standard size so if you are at a clients and your rechargables run out you don't get stuck. A lightweight tripod some tungsten-halogen lights and a range of background material like white and black matt finish card and your away!

[lorax]

FWIW - I targeted a mid-range camera and ended up with a Canon Powershot A40 - 2MPix. That combined with a Canon S9000 color printer and I've been producing excellent images for web use and pretty amazing photograph quality printouts. I would go with a 3MPix if:

1) I were interested in higher quality hard copies
2) if I were shooting more telephoto shots
3) if I wanted to focus on small details within a single image rather than use the whole image

All in all though - it's been a pretty handy camera and very useful

[mild green fairy]

Given that most of your display images are going to be 400-600px square at a guess = at most 0.4Mpx then you're right that you don't need to concentrate a high pixel count. More important (as flagged by others here) is the overall quality of the camera and the images produced. Ie a good quality shot at 1Mpx is going to be a lot more use to you that a poor quality shot at 3-5Mpx.

Make sure any flash is matched to your needs and that you pictures aren't going to be either bleached out or inconsistently lit. A macro mode/lens is also going to be handy for your close-ups.

Stick to a big name and a low-mid pixel rate at the best price you want to spend and you shouldn't go too far wrong.

MGF

[jaski]

Thanks for all the inputs.
I have been checking and rechecking specs at dpreview.com and I am gravitating towards Nikon Coolpix 2100

The primary reasons are

1) It has good reviews.

2) It has a 4cm macro. From what I understand it should be a positive since I need it for close up photography. (Though I do not know much about macro and how much is good enough)

3) 3x optical zoom.

4) It is very similar to Nikon Coolpix 3100 which has excellent reviews among cameras in 3mp class.

The only differences between 3100 and 2100 are megapixels and storage. All other features are exactly the same.

2100 - 2mp/8mb/ 235 USD
3100 - 3mp/16mb/ 330 USD

I feel 2mp will be sufficient for my needs .. and I will need an extra storage any way in either case .. so 2100 looks like the one I will go for.

The other make that I have studied is Kodak (as only Kodak and Nikon are readily available in this neck of the woods) Nikon seems better value for money for similar features.

Jaski

[rogerd]

For serious closeup photography, be sure the camera can use an external flash. The on-camera flash that comes with most digital cameras is not going to give you good lighting for small items or for macro mode (really small items).

As an alternative to off-camera flash, you can use a few floodlights and correct the color in Photoshop (or in the camera if it has that feature).

It's amazing how professional your photos will look if they are properly lit. Angled lighting with balanced shadow areas separate the pro shots from the hack jobs. The good thing is that with closeup photos you don't need a big studio or giant flash banks to accomplish this.

For web work resolution isn't that critical, but a higher pixel count will let you shoot from farther away and crop the image without getting fuzzy.

For really serious closeup work, I'd love a digital SLR - easily adaptable to a full range of macro lenses, telephotos, filters, cable release, etc. Unfortunately, these seem to be way more expensive than film SLRs right now. :(

[inarbeth]

As with SLR cameras the lens is important. I use a Sony DSC-S70 which has a Carl Zeiss lens. I have been very impressed with the colours produced by the Sony and the image quality is excellent. If your images are being viewed over the web, bear in mind that a large image (a 3.3 mega pixel camera can produce images that are over 1.3MB) will take ages to download. For most purposes a small 640 x 480 image will suffice.