Good camera for taking close up / macro shots
 

What's a good camera for taking close up shots?

I'm working with someone that is trying to photograph a bunch of jewelry his wife has been making (for sale online) and his current digital camera (cannon ) just isn't cutting it.

They've tried inside (with a lightbox) and outside with natural light. The natural light photos definitely look nicer than anything they produce with the lightbox but the close up quality just isn't there.

I don't know anything about photography so any suggestions are welcome. They would definitely consider purchasing a new camera and/or lighting setup.

A good macro lens is what you seek.

A couple of bridge cameras have always done the trick for me, I used to take photos of small animals etc and they came out fine. If you're looking for a new camera give me a shout and I'll let you know which ones I use, what are you currently using?

:thumbsup

technique is extremely important when shooting jewelry and glass.

Go to a local commercial photographer and have him shoot at least one of each type of piece and teach you (pay extra) as you are doing the shoot with him or her.

I shot all of the commercial work in the packaging industry - mostly high end crystal glass and clear and tinted plastic and it was more a combo of light control, backgrounds, and blended shots at different focal lengths and F stops to get insane pop in your eye tack clear or perfectly esoteric shots I wanted.

I tracked and kept notes and measurements so the next time I had a 1/2 ounce crystal bottle with a gold metal band or cosmetic case, I knew exactly what lighting I wanted, the angles, backdrop color, distance to plane etc.

I shot mostly with Nikon DLSRs with either 18mm or 24 mm lenses - in some cases a 60 mm macro and did distortion correction after the fact. Doing it all again my 24-300 was the only lens I needed with a $200 screw in Cannon macro adapter for some extreme shots. I doubt you need more.

Hint:Sometimes if you have real skill and very flat pieces, a desktop flat bed scanner works great!

pretty much any $150+ camera has a Micro mode (I think it was called) which will give you acceptable close-up quality shot