Tips for taking good photos of watches?

[A790]

Originally posted by blitz
I like that second watch!

I can tell it was a 2 second exposure because the hand on it is moving. Might want to pull out the crown for the longer shots.

Orient Leo, doesn't have a hacking movement

[ga16i]

Doesn't need to hack. Just let it die so that it sits still or add more light and have a shutter speed faster than 1/8 second. I don't think you've got anything that beats more than 8 beats per second.

EDIT: might want to wipe down with a micro fibre cloth and handle with finger cots too

[Mitsu3000gt]

Looking good so far!

I like the moving hand shots, but maybe that isn't ideal for product shots haha. I think it looks cool.

With the crazy amount of detail you're going to be getting, make sure you give them a good wipe down. Every little speck of dust, finger print, smudge, etc. is going to show up clear as day if you show a large image.

Don't be afraid to use ISO 200 or 400 to double or quadruple your shutter speeds if you really need to freeze those second hands. Even with ISO 800 the image will still be extremely clean, especially when you get your lighting.

[A790]

I took a bunch more last night of the Jazzmaster Day/Date and I think they turned out well. I made sure to give it a good wipe first

I'll throw my fav on beyond later tonight. My macro lens is also apparently out for delivery so I'm hoping to play with that a whole bunch tonight.

The lighting I was using for those photos was just window light, and I found that often the image became saturated at higher ISO's. However, I'm still trying to figure out how to adjust the shutter speed lol.

Thanks everyone for your advice so far. The difference in my photos is already pretty significant

EDIT: I took a picture of the Stuhrling Original Acheron that I thought turned out okay.


» Click image for larger version

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by A790
However, I'm still trying to figure out how to adjust the shutter speed lol.

If you're in "A" mode, you can't adjust shutter speed, the camera does that for you based on the aperture and ISO you select.

If you want to adjust the shutter speed, I suggest leaving it in "A" mode and adjusting the ISO up until you get a 1/8 or whatever you need for shutter speed. If you can stop the second hand, then it doesn't matter what your shutter speed is for the most part since your subjects are stationary.

You can go into "S" mode if you want and select the exact shutter speed you want, but the camera will determine aperture for you, so you will have to adjust ISO until the camera shows the aperture you want. A bit more work than "A" mode for macro work, but you arrive at the same place.

"M" mode is good too, and you will have full control over aperture and shutter speed, however you will need to look at the camera meter or take test shots to see where a good exposure is (it will be exactly the same place as if you just used "A" mode and dialed in what you need). Again, it's just more work for what you need.

[camm.eng]

Long exposures can look pretty cool if you're wanting to get creative. Depending on the exposure you can get the hands somewhat blurred showing the movement of time.



Just a quick google search for an example.

[A790]

Macro lens came today. I'm getting a lot of glare on the watch faces. Evidently I need to better control lighting.

[blitz]

A polarizer can help with that, but lighting placement will help more. Try moving the lighting further away from the watch as step #1

[clem24]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Just don't stop down too much, F13 and smaller you will start to really notice diffraction (image will get more blurry). Stick to F8-F11 unless you need more depth of field, or you may start to lose the fine details on some of these watches.

Irrelevant IMO. Your limit your abilities if you limit yourself to F13 simply because your photo won't look as sharp in full size. I shoot minimum aperture alot, especially when I am shooting small scale stuff like Hot Wheels cars; I need as much in focus as I can. Once something is resized for web viewing, a image shot at F22 can look amazing. And even then, at full size, it's still perfectly fine with a bit of sharpening.

I use the Olympus 35mm f/3.5 FT 1:1 macro with adapter to MFT and it was simply awesome. I use a clamp tripod to stabilize the camera on the side of a desk and shoot small aperture (which I think is f/16) all the time.

[A790]

Annnnnd the lighting setup has arrived

[flipstah]

Originally posted by blitz
A polarizer can help with that, but lighting placement will help more. Try moving the lighting further away from the watch as step #1

Moving the light source around until you get a great shot is key.

[A790]

Ugghhh two hours later and I don't have any good shots. Going to try again tomorrow

[taemo]

any sample shots? maybe we can give you pointers

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by clem24


Irrelevant IMO. Your limit your abilities if you limit yourself to F13 simply because your photo won't look as sharp in full size. I shoot minimum aperture alot, especially when I am shooting small scale stuff like Hot Wheels cars; I need as much in focus as I can. Once something is resized for web viewing, a image shot at F22 can look amazing. And even then, at full size, it's still perfectly fine with a bit of sharpening.

I use the Olympus 35mm f/3.5 FT 1:1 macro with adapter to MFT and it was simply awesome. I use a clamp tripod to stabilize the camera on the side of a desk and shoot small aperture (which I think is f/16) all the time.

Depends how picky you are. On a 24MP APS, diffraction starts pretty early, around F5.6-8, and gets really noticeable after F13 (IMO). If the end use of the photo is for web, then I agree it doesn't really matter. You can claw a bit back with sharpening as well.

[A790]

Originally posted by taemo
any sample shots? maybe we can give you pointers

Nothing worth showing. I need to figure this lighting thing out. Everything is either too dark or has glare.

Plus she sent me a 31" light cube instead of a 24" cube, making it very difficult to work with... lol

[blitz]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


Depends how picky you are. On a 24MP APS, diffraction starts pretty early, around F5.6-8, and gets really noticeable after F13 (IMO). If the end use of the photo is for web, then I agree it doesn't really matter. You can claw a bit back with sharpening as well.

Sorry Mitsu, can't agree with you. In all practical matters, diffraction just doesn't matter unless you look at things at 100% all the time.

My theory is if you need to use over F11 for DOF or exposure purposes, just do it.

[msommers]

Kinda have to agree. Depending on the situation if I want a longer exposure and feeling lazy, I'll step down F22 instead of putting on a proper ND filter and leaving it at F8 or 11. The D800 is pretty unforgiving and to my (maybe untrained) eye, everything looks pretty good.

[dragonone]

I was reading Ming Thein's blog a while ago and noticed his watch pics that may interest you with his blog posts/tips.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by A790

Nothing worth showing. I need to figure this lighting thing out. Everything is either too dark or has glare.

Plus she sent me a 31" light cube instead of a 24" cube, making it very difficult to work with... lol

Posting sample shots would help us figure out what you're doing wrong. Or if you're on crack and they're actually great.

You may need multiple light sources (i.e. several desk lamps)

Having light sources on the sides may help depending on the shooting angle.

[A790]

Originally posted by flipstah


Posting sample shots would help us figure out what you're doing wrong. Or if you're on crack and they're actually great.

You may need multiple light sources (i.e. several desk lamps)

Having light sources on the sides may help depending on the shooting angle.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/376300/cr...my-watch-pics/

Lighting setup: three 45W 5400K bulbs, one in a light tent/diffused, the other two directly against my 24" photo cube.