[comptech]

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Hi to ALL and Thanks in advance for help, I m a beginner in jewelry photography but I need to learn this, I have Pentax K20D , 3 strobe lights, 2 soft boxes, and I need help what type of Pentax camera model I will need to get very good pro style images? I know the better camera the better image, I can get pro Canon for $12,000 but I don't have $12,000 and I like Pentax and I like to keep all my Pentax lenses , so I need your guys help what model Pentax do I need in the budget of $700-$1000 body only, to do product jeweler photography, and I will need to plug in to laptop camera to get images right the way.

I'm using Pentax 100 Macro WD liens, I'm trying to get this type of photos.

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Last edited by comptech; 08-03-2017 at 05:58 PM.

[disconnekt]

Any of the dslr's from pentax will be a good fit for product pbotography, especially since they have Pixel Shift. Have you looked at the KP yet? It's currently $949 at B&H/Adorama, here's the review that the forum did on it: https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-kp-review/introduction.html

[pschlute]

You should be able to get "pro style" images with your K20D and strobes. Perhaps post some photos of what you have done so far.

[Paul the Sunman]

I used a Sigma ring flash with my K1 to photograph some jewellery recently. It wasn't meant to be anything professional, but it worked well. A K3 or K3 II would be just fine for this purpose.

[amoringello]

Your K20D is probably perfectly sufficient. Get paid. Build up some savings.
When you are good enough to know what you need to go further, then spend the money on that.
Don't simply jump in buying stuff that you may later realize you never really needed.

But...
Are you photographing for website posting? Or high end full page magazine spreads?
Very good pro style images? Full page magazine or high-detail billboard spreads? No doubt you'll want Medium format. Definitely the 645D! :-)

But on a budget? For smaller, more reasonable images? Camera body doesn't really matter as much for still photography.

Get a tilt shift lens or focus stacking rails with a good macro lens.
And follow some good jewelry photography. One is: www.photigy.com (although most of his stuff is pay to play, he does/did have some very good free content.)

[blumoon722]

These would be nice for jewelry and other small items:
Digital Imaging Boxes provide shadow free illumination.

[Derek Zeanah]

It's all about the lighting. Play more. I like Light Science & Magic.

[photoptimist]

You don't need a better body because with jewelry photography you can control the lighting which means you can shoot at base ISO and not face issues of recovering detail in dark shadows.

You already have 3 strobes and 2 softboxes which should enable you to create nice uniform overall lighting (important for getting nice color of the gold on reflective surfaces) as well as controlled accent lighting to create 3-D shape.

If you don't have a good macro lens, that's going to be a lot more important for getting "pro style" images than any change you make to the body.

As for instant image review on a laptop, look into tethering here on this forum, at Pentax | Tether Talk , and at Pentax K-20 – Tether Tools to get advice on what you can do with the K-20 or whether you might need a better body to do tethering.

[TER-OR]

The big advantage the newer bodies will give you is removal of the anti-aliasing filter and access to pixel-shift technology. Both affect sharpness. Those may or may not be significant, depending on how much cropping you need to do. If you can mostly fill the frame with the image, then the resized images for print or web work will be fine with your K20.

You can also look into focus stacking if you need to get more depth of field past what stopping down to f11-16 will give. That's software work, if you're so inclined.

You can also look at point lighting from behind or below with tightly controlled LEDs etc. A bit of color can add a lot of interest.

[Adam]

The big advantage the newer bodies will give you is removal of the anti-aliasing filter and access to pixel-shift technology. Both affect sharpness. Those may or may not be significant, depending on how much cropping you need to do. If you can mostly fill the frame with the image, then the resized images for print or web work will be fine with your K20.

You can also look into focus stacking if you need to get more depth of field past what stopping down to f11-16 will give. That's software work, if you're so inclined.

You can also look at point lighting from behind or below with tightly controlled LEDs etc. A bit of color can add a lot of interest.

Another advantage is live view magnification, which makes focusing a breeze. Any of the current models work great for that, my recommendation would be the K-70 which is a great value. It also has the latest APS-C sensor.

[TER-OR]

Another advantage is live view magnification, which makes focusing a breeze. Any of the current models work great for that, my recommendation would be the K-70 which is a great value. It also has the latest APS-C sensor.

Absolutely Live View is so convenient. I use it when doing models and other similar photography on a tripod. Av mode with set ISO, allow a long exposure if needed, using light panels instead of strobes.

[comptech]

Hi - this is what I'm working on.

[cpk]

These would be nice for jewelry and other small items:
Digital Imaging Boxes provide shadow free illumination.

I did some jewelry photography about 30 years ago. My research at the time came up with a translucent box which would contain the jewelry with the lights outside the box, giving a shadow-less lighting setup. I had to make my own, but it worked quite well. With the advent of eBay and many people selling small objects like jewelry, these boxes are now readily available for $50 - $100 (or even less from the example below). The one in the link above is overkill and more than you need right now. And your current camera is quite adequate for the job.

An example: https://www.amazon.ca/Neewer-Shooting-Diffusion-Backdrops-Photography/dp/B00...raphy+soft+box

[TER-OR]

Does soft lighting really show these off? I'd think a beam passing through them would allow refraction and glimmer. Soft background light, and a point source from an oblique angle might be very interesting. Plus, if you have different colors available for that light, you could provide some dramatic effects.

I'd think a 50mm macro would be ideal for this work.

[swanlefitte]

Those pictures are pretty good already. 2 things i can think of. Rim light with a gridded snoot on a flash to hit the back of the pieces. That wodd give it separation from the background. I also think the soft light is robbing contrast which could be upped in post.