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What is your lens choice for photographing watches?

yvrclimber
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I just picked up a Leica D-LUX Typ 109 second hand. It's the Explorer Kit version with the auto lens cap. 10.9-34mm f/2.7-2.8 ASPH. Effectively 25-75mm zoom in 35mm format.

Marco shots of my watches seem to be Working well, though I'm still playing to find the right ISO, f-stop and aspect ratio combos to get the best images. It'll be fun to experiment.

Image quality is quite high and the auto focus does a good job. Occasionally I have to resort to manual focus to highlight the right dial or hands I want to feature.
 
yvrclimber
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Forgot to say... previously I was using my wife's Canon 5D Mal III with 100mm Macro, but it required so much light to get a good image. Even at a variety of aperture settings. Just frustrating.
 
Observer
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Great thread. I just shot this with a Micro Nikkor 105mm D lens on a D600 and cropped.
DSC_8003-3.jpg
 
C
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I use an Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro lens paired with an E-M5 Mk II. Great for watch portrait pics and watch macros.
I also have a 12-40mm f2.8 lens for general use.

29453329464_8c75e61931_b.jpg
 
DManzaluni
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www.icroscope.com is the best EASY way of taking great macro (or micro) photos with a camera phone. There is a five buck copy out there which looks good but takes crappy photos.

I also have a Nikon D5500 but it is far easier to take quick shots with the Icroscope
 
SCUCIVOLO
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I also use a clip-on lens for my iPhone.. and although it cannot be compared to an actual photo camera, it allows you to play a lot more with watch shots.

For a person like me, that’s by far the best quality of the picture to cost ratio, option.

I would love to see this thread develop along those lines. “Best shots for the money”
 
Kokito
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Actually Fujifilm xt10 with 16-50mm kit but thinking about 60mm 2.4 macro.

Here is some shots with this kit.
FD799EF3-25B4-4489-A04A-68B81F91D1E4.jpeg ABC1A07E-CDC3-4D77-87B3-E140BDB2888A.jpeg BDC5FEE6-CABD-493A-8380-007A958BBB3F.jpeg 48EC0550-036C-46BE-9D64-69DB17CD30E7.jpeg
 
S
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I have a NIKON D3300, but close up picture of watches is very blur and quite disappointing. My iPhone takes better picture. I have set it up on Auto Focus but image is still poor. Any advice? Either I am doing something wrong or I need a different lenses.
 
Tet
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2019-06-07-5540.jpg 2019-06-14-5576.jpg


Choice of lense, a 7 year old Nokia 808. Still does pretty well I think.
IMG_20190615_222525.jpg
 
Faz
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There is no method to my madness. I use one of 2 lenses..because I only have 2 lenses. A Nikon 18-55mm or a Tamron 18-200mm on my utterly outdated Nikon D5000.
No longer mine but one of my favourite photos..
IMG_0986.JPG
 
pnwyankee
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I assume you use a tripod for the macro shots, but how do you get the pictures of the watch on your own wrist and still get it sharp?
 
DManzaluni
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S Shay
I have a NIKON D3300, but close up picture of watches is very blur and quite disappointing. My iPhone takes better picture. I have set it up on Auto Focus but image is still poor. Any advice? Either I am doing something wrong or I need a different lenses.


Oh, i can beat that. I have a Nikon 5500 with an expensive 18-200mm lens with which i can't get good photos. And once a bloke came up to me at a show and demonstrated a ring flash with which he took amazing evenly lit photos.

So i bought one and now my Nikon d5500 shots are even worse? It seems to be impossible to get a proper exposure with that setup.

So i use the Icoscope and any one of the four lenses that comes with it
 
pnwyankee
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Wow, $25!
Is that the tool used by most of the OF members for closeups?
 
S
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I was also going to ask what is Icroscope. This is very useful advice I will look into it.
 
Martin_J_N
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DManzaluni DManzaluni
Oh, i can beat that. I have a Nikon 5500 with an expensive 18-200mm lens with which i can't get good photos. And once a bloke came up to me at a show and demonstrated a ring flash with which he took amazing evenly lit photos.

So i bought one and now my Nikon d5500 shots are even worse? It seems to be impossible to get a proper exposure with that setup.

So i use the Icoscope and any one of the four lenses that comes with it

The key to photographing small objects is to have a lens that allows you to get close to the object yet still be able to focus on the subject at distances of less than 12 inches (30cm), not every lens will do that.

To find out how close you can focus your lens try placing an small object around 12 inches from the front element of the lens, then using live view on your camera and setting manual focus on your lens turn the focus ring so that the lens goes to the closest focus distance, looking at the live view screen does your object come into sharp focus before the closest distance is reached? If no then move the object further away and try again, if yes then move the object closer and try again. Keep doing this until you know exactly what the closest focus distance is for your lens.

I would suggest that you always use MF rather than AF as AF doesn’t always work at its best when focusing at close distances.

Also, when focusing on small objects close up your depth of field will be very shallow which will make only a very small part of the image appear sharp, to maximise your DOF use a small aperture f16-f22 and try to keep the camera very steady as your shutter speed will be slow and camera shake will be an issue, a tripod would be perfect if you have one, if not you may have to improvise.

Hope this helps.
 
Tri-national-man
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S Shay
How do you set the macro lens?
It’s a fixed lens made by “olloclip” and you use the zoom on the phone to frame the subject..
 
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