Which camera do you recommend for close up shots with professional quality

Question

We want to take close up shots of stones and pebbles for a catalogue. What basic tips can you offer for lighting in order to get the best results

Answer 1

Any current DSLR with a true macro lens. A true macro is a fixed focal length - 50mm, 60mm, 90mm, 100mm, 105mm - and is specially designed for close focusing. It has a flat field of focus (needed for photographing stamps, paintings, documents, etc.) and is designed to give maximum sharpness from center to edge and minimum light fall-off from center to edge. It also gives you a 1:1 (life sized) image on your sensor.

You'll also need a tripod and a light tent. You can fashion a light tent from any translucent white material or you can buy one. You may want to visit http://www.doubleexposure.com for suggestions on using non-photographic lighting and equipment.

Answer 2

Casino Exilim. The latest version. The megapixils should be 8 because it takes clear pictures. The more the megapixils the better.

Answer 3

Are you after a point, and shoot or slr, digital or film? Shoot from slightly below, and at a shallow angle to the subject, choose the background carefully, and use a soft flash, or a diffuser, for realy close-up a good macro setting will be usefull, 'specially with digital. Another advantage with dig is it allows you to take 100's of shots to compare with.

Answer 4

I have a Panasonic Lumix FZ-8.  Great value, a quality Leica lens, and very versatile.  Pay about 150 on eBay for one.  Long battery life (it is rechargeable) and huge capacity on a 2GB SD card.  

     Use incidental lighting rather than flash, which will just bounce back to harshly.  Get the camera low-down, and try pre-focus and softer shots (use the adjustable aperture/exposure).