After working on product shots with the digital camera received as an engagement gift for several years (hubby and I celebrated our fifth anniversary this summer), it was finally time for me to purchase a newer model camera :) When shopping for this new model, my main concerns centered around product shots and related issues with close-up shots of jewelry:1. Macro Setting! This is the setting on your digital camera that allows you to shoot extreme close-ups (i.e. the lens of your camera is only a few inches away from the subject.) It is usually represented by a flower icon.
2. Easy to adjust focus options! When using the macro setting, it is important to turn off the auto-focus feature on your camera and/0r use the spot-focus mode due to the short focal length (focal length = distance from lens to subject). Generally turning off the AF automatically puts the camera in "spot focus", so no worries if you don't see a "spot focus" option--this camera doesn't list "spot focus" as an option, all I had to do was turn off AF. This Canon powershot not only allows the user to easily switch focus options, but also shows a green regtangle around the focal point when in spot-focus mode (my old camera did not have this, and it is incredibly helpful!)
My advise to anyone shopping for a camera for product shots: get to know the camera you have before you shop for a new one! The more time you spend playing around the better you will know your needs and priorities come shopping time :) I adjusted settings on my old camera, played with props, lighting and camera angles for almost two years before finally buying this new camera, and armed with the knowledge I gained during that time I was able to find a camera that meets all of my needs and takes better pics than my old one for less than 1/4 the price of the camera I am replacing!
Here is one of the pics from my first shoot with the new camera--let me know what you think! The sun didn't want to cooperate, but the clarity is a huge improvement over my old camera :)
