What camera for shooting LEGO

[GI_Jack]

What camera would you recommend for taking pictures/videos of MOC's. What camera do you use?

I have got a compact Canon Ixus 220HS and used outside it works fine. I also take everyday photos with my phone Sony Xperia Z3 and quite like it, but I think I need more manual settings. I would also like a camera that will make me (and my children) learn at least some basics of photography. I have got a budget of around £300-£400. It would be nice to have WIFI built in, as hope to send pictures straight to Google photos. So far seen Nikon D3200 , Samsung NX3000 and Sony A5000. Any good?

Edited September 9, 2015 by GI_Jack

[dr_spock]

I would recommend a camera with manual settings, good lens, a tripod, and good lighting for indoor shooting. Got to camera store and test drive some cameras in your price range. The cameras you listed can all take good pictures. See which ones fit your personal ergonomics and style of shooting. I use Canon such as A590IS or 7D.

You can also get wifi with some SD memory cards like EyeFi.

[Darth Dino]

Hi

i dont recommend specifoc cameras, i recommend camera types. within a type the cams of diffrent brands are very similar and only skilled photographers would take an advantage from the diffrent specs.

Dont focus in so called macro modus most compact and bridge size cams offer. That only means you can get (and have to!) close to the object. For most cams that will only work in wide angle mode which looks silly in the pix.

Cams with smaller chip, ccd, cmos sensor have a bigger depth of field, so thats good for macros in general to get most of the image depth sharp. Lager cams, system cams and DSLR need to close the aperature to do so, special macro lenses are still good at f13 to f16.

I ever recommend DSLRs, spend some money on a body (not the latest model, maybe used) and get a sigma 50mm macro. the 50mm of that lens produces similar to the human eye distortions (=none!) and its a perfect lens for product photography.

If you want to be more flexible, get a bridge cam, and check this out in a store: Go to a 50mm equivalent focal length, close the aperature in M or SV mode and shoot some small objects like minfigs.

Dino

[fred67]

An "advanced" point and shoot with both automatic and manual modes is a good cross between the basic point and shoot and the expense of a DSLR. You can learn a lot about exposure and timing with one, without have to be an "expert" to take good pictures. If I had the money, I'd get an entry level DSLR... but I don't.

The other thing that is really important if you're going to shoot LEGO inside is lighting and a tripod. Tripods do not need to cost much - the one I have has a built in level and was still only about US $20.

Lights don't need to cost much - I get work lights like these:

100 Watt bulbs, and you can clip or tape on vellum or even just plain paper to diffuse the light (use a full sheet and let it bow out in front of the light so it doesn't get too hot). I also have a very inexpensive "pop up" light box that, I admit, I don't use often enough.

Now, I admit, a lot of the pictures I post are garbage - but it's because I'm too lazy or short on time to get all of this stuff out and set it up, and I have very little room for doing it - so when I want to post something quick I use my phone and flickr app to get it up online right away, but if I was going to do a proper review, or a thread showing off my MOC (or an Ideas submission), I'd break it all out and set it up properly.

[GI_Jack]

Thanks for the replies.

I understand that quite a lot depends on providing enough light onto the object. I am looking at taking pictures of a large Technic MOC, a truck which is approx 65 cm long. Is using a Light Tent a good idea?. I have seen really large ones like 120cm x 120cm. Would that work?

[fred67]

Yes, you'd need one a lot bigger than what I linked to.

[dr_spock]

Thanks for the replies.

I understand that quite a lot depends on providing enough light onto the object. I am looking at taking pictures of a large Technic MOC, a truck which is approx 65 cm long. Is using a Light Tent a good idea?. I have seen really large ones like 120cm x 120cm. Would that work?

There is a photography topic in our Technic forum with some helpful tips for photographing Technic -> http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=110840

[GI_Jack]

There is a photography topic in our Technic forum with some helpful tips for photographing Technic -> http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=110840

I have read that topic and there is loads of information there. Thanks

Back to the camera. I decided for quick shots I can still use my phone Xperia Z3, and for proper ones need to get something bigger and better. Went to local shops and really like Nikon DSLRs. ( D5300 or D3300). Will Sigma 50mm lens work with it nicely?

[dr_spock]

If you are buying a new Nikon, they usually come with a kit zoom lens for not much more than the body. I think that may be a better more flexible way to go for you and your children until you guys figure out your photography and what is needing. 50mm is ok but depending on what you're photographing, you may not have enough room to step back far enough to frame your subject. On a APS-C sized sensor camera like the Nikon D5300/3300, it is the equivalent of 75mm.

[Khaled Yousef]

I agree with dr spock, a 50 mm would be narrow for indoor shooting in most cases, I recommend a zoom lens with a wider end for a beginner till you figure out your own needs regarding focal length, an 18-55 zoom lens would be the best choice, and both Nikon and Canon 18-55s offers very decent image quality for a very cheap price. Also stay away from old Sigma primes, they're mostly crap, only newer Sigmas are excellent, so make sure you check which generation of primes from Sigma you'll be investing in.

[Darth Dino]

Hi

for the usual photography use the kit lens that comes with the body.

50mm is the SHORTEST focal length for a dedicated macro lens. Of course it will look like ~80mm on a full frame cam but who cares? All the other available macro lenses have 80,90, 105, 150 or even 180mm... The longer ones are for dragonflys though.

50mm is nice for product shot and if you get 1m away of the object, even larger sets or mocs (ewok village) are fully covered.

The sigma 50mm ex 2.8 macro is avaiable for many brands, Canon, Nikon, Sigma and so on.

Im a Canon guy though :)

Dino

[Khaled Yousef]

Darth Dino: You don’t really need a macro lens for LEGO, unless you want to fill the frame with just a minifigure’s head or a 1*1 plate, it’s an artistic choice for very specialized tiny or super close photography, for all other normal set or medium size MOC photography macro becomes a useless feature in the lens… when you’re shooting at 50mm 1 meter away it’s not macro photography anymore.

Have you tried to shoot a UCS Millennium Falcon or a Star Destroyer with a 50mm lens 1 meter away on a crop sensor? Impossible. Any modest size town or castle layout? Impossible. You need to step back, or switch to a wider lens like a 35mm in that case. That’s why I recommended a wide zoom for the OP till he finds out what fits his MOC size and shooting clearance in his LEGO room.

Also Darth Dino, your sig is awesome and hilarious

[Humdrum]

It's not a necessary feature, but a nice one to have for Lego/product photography is the so called live view/tethered shooting option.

This allows the camera to export what it sees to your computer screen, so you won't need to look through the lens the whole time.

I'm not certain about the latest Nikon model in the 3000 series, but the older ones (3100/3200) didn't offer this feature. The 5 and 7000 series

have this option on all the models if I'm not mistaken.

But again, this feature is not necessary at all to learn about photography. Only very convenient to have I think

I'm learning about (Lego) photography myself with an old Nikon D80 and a 18-55mm kit lens, it doesn't have live view but it does the job

just fine regardless.

[Darth Dino]

Khaled: nice, that you like my sig. :)

Well, i wasnt recommending the 50mm macro lens for 1:1 minifig porttaits, its about the quality at closed aperature, f13 and f16 where you are able to get even huge and threedimensional mocs mostly in full focus. Thats it.

Dino

[dr_spock]

It's not a necessary feature, but a nice one to have for Lego/product photography is the so called live view/tethered shooting option.

This allows the camera to export what it sees to your computer screen, so you won't need to look through the lens the whole time.

I'm not certain about the latest Nikon model in the 3000 series, but the older ones (3100/3200) didn't offer this feature. The 5 and 7000 series

have this option on all the models if I'm not mistaken.

But again, this feature is not necessary at all to learn about photography. Only very convenient to have I think

I'm learning about (Lego) photography myself with an old Nikon D80 and a 18-55mm kit lens, it doesn't have live view but it does the job

just fine regardless.

Tethered shooting is handy if you ever decide to do stop motion brick films. I don't know about Nikons, but there are some 3rd party firmware to give Canons additional features and functions.

If you shoot action like Technic cars racing, the optical viewfinder works much better than Liveview.

[Humdrum]

Tethered shooting is handy if you ever decide to do stop motion brick films. I don't know about Nikons, but there are some 3rd party firmware to give Canons additional features and functions.

If you shoot action like Technic cars racing, the optical viewfinder works much better than Liveview.

Now that you mention it, I am experimenting a little with stop motion. That's probably why I recommended tethered shooting

[Khaled Yousef]

Darth Dino: good remark about sharpness and better quality at narrow aperature in makro lenses, depth of field is very important for product photography, and makro lenses are definitly better at that , they can be a bit pricy though.

Humdrum: if you're interested in teathered photography then take a look at the Canon 70D, you can control everything from the convenience of your ipad's large screen through wi-fi and just leave the camera untouched on the tripod for better results in stop motion sequences. I don't know if Nikon has that, but I'm sure they must have an equivilant.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Khaled Yousef

[anothergol]

I don't know much about photography, so I'll just say what I recently bought for my MOCS: a Panasonic DMC-LX100. It's rather noobproof / all automatic, and is reputed for good pics even in low-light, and gives a nice bokeh effect.

Its OS pretty much sucks though, and it's a pita to send pics to your PC, especially compared to a 15-years older Sony DMC.

[THERIZE]

I use a Sony DSC-HX60. It is pretty expensive (for me at least) but I think it was worth the €350. Personally I don't think you really need a good camera. I think a picture by a old crappy one could be the same as one from a brand new one. In comparison: I think my taped phone could make make pictures as good as my Sony if I have enough light. Although I obviously like my Sony better than my iPhone. Eurobricks came after I bought my camera and I don't think pictures should be that impressive. For a website like this a giant professional camera would not be really better then my own cam. And personally I think the difference will be made with the editing, not the photography itself.

[dr_spock]

I don't know much about photography, so I'll just say what I recently bought for my MOCS: a Panasonic DMC-LX100. It's rather noobproof / all automatic, and is reputed for good pics even in low-light, and gives a nice bokeh effect.

Its OS pretty much sucks though, and it's a pita to send pics to your PC, especially compared to a 15-years older Sony DMC.

Are you transfering with the USB cable connected to the camera? Some times it is quicker and easier to take a memory card out of a camera and put it into a memory card reader attached to the PC than try to work though the camera's transfer menu.

[GI_Jack]

I use a Sony DSC-HX60. It is pretty expensive (for me at least) but I think it was worth the €350. Personally I don't think you really need a good camera. I think a picture by a old crappy one could be the same as one from a brand new one. In comparison: I think my taped phone could make make pictures as good as my Sony if I have enough light. Although I obviously like my Sony better than my iPhone. Eurobricks came after I bought my camera and I don't think pictures should be that impressive. For a website like this a giant professional camera would not be really better then my own cam. And personally I think the difference will be made with the editing, not the photography itself.

Speaking of editing what programs do you use?

[anothergol]

Are you transfering with the USB cable connected to the camera? Some times it is quicker and easier to take a memory card out of a camera and put it into a memory card reader attached to the PC than try to work though the camera's transfer menu.

I use wifi. And it would be ok.. if you didn't have to select all of your 100's of pictures *one by one*, with even no way to move instead of copying. (but maybe I'm missing something and you can select all pictures in some way?)

With my DSC, I was using USB, not only because it was charging (which this bloody Panasonic doesn't do either), but also because I could remotely delete images, which the Panasonic doesn't allow either for some reason.

Yeah I could buy a mem card reader, but really we shouldn't have to do this. If it wasn't for the amazing lens & image quality, this camera would be rather bad.

[THERIZE]

Speaking of editing what programs do you use?

I use all sorts of programs! for effects I use instaframe and I have also used free background removers. I could buy one program and never need to use crappy things but why? For LEGO projects you don't really need to edit your pictures actually. but for youtube banners I use Inkpad (vector drawing for iPad) but I use the same program for texts and picture in picture.

[Lego Otaku]

I have a memory card reader that uses USB 3.0 and with fast memory cards like Class 10 and UHS-1 SD, those goes by very fast. Not many camera are designed to take advantage of USB 3.0 connection yet even though many of them can use fast memory card like my Canon 550D.

[Vedauwoo]

I use my iphone 5 for most shots....that coupled with something like "snapseed" gives you alot of versatility....and the iPhone camera can be very sharp and has great low light response.

For lights, you can use anything....I use natural or window light often....using a "pop-up tent" will help you get that "seamless background" look.....the work lights posted above are great to use with the tents...especially with CFL bulbs now available in specific color temperatures....(old incandescent bulbs were often not all the exact same temp, resulting in yellowing or bluing from the lights...)

I prefer the Canon line of DSLR's....for two reasons......

1.) their L-series lenses are top notch....you likely won't need an L-series for LEGO photography, though

2.) STM Lenses.....these newer "stepping motor" lenses designed for video use, are value priced and capture amazingly sharp images....much better than the "stock" lens that came with my 50D

If you choose a DSLR....I would recommend a more recent model....like the 70D, that will have better low light response and 1080p video...I love my 50D, but in some convention venues (Denver comic con, for instance) it really struggles with getting enough light.