I have a Canon powershot A520-I need to know the best setting for close up shots of jewelry to put on the web?

Answer 1

Use your macro setting and experiment. Let's say you have a point and shoot camera with macro and a flash on the camera. You might have to go to a manual mode to do this, but...

Put your ring on a nice background surface. I like to just put it in a ring box. Zoom out at least half-way so that you will be working about a foot away from the ring. Be sure that you get focus confirmation. Shoot a picture USING flash. Check the LCD for the result. If you have overexposed the ring, use the EV adjustment to reduce the exposure. For small items, I often find that I need to reduce the exposure by about 1.0 EV. (That's -1.0 EV.) It is better to have the ring properly exposed and the background underexposed, so just worry about the ring for now. Using a deliberate underexposure will cure the "too shiny" appearance of the stones and metal.

If you know how, you can use either full manual exposure or just Aperture Priority and choose a smaller aperture (larger number) to make the ring show up in better focus.

If you are doing any image processing at all, such with Photoshop or it's cousins, you can crop the image to 800 pixels by 800 pixels and use Supersize images on eBay. I always use the Picture Pack when I am selling anything of any value.

Check out http://www.members.aol.com/swf08302/heartring.jpg which I did a while ago using a Nikon Coolpix 5400 exactly as described above. I do NOT think this is acceptable, but we decided not to sell the ring anyhow, so I didn't bother to do a better job. It's still better than some I've seen. I don't keep old photos of sold items around, so I don't have much to show you, but at least you know that it's possible to get an acceptable result even without spending huge dollars on your equipment.

The key things to remember are:
-Macro setting
-Zoom out to get about a foot away from your subject
-Use flash
-Try different EV settings and expect that you will end up with a negative EV setting, such as -1.0 EV.

Here are a couple of coin photos done exactly as described:

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=57759389/PictureID=2801041875/a=75953750_75953750/t_=75953750
http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=57759389/PictureID=2801041874/a=75953750_75953750/t_=75953750

Here are a couple more auction photos done as described:

800 x 800 http://www.members.aol.com/swf08302/yorkie01.jpg
800 x 800 http://www.members.aol.com/swf08302/montblanc05.jpg
http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=57759389/PictureID=2531239718/a=75953750_75953750/t_=75953750, although that was done with a Nikon D70s and a macro lens.

Answer 2

Indoor, point a light at a 45-degree angle to the jewelry on either side of it. The jewelry should be placed on a flat-black (not shiny) background.
Place the camera in the middle on a short tripod.
Set it to macro mode. Zoom out if you can so that the image is not blocked by you shadows.
Set spotmeter on.
Set it to aperture-priority mode - set it to the smallest number aperture you can. Disable the flash.
Check again for shadows and then shoot.
If you have this on a tripod, it's better to use the self-timer to take the shot, as by then any vibrations from pressing the shutter button will have subsided.

If you cannot get close enough for a detailed shot w/o blocking the light from the object, you might want to try the Canon 250D 52mm close-up lens. For this, the conversion Lens adapter LA-DC52D is required.


I have a "copy stand" which does the lighting setup described but with 4 lights instead of 2, and the camera travels on a rail above the item. (see below for an example copy stand).

Outside (or in a well-lit area indoor like near a skylight or bay window - but not in direct sunlight), the light will be naturally diffused, so you can skip the lights. Do not use the flash.

I usually show a low-quality image on ebay with links to other sizes. That way the main page will load quickly, and those who want more detail (up to 1600x1200 DPI usually) can click on a thumbnail image and get the extreme detail.
I've sold used camera items for more than NIB items - which were listed for sale at the same time.

Answer 3

it does not matter what setting your camera is at if your only going to use the images on the internet. You can set your camera to its LOWEST resolution setting (probably 640x480) and take the same shots at the HIGHEST resolution, and you will not be able to tell the difference when looking at the files on your computer monitor.....it is only when you try to PRINT that the file sizes will make a difference. Actually Larger or higher rez files tend to take longer to upload/download and you dont want people being turned off by the long wait for photos to show up on the monitor, so I recommend you use the lowest rez setting on your camera, because IT IS ALL YOU NEED for the internet!

I am one of ten sellers profiled in the book: LEARNING HOW TO SELL ON EBAY FOR DUMMIES - I also have about 24 years experience behind the counter selling Cameras. The only time you need a high megapixel digital camera is when you are talking about making LARGE PRINTS, otherwise, the megapixels of the camera really dont matter at all.
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Answer 4

sound s such as you have gotten an electric short, in case you have a present day guarantee or a protracted one, take the digital camera to the digital camera keep the place you get carry of it from! in case you have not have been given any guarantee tell them you have chose an estiment be for you have it fixed! this looks like this may well be an high priced restoration, i'm hoping AM incorrect! Take Care, Bob

Answer 5

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