I never leave home without the polaroid swinger works best for all my gold filled treasures

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I use a Kodak point and shoot, but if I had the money I would go for a digital SLR. Look for a camera that has a macro setting, since you are shooting things that can be quite small. Other than that it’s mostly your preference. I can shoot just about anything I need to with my little Koda1k. Lighting is VERY important, and a light box will help you a lot.

This link will give you some great info on taking close up shots.

[URL removed]

I think everyone has their own opinion on cameras, so you will have to judge that one. I like my Nikon.

In the forums, there is good information as well. If I can locate it, I will post link for you.

Save some money and go with a proven and tested Sony DSC P200… it is small, durable and has a wonderfully proven lens that will do all you could ever dream (Carl Zeiss lens)… Whatever the camera you choose, make sure 1)…it has MACRO (close-up ability) and 2)_you read your manual 4x to learn the heck out your camera!

I’ve been using my little Kodak Easy Share for all my photos..My very Best Friend has become my Paint Shop Pro…Where photos can be edited and HD touch up are awesome..

I couldnt be without it, when I see the difference between what I save from my camera..and what they look like after PSP has been used..It’s priceless to me :)

Just my 2 cents :)

I have an inexpensive Canon point and shoot camera (approx $80) I had difficulty taking photos of jewelry, even in macro mode. I recently bought a lens from [URL removed] and it has made a big difference. Look in my booth to see my most recent jewelry photos. I feel I get excellent results for less than $100.

For about $300.00 you can get a Cannon PowerShot SD1300IS 12.1 Mega Pix. It is a small but awesome little camera which of course can be mounted.

If you want really crisp and detailed pictures you should build yourself a light box. I have a tutorial of how to build yourself one.

[URL removed]

Best Regards
Lexi

Tell ya what. Most of the answers here are fair to good. But, get a camera (cheap or not), with a macro, and in my case it even has a super macro on my Canon. Use a tripod!! Properly light your item if you can at least on 2 opposing sides. To make the item stand out, use a white background(even white copying paper works sometimes). Take multiple shots from different angles so you can pick the best ones and be able to submit more than 1 photo. I would not do this for everything, but for the more elaborate or expensive items as moving the tripod, or item, could get tiresome.

Now, if I would only take my own advice and get off my butt and do that myself, lol. I use too many stock pics and the item in person normally looks tons better than the stock pic. So, I am doing a disservice to myself not taking my own advice more often, lol. I think it is because between this site, and my other site where there are MORE items it is hard making myself get started, lol.

Dave’s Gems and jewelry
davesgemsandjewelry.gocounty.com

and of course here also at bonanza.com

I recently ditched my Nikon CoolPix for a Fuji FinePix S4000 which has an awesome macro. It’s also programmable so that you can control the camera’s settings, rather than the camera control itself and do what it wants to do (as in auto mode). It’s a great camera for $300 at Wolf Camera!

I found that my digital camera works fine for the smaller items on the DIGITAL MACRO setting. Even if the item looks blurry in my lens, the camera focus’ and the picture is clear. I uses a Cannon PowerShot SD1000.

From my experience, point-and-shoot cameras don’t focus closely enough (macro feature). And you can’t see area of sharp focus on the flat panel display on the back of the camera to know if it is ‘in focus’ or not.

If this is an experiment and not a planned business, go cheap. You may also be able to buy an inexpensive ‘close up’ lens to fit onto the front of your camera lens to make your jewelry larger sized in the picture area.

If you want this to be a business or view it as an important source of income, you need to get serious about the camera, tripod, a photo cube of some kind and lighting. Plus you need a basic photo editing software package like Photoshop Elements. A digital SLR lets you look through the lens and clearly see the composition and focus, the lighting, etc. to take better closeup photos. The 18-55 mm standard lens on my Canon DSLR focuses close enough for most jewelry pictures.

Definitely plan on making pictures that accurately show the detail in the jewelry setting, accurately show the color of the jewelry/gemstone. Like any other learned skill, you need to experiment, do some reading, and keep asking questions.

Paul