Industrial/technical photography

bigsnowdog

I am wondering if anyone here has spent time photographing equipment, mechanical assemblies, guns, knives, automotive parts, very small parts included; things with reflective, metal surfaces. Manufactured things, not tiny insects.

If so, what techniques and lenses do you find effective?

ziggy53

I was assistant and then principal photographer for a large-ish midwestern hardware manufacturer for most of 31 years.

All sorts of subject sizes from component parts that were shot at macro sizes, up to 48 foot displays.

Finishes like bright brass, chrome, stainless and polished aluminum, and painted white, black, brown powder coat.

The biggest benefit comes from lighting control. I had a smallish studio "White" room. Typically I would bounce the light off the walls and ceiling and still use a light tent for the shiny stuff.

Umbrellas and custom reflectors were commonly used, as well as flags, scrims and diffusors. It just depended on the subject.

4 monolights and a product table were invaluable, as was occasionally a copy stand.

The cameras used were film at first, and then a Kodak DCS 460, purchased in 1995 for $16,000USD (really), and later a Sony F828 digicam. I had a small assortment of Nikon lenses for the Kodak and one was a Micro Nikkor, but I honestly don't remember which.

The Sony was very much preferable and surprisingly capable. An additional diopter lens was purchased for the true macro capability (I bought it myself and still have that adapter.)

I used a fairly large TV set attached to the Sony to set up the shots and preview the image.

I just tested the Canon 40D and in Live View you can do the same type of image preview to a TV/monitor.

Assuming you go with a dSLR, for true macro use I would recommend a true macro lens of 90-200mm focal length. This would allow more flexible positioning of light.

I would also suggest another lens, a standard zoom, to add versatility to the system. You could add a diopter lens to the front for close focus applications.

Icebear

And get yourself a copy of Light, Science & Magic. All the equipment in the world won't help if you don't understand light, ESPECIALLY with metallic, shiney stuff.

Mr. 2H2O

I shoot stuff at work - both whole products and super-macro like pcb traces or smt components mounted. I have bridge cameras so my life is quite easy this way - live view, really nice DOF with smaller sensors, macro switches.

I use indirect lighting like Ziggy says. I will employ my shoot through umbrella or line a cardboard box with white copy paper to get light all around the assembly for small stuff. The trick is to light up the shadows without getting too bright on the shiny stuff.

I had to shoot a solder fillet one time using a reverse 50mm F2.8 lens on the front of my Panasonic FZ50 so I put the pcb into a cardboard box that I had lined with white paper. I angled the box sides to reflect the external flash (Nikon SB-20) back onto the board and shot the flash using Ebay remotes into one side of the box. I got really great illumination without blowing the reflection on the solder mass.

- Mike