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If you’re in a business where you need to take the best photographs of your products either for sale online, for advertisements in marketing, or to post on social media, you need a great camera that can give you those perfect shots. And that means you need the best camera for product photography.
The best thing about choosing a product photography camera is that you don’t have too many complicated options to choose from. It ultimately comes down to either a quality point-and-shoot camera or a little heavier mirrorless camera.
The whole point of product photography is to take the best promotional photographs of your products so that they can be published all over the Internet, in magazines, and anywhere else you might be advertising. This means that your products need to look fantastic. The whole point is to give your products an appeal that can’t be resisted by the consumers!
To get these types of results out of your photographs, you need a quality camera. Taking a snapshot of your homemade décor line using your mobile phone is just not going to cut it. That’s why we have put together a list of the five best cameras for product photography that you can purchase right now!
1. Fujifilm X-T2 Mirrorless Digital Camera
If you’re looking for a stylish product photography camera, Fujifilm is the way to go. The X-T2 comes with a 24.3MP CMOS APS-C sensor, it looks a lot like an old film camera, giving you a taste of nostalgia, and it takes extremely clear photos. It has a convenient control system, making it simplistic even for beginners to use. It also comes with a usable autofocus system that will help you to take vibrant and detailed photographs of all your products. The color rendition is great, the camera itself is resistant to dust and moisture, and it even has weather sealing that makes it resistant to freezing.
This camera is a bit on the expensive side, but honestly, it’s one of the better cameras you can get not only for product photography, but for any kind of photography. It has a real-time viewfinder with 0.77x magnification, and it can take incredible 4K videos. The camera even has dual SD card slots and a three-direction tilting LCD screen to make taking photos much easier.
Pros
- 3MP APS-C Sensor
- Very Stylish Camera
- Photo Quality is Fantastic
- Convenient Controls
- Best Overall/ Built to Last
Cons
- Short Battery Life
- Camera Feels Small
2. Nikon D7200 DSLR Camera
The Nikon D7200 is a fantastic and surprisingly affordable camera that can take clear images with the most vibrant colors imaginable, bringing all of your products to life so that you can make more sales. It offers a low noise level, the camera is equipped with Wi-Fi and NFC, it has nearly perfect color reproduction, and it operates at an ISO of up to 6400 units. The CMOS sensor offers 24.2 megapixels, and the camera itself is toughly built. If you are interested in something mid-grade, with a strong battery, and with incredible accuracy and focusing, the D7200 is a fantastic option.
This model is a few years old, which is probably why you can get it now at such a fantastic price. But it has not lost any of its quality. You can do time-lapse movies, you can take incredible photographs in the darkness, and you get ideal connectivity. For products like clothing, and even for taking photographs of models wearing your clothing, this is a great little unit. It has tons of shooting modes so that you always have what you need in any situation.
Pros
- 2MP CMOS Sensor
- Amazing Color Reproduction
- Fantastic ISO Rating
- Battery is Great
- Wi-Fi Enabled
Cons
- Included Case is Small
- Wi-Fi is OK/Better for Thumbnail Uploads
3. Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera
The Sony Alpha a6000 mirrorless digital camera is one of their best and most affordable point-and-shoot cameras. It has an advanced 24.2-megapixel image sensor, the ISO is expandable up to 51200, and it’s compatible with any Sony E mount lens. The battery life is not great, but it’s quick to charge and it’s small enough to pretty well fit in your pocket. The camera has an anti-dust system, it has some of the fastest autofocusing in the world, and it’s definitely lighter than any other camera on the list.
But the big selling point is that you can take the best photographs of your life. This means you can capture all your products in the glory they were meant to be captured in. Plus, the camera comes equipped with special creativity apps so that you can tweak your photos from the camera itself. The 3” LCD screen even tilts, allowing you to do low-angle framing and to easily scroll through your menus and take photos that count. The OLED viewfinder is superb, you can record full HD videos, and all the controls are easy and intuitive. Even if you’re an amateur, you can take product photographs like a marketing professional.
Pros
- Large 24MP Sensor
- Small & Compact
- Easy to Use
- Tilt LCD Screen
- 179 AF Points
Cons
- Battery Not Great
- Wi-Fi is Confusing
4. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Mirrorless Camera
Olympus makes great cameras, and the Mark II is one of their better units for taking pictures of products. It comes with a fantastic image stabilization system that allows you to get great shots from any angle without worrying about your hands shaking. The OLED electronic viewfinder comes with 0.62x magnification. The camera can go into silent mode, disabling all the shutter sounds. And finally, it is very small and easy to use. It has an integrated flash so that you always have light with you no matter what.
If you’re interested in an amateur camera at a phenomenal price, this is definitely the best choice. Forget spending tons of money. The Olympus Mark II has the ideal manual settings for learning how to properly use this type of camera, it has the ability to take close-up photos with high resolution, and it’s going to help you make more product sales. Plus, it’s small and compact and great for a spontaneous vacation!
Pros
- Very Quick Shooting
- Live Bulb Feature
- Fantastic Build w/ Excellent Viewfinder
- 5-Axis Image Stabilization
- Built-In Flash
Cons
- Complicated Settings for Beginners
- No External Mic Port
5. Canon EOS Rebel T7i Digital SLR Camera
The Canon EOS Rebel T7i is the powerhouse of the list. This camera is robust, it’s strong, it has a fantastic CMOS sensor, and it’s one of the highest-rated Canon cameras available right now. It’s also under $800, making it affordable even for people who are just getting started. You get 24.2 megapixels, integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC. You can do continuous high-speed shooting at up to 60 frames per second. You also get 45-point all cross-type AF if you ever need to get some serious action shots. But just for product photography, the resolution and detail in color alone are going to make you very happy.
The 24.2-MP sensor works in conjunction with the DIGIC 7 image processor to give you highly detailed, extremely colorful, and unbelievably realistic photographs inside an ISO range of between 100 and 25600. In English, it means that you can create any kind of colorful atmosphere with your product to make more sales! And that’s what product photography is all about. You can take photos at night, in the daytime – it doesn’t matter! They are always going to be clear and gorgeous, showing off your best products to the world.
Pros
- Large Sensor w/ 24.2 Megapixels
- Relatively Affordable
- Built-In Wi-Fi & Bluetooth
- Great in Poor Lighting
- Exceptional Color Detail
Cons
- Small Viewfinder
- Only 1080p Video
Final Thoughts
There are a few things to consider before picking up your product photography camera. Because we’re dealing with a variety of different products, you’re going to want the best resolution. This means you need to pay attention to how many megapixels come with your camera. The higher the number of megapixels, the better the print quality of your photographs is going to be. It will also be easier to enhance your shots during post-processing.
Secondly, lighting is going to matter a lot when taking photographs of your products. This means your camera should be able to work in any kind of light. Try to look for something that offers high ISO with low noise. Because you won’t need to worry about your products moving around a lot, things like autofocus and zoom aren’t really that important.
What is important is the ability to equip removable lenses. Your camera should be perfectly suited for the types of lenses you’re going to need for your photography style. For example, a lot of product photography is done with macro lenses, as these are the absolute best for bringing to life the small details of your products. This is especially true with things like jewelry.
The last thing to think about is manual settings. Every camera is going to come with an automatic mode, but professional photographers seldom use it. You must have the ability to configure your camera yourself depending on your shooting conditions and the specific needs of a particular product. If you have a usable manual mode, you can focus the lens properly so that all your products look sharp in the exact way you want them to.
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