The Best Lens of All for Product Photography
I have worked as a product photographer shooting luxury bags, accessories and jewellery for about a year before I started out my YouTube channel.
I have also shot clothing and food, which even though is not exactly under the product photography category, is pretty similar in many ways. Also during the weddings I shot in the past, I needed to develop the skills of a product photographer in order to photograph the couple’s rings, the invitation and the bride’s jewellery, just to mention what I have in the top of my mind.
When I started shooting professionally, all I had was a camera and one lens and only afterwards I started investing in more specific gear for each specific type of work I did.
Throughout the years I have been working as a professional photographer, I have tested out many different lenses to shoot product photography, not only for the sake of testing them, but because I did not always have the specific equipment I thought was best for that.
Slowly, all of that changed.
There are four lenses I will mention today that can be good options if you want to do product photography and, of course, I have a favourite one. I could only mention the best one, but I think it would be unfair to the ones of you who are starting out or who might prefer to have one of the other three lenses for different reasons.
- The 50mm f/1.4
The 50mm f/1.4 is the first lens mentioned because even though it would be my less favourite out of the four you will see me talk about in this video, it is also the cheapest one of them and also a pretty versatile one.
At the time I record this video, you can find this lens for about U$400 and you can go lower on price if you choose a f/1.8 instead. In that case you will only spend about U$180.
Besides the 50mm being a decent sharp lens for product photography, it is also a good one for portrait photography. It is the lens I often take with me when I’m travelling, since it is lightweight, not too wide and not too tight either.
Its midrange focal length makes it, in my opinion, a very versatile lens.
If you choose to go with the 50mm prime lens, you will certainly be able to get good product photos, but not as good as you would if you have one of the next ones.
Why? Because the longer the lens, the less distortion you will have in your shots. So if you can go with a 70mm or longer, the less distortion you will have.
But maybe you have a small room and your camera is a crop sensor. The 50mm might be your best option in that case!
The pros of the 50mm lens for product photography are:
- its price;
- its versatility;
- its weight;
- the fact it might be the best option for small spaces and/or crop sensor cameras.
The con is:
- the distortion from the focal length.
2. The 85mm f/1.4 or f/1.8
The 85mm is a lens with very little distortion that will be very sharp in lower apertures. Definitely a good option for product photography.
Keep in mind that the longer the lens, the greater space you will need to shoot your products, though. Especially if you’re shooting bigger products. If you have a full-frame camera, most possibly this will not be a problem for you, but still, take this into consideration.
If you go for the 85mm prime lens, you will end up having a lens that is simply amazing for portraits and for b-rolls in general also.
This lens can be for around $400 on its f/1.8 version and for around $1600 on its f/1.4 version. If you’re on a budget, don’t worry, I myself have a f/1.8 and I do incredible photos with it.
The pros of the 85mm lens are:
- little or no distortion;
- great bokeh
- decent price on its f/1.8 version.
The con is:
- Might be a tight focal length if you shoot with a crop sensor camera or in small spaces.
3. The 24–70mm f/2.8
The third lens on my list today, is an option for the ones of you who want versatility and who are ok with spending some extra cash on a piece of glass. It’s the 24–70mm f/2.8. Very versatile in terms of focal length and still very sharp in lower apertures. The good thing about this lens is it will allow you to take great quality photos of big items as well as of small ones.
Another option that would substitute this one would be the 70–200mm f/2.8, which is a lens I do not own myself. But then again, keep in mind that because of its long focal length, you might need even more space, especially to shoot bigger items.
Back to the 24–70mm which would be my third choice for product photography, the downside to it is that it is a pretty expensive lens. You will find it for about U$1900 on Amazon.
Another downside to it is it is a pretty heavy lens. Compared to the prime lenses I just talked about before, it weighs quite a lot!
Of course that, since you’re shooting product photography, you will probably have your lens in a tripod and its weight will not matter much, but in case you want to use it for other purposes also, keep that in mind.
Still, one of my favourites and is also the main lens I use to shoot weddings or any situations where I need to be very versatile.
The pros of the 24–70mm lens:
- Versatile lens for big and small products in large or small places;
- sharp in lower apertures.
The cons are:
- Its price;
- considerably heavy.
Finally, we got to my favourite one of them all! After shooting products with — not only — but also with all of the lenses I just mentioned before, which are good lenses for product photography — I got to the conclusion that the best lens of all to shoot products is the 100mm f/2.8 macro.
It is simply amazing for details and you can shoot both bigger and very small products such as rings and jewellery keeping each particular little detail of the item in the photo.
Also, you can shoot it from very close to your product: you will be able to focus being only about 15cm away from your subject. Its macro function is outstanding for shooting small items.
None of the other lenses I mentioned before get even close to the amount of detail this macro lens can get. It is insane! I absolutely love it for product photography!
But then we get to the reason why I decided not to talk only about the ONE lens I consider best for product photography on this video: if you work with a crop sensor camera or if you have very little space to shoot, you might not be able to take a photo of your item simply because it will not fit in the frame.
Not only that, you might be someone who wants to be more versatile: you might want to shoot product photography and also portraits, or maybe product photography and landscapes, and so on. You might want versatility and if you are after that, this might not be the lens for you. So take all of that into consideration when you choose your product photography lens.
The pros of the 100mm 2.8 macro are:
- It is amazingly sharp;
- you can shoot from very close to your subject and capture incredible details of products;
- no image distortion.
The cons are:
- It is not as fast as the other 3 lenses mentioned depending on the focal distance you use, which is not a problem for product photography but could be if you also shoot other things;
- its focal length can limit your versatility;
- considerably expensive.
An important tip: I mentioned the 24–70mm f/2.8 and the 70–200mm f/2.8 which are zoom lenses and if you’re going for a zoom lens, pay close attention to the quality of the lens you get. If you buy a cheap option of a zoom lens, you might end up losing a lot of sharpness when shooting in lower apertures such as f/8 to f/16, which are very common apertures for product photography, depending on the product you photograph.
So if you do not want to spend some money on a zoom lens but still want to have high-end quality product photos, a prime lens such as the 50mm, the 85mm or the 100mm macro could be the best option for you.
If you would like to learn more about product photography, watch this video where I make a product shot and talk about the entire shooting process. If this topic interests you, please let me know in the comments below as I am also considering preparing an entire course only talking about product photography in detail. Is that something that you would be interested in?
I hope this post helps you to find your perfect fit. Thank you so much for reading me and, I will see you in the next post! Tchau!
