Product photography studio set up?

bakedpow

bakedpow

Active member
I am setting up a product photo studio and know what basics i'll need but am wondering if anyone has recommendations on which brands they prefer for stands, lights, softboxes etc. I have a soft $1,000 budget that will most likely need to be expanded. They want the ability to be able to take product photos of LARGE products ie kayaks and kayak accessories. So something that can throw a fair amount of light around and possibly be able to do continuous as well. They have requested ability to do videos of the products as well.

To my thinking i'll need closer to 1.5-2k for a solid video/photo product setup

Already have a 6dmkii and a 24-70f2.8, i'll be adding a 70-200 f4 most likely or a f2.8 if i can swing it, and a laptop for the process.
 
Look into godox lights. They’re kind of cheap throwaway speed lights but they make some strobes similar to profoto in terms of feature set but much cheaper. They’re definitely cheaper than cannon lights. Alternatively you could just grab a set of led panels although on my experience the control you have with strobes can come in handy.

in terms of backdrop if you have a table of a decent size and can hang some white paper to make a seamless backdrop that is all you need. The more you invest in a proper product table the less time you will spend in post cleaning shit up but if you want to do things on a budget a table you already have and a cheap roll paper backdrop is by far the cheapest option.

in terms of staging, the cheap foam inserts from the last online shopping order you made can do wonders so long as you keep them out of the frame.

anything more specific than that in terms of what you should buy depends on the specific products you’re shooting. If you want a cheap ass macro lens grab an old 55 micro nikor and adapt it. You’ll have to manual focus with live view, but it’s a lot cheaper then a proper 100 macro from canon.
 
I mentioned I'd be shooting KAYAKS and small parts so I'll have need of two different lenses and different staging. And ideally a very large backdrop for the kayaks. Thanks for the suggestions
 
I would think rather than investing in zoom lenses you should go for primes. The huge increase in image quality right across the frame would likely be worth the lessened flexibility. Especially for product shots where details at the edges count. Also a macro lens would definitely pay off if you're ever going to be shooting any small products, and pretty much all decent macro lenses make excellent all-round lenses. You could likely get the Canon 100mm macro + a 50mm f1.8 for about the same price as the 70-200 f4.
 
14158084:corona said:
I would think rather than investing in zoom lenses you should go for primes. The huge increase in image quality right across the frame would likely be worth the lessened flexibility. Especially for product shots where details at the edges count. Also a macro lens would definitely pay off if you're ever going to be shooting any small products, and pretty much all decent macro lenses make excellent all-round lenses. You could likely get the Canon 100mm macro + a 50mm f1.8 for about the same price as the 70-200 f4.
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Iv got a 501.8 manual focus canon that I need an adapter for. Thanks for the suggestion. Will likely not even get a lens for this job as the lighting equipment is what the budget is for. They want me to set up a studio that all they would need is the camera in the future
 
14158139:Upstate_Willis said:
I'm confused, they want you to build them a studio that can handle photo and video production needs for 1k?
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Essentially lol. Like I mentioned I'm most likely coming back to them asking for more.

I already have the camera, laptop, tripid and a few decent lenses but they'll need to buy basically everything else and from my research it's gonna add up quick if I don't go with the cheaper Amazon kits.

Asking if anyone has experience setting up something like this on the cheaper side or if it's more worth splurging for the established brands and kits.
 
14158140:Bakerpow said:
Essentially lol. Like I mentioned I'm most likely coming back to them asking for more.

I already have the camera, laptop, tripid and a few decent lenses but they'll need to buy basically everything else and from my research it's gonna add up quick if I don't go with the cheaper Amazon kits.

Asking if anyone has experience setting up something like this on the cheaper side or if it's more worth splurging for the established brands and kits.
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It sounds like someone is trying to take advantage of you. You shouldn't let anyone else beside you use your gear for free. So if they are paying you to do this shoot, make sure your getting rates on your gear. I understand we all start somewhere but building a permanent studio large enough to do decent photo and or video shoots of products the size of kayaks you will need a lot more then what some cheap lights off of Amazon have to offer, plus their budget is going to need to be expanded vastly (add a few zeros) to make it even workable or safe. Cheap lights off amazon are going to result in color shifts and inaccurate colors of light that will result in colorshifts of the product that essentially makes a product shoot useless if it doesn't match up.

Do your best with what you got, however with 1k of lighting budget I'd tell them that a studio is out of reach, maybe get some flags, silks, ect and shoot outside until they have the budget to properly build a studio.

Reason being, if they can't afford to do it right, then they probably can't afford to be doing it in the first place.

Best of luck! In the end you gotta start somewhere.
 
Caveat is that I'm am engineer working for this company and do photography with my girlfriend as our side gig and have been asked by the company I work for to set up a studio so they can update website product photos.

We work with outdoor companies like forsake, flylow, bluefin SUP etc but I recently got hired in a big boy job.

They will be paying me different rates for the photos. It's a little bit of an intricate situation as I am also only working her for a resume builder andy bosses all know I'll be leaving in the next year or two.
 
14158152:Bakerpow said:
Caveat is that I'm am engineer working for this company and do photography with my girlfriend as our side gig and have been asked by the company I work for to set up a studio so they can update website product photos.

We work with outdoor companies like forsake, flylow, bluefin SUP etc but I recently got hired in a big boy job.

They will be paying me different rates for the photos. It's a little bit of an intricate situation as I am also only working her for a resume builder andy bosses all know I'll be leaving in the next year or two.
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Well it sounds like it has potential. I think, I would try and talk them into building a decent studio that will last them the next 20+ years with maybe a new coat of paint, and upgrading the lights here and there. You could probably build something pretty awesome depending on the space you have and people you know.

All in all, yes you could go super cheaper with the amazon stuff and it'll work good enough short term. However, I would try to convince them to think long term and to put some money into this if this is what they are asking for. Invest money into getting a studio constructed in whatever space they have. If they really want to commit do a cyc wall. Get a decent seamless setup, get good stands, good flags / silks, and invest in a good set of lights. IMO you could probably get away with getting some aperture lights for film use, and also use them for photo.

That's my two-cents. I totally get the resume builder, and you gotta work with what you got, if that's an amazon studio then that's that. However a long term solution might be more beneficial for both parties in the end.
 
Where do you plan on shooting? Do you already have a backdrop, white box, studio space? If you don't the budget will certainly go up. If they aren't shooting a lot of large items, a small studio would be fine and just rent a space and lights for the few large items that you have. If they want it all in house I'd try to convince them to make a large somewhat professional studio. Not to hinder you, but if you plan on leaving in a year they will be left with a lot of gear, no camera, and no one to shoot. They might be better off with just a rental studio for now.
 
14158403:Poikenz said:
Where do you plan on shooting? Do you already have a backdrop, white box, studio space? If you don't the budget will certainly go up. If they aren't shooting a lot of large items, a small studio would be fine and just rent a space and lights for the few large items that you have. If they want it all in house I'd try to convince them to make a large somewhat professional studio. Not to hinder you, but if you plan on leaving in a year they will be left with a lot of gear, no camera, and no one to shoot. They might be better off with just a renatal studio for now.
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Iv got a good space to do at least a 20by15 area. I think they'll go for a more pro level set up that would be easy to plug and shoot for the next person who will take over the product stuff when I move on. Since I'll be taking my camera and let see with I'd think they'd want to invest in lights now and think of camera for themselves later on.

Now I'm looking at different light sets and which brands to go with.
 
14158083:Bakerpow said:
I mentioned I'd be shooting KAYAKS and small parts so I'll have need of two different lenses and different staging. And ideally a very large backdrop for the kayaks. Thanks for the suggestions
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I missed that bit my bad. I would say go for a 9 foot seamless paper backdrop and a set of backdrop stands. Should be able to pull that off for sub 300 bucks. If you have a camera store near you you should be able to get all of that through them rather then dealing with shipping which is a pain in the ass on this stuff sometimes.

That should leave you a decent amount for lights, light stands, sandbags, and lighting modifiers. Your 24-70 will probably be fine for most shots, a macro lens is obviously better for detail work but i'd spend money on lights etc. before grabbing a lens.

As far as lighting brands go, I've worked with mostly profoto and godox. While profoto is nicer to work with in pretty much every way, the cost is not really justifiable, and the results aren't noticeably better. you can definitely get a pair of decent lights for 600 or so bucks, even a pair of speedlights with umbrellas is an amazing step up (also doubles as usable for portraiture). If you wanted something with more punch on a budget I'd look at the godox ad200 or ad400 lights. If cost was no object I'd go for the profoto b10s or b1x battery powered lights, but that's gonna be at least another 1-2 thousand.
 
14158853:84west said:
I missed that bit my bad. I would say go for a 9 foot seamless paper backdrop and a set of backdrop stands. Should be able to pull that off for sub 300 bucks. If you have a camera store near you you should be able to get all of that through them rather then dealing with shipping which is a pain in the ass on this stuff sometimes.

That should leave you a decent amount for lights, light stands, sandbags, and lighting modifiers. Your 24-70 will probably be fine for most shots, a macro lens is obviously better for detail work but i'd spend money on lights etc. before grabbing a lens.

As far as lighting brands go, I've worked with mostly profoto and godox. While profoto is nicer to work with in pretty much every way, the cost is not really justifiable, and the results aren't noticeably better. you can definitely get a pair of decent lights for 600 or so bucks, even a pair of speedlights with umbrellas is an amazing step up (also doubles as usable for portraiture). If you wanted something with more punch on a budget I'd look at the godox ad200 or ad400 lights. If cost was no object I'd go for the profoto b10s or b1x battery powered lights, but that's gonna be at least another 1-2 thousand.
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Awesome thanks, ever seen Paul c buffs gear? Was looking at the Einstein and a digibee one light kit
 
14158872:Bakerpow said:
Awesome thanks, ever seen Paul c buffs gear? Was looking at the Einstein and a digibee one light kit
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I've used the AlienBees a little bit and played around with the einsteins. They're good lights at a solid price. For what I do way overvalue wireless TTL, High Speed Sync, and not having to mess around with flash triggers anymore though. The Digibee looks super versatile with the modeling lamp option, especially for quick and dirty shots its often easier to just have continuous light.
 
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