text: What camera and studio should we get? | ThePhotoForum: Film & Digital Photography Forum
  What camera and studio should we get?
  Discussion in 'Photography Equipment & Products' started by mrwardoser, Dec 5, 2008.
  I work for an online clothing company and we are looking to buy a studio and camera.
  I would say our budget is £1000 to £2500 but we are open to suggestions as obviously we want to get the most cost effective solution for us.
  Please look at the photos I have included in this thread which I found on another clothing web-site. This is exactly kind of shot and lighting we are looking for so if someone can suggest the setup and equipment they are likely to be using to get this kind of shot it would be much appreciated.
  First, I do no think much of that example of product photography, it looks a little weak.
  That said, do you have any kind of experience in photography at all? If not, I would suggest that you hire a professional to do it for you. You do not want to spend months perfecting your craft learning before getting an ok result (like above) representing your clothing line. If you do want to dedicate the time, you will need:
  - A camera... any mid-range dSLR in the $1000-$1500US range from Canon or Nikon will do.
  - A white backdrop (about $100-$500)
  - a couple of flashes, umbrellas and lightstands ($200-$1000 or more if you wish)
  - a reflector ($5 to $50)
  - a method to trigger the lights from your camera (canvary from $5 to $500)
  ... and depending on your level of experience, anywhere from 20 to 500 solid hours of practice.
  It will be easy to get pictures, it will be challenging to get GOOD pictures. Don't underestimate the challenge involved with this task. That is why I said that unless you are ready to invest in a lot of time to gain the knowledge, it may be cheaper in the long run to just hire a good professional.
  In my opinion these photos look don't look weak, although they may not be technically good I think they are visually quite pleasing and would do the job. They are still much better than we currently get from our tungsten continuous lighting kit.
  Could you recommend any flash kit specifically?
  Adam this is the light kit I would start with.
  http://www.bogenimaging.us/Jahia/site/bius/pid/6780?kindOfProductCollectionRequest=productDetail&productCode=EL%2010327.2&productDescription=ELINCHROM%20POWER%20SET%204%20-%204800&curBrandId=BEL&market=MKT1
  You would also need some good soft boxes about $450 us a piece + or - $100. You will also want a good boom and light for that as well. also some reflectors so I would set back about $7,000 USD just for lighting this dose not include lenses, cameras, or back drops and stands. The average investment for a studio to start well be 30,000 and this is actual start up cost. Yes you can cut corners and some of those corners you cut you will just come back and buy it right. So you end up buying it twice and the first time is junk.
  Not sure why you would want to take this in-house. Even much larger household name type clothing manufacturers usually farm their work out to professional photographers rather than set up their own studios.