Lenses for Ice Cream Photography

[zaleros]

Hey Everyone!

I was wondering if anyone could suggest what lens or lenses would be great for taking pictures of real ice cream. My family owns an Ice Cream chain and we would like to get some great shots of our products.

At the moment we are buy a 5D3, but I would like to get the appropriate lenses for the ice cream shots as well.

I'd greatly appreciate your input.

Thanks!

[neuroanatomist]

Love the thread title.

I'd recommend the 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS.

[Drizzt321]

It sounds like you don't have any equipment at all, and it sounds like you are jumping to the 5d3 right away. While an amazing tool, probably you don't need to spend that money for food photography, especially starting out. Also you'll need to buy lighting, good quality tripod, editing software (if you are doing editing yourself), appropriate background if you don't have a suitable table/wall area, etc.

It like is easier, and possibly actually cheaper in the long run to find a decent food photographer in your area to take the shots you want, and if you see their sample images you'll know you'll be getting a certain quality of output.

If you are going to insist on buying, I'd go for the 5d2, and as neuro said the 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens (don't forget to turn off IS when using it on a tripod). Then add a good tripod & lighting, possibly a ring light, and I don't have any specific recommendations on those as I need to research a good tripod myself sometime soon.

[ChrisAnderson]

It sounds like you don't have any equipment at all, and it sounds like you are jumping to the 5d3 right away. While an amazing tool, probably you don't need to spend that money for food photography, especially starting out. Also you'll need to buy lighting, good quality tripod, editing software (if you are doing editing yourself), appropriate background if you don't have a suitable table/wall area, etc.

It like is easier, and possibly actually cheaper in the long run to find a decent food photographer in your area to take the shots you want, and if you see their sample images you'll know you'll be getting a certain quality of output.

If you are going to insist on buying, I'd go for the 5d2, and as neuro said the 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens (don't forget to turn off IS when using it on a tripod). Then add a good tripod & lighting, possibly a ring light, and I don't have any specific recommendations on those as I need to research a good tripod myself sometime soon.

I agree, the 5D2 would work just as nicely for still macro work like this.  I shudder to think of how many ice cream sales it would take to cover the cost of a 5D3. One little correction, the 100L Macro (and most newer IS lenses) are tripod-sensing and it's sort of a moot point these days.

[Schruminator]

I agree with the posters above me. A macro lens is probably the way you want to go for lenses. However, if this camera is strictly for food photography (and not for a side hobby of yours) a 5DIII is a bit overkill. For food product photography, I can't see a sizable advantage of the 5DIII over the 5DII-- and the 5DII is $1K less expense at the moment.

Also, it will be worthwhile to invest in a good tripod and make sure and shoot your pictures in RAW format. You can search the internet for more info on RAW, but it provides for much more flexibility for adjusting tones and colors after the shot than JPEG's do.

[Area256]

Lighting will be the most important thing.  After that a tripod and macro lens.  Since you'll want to be shooting on tripod there is no need for IS, and the 100mm non-L macro lens will do just fine (optically it's so close to the L version you won't notice a difference).  A 5D mark II will be more than enough since you'll be shooting low ISO and likely manual focusing anyway.   A standard zoom like the 24-105mm f/4L could be handy if you want to do shots with people/larger props in them as well.

Don't obsess about the camera gear too much, lighting will be the most important factor in getting high quality images - and that means learning how to light - not buying fancy expensive lights.  Even the best camera/lens with the poor lighting will produce poor results.   Yet I've seen very cheap cameras and lenses do wonders with good lighting technique.

[dave]

The OP didn't necessarily say the camera was solely for taking photos of ice cream, so advising against a 5D3 seems not to answer the question.

The 135 f/2 would take some nice photos if you didn't need macro. Everyone always describes it as creamy. Seems a good match. You'd also be able to take great headshots of people licking the delicious ice creams.

Anyway we need some ice-cream photos on this thread to make everyone hungry. This is the only one I have on me. Ambient light. 5D Mark II with Canon 35 f/1.4L. Cropped SOOC jpeg.

[CatfishSoupFTW]

Agreed with everyone else, dont need to repeat obviously, but such a consistent opinion means a lot I feel in your case. regardless, keep us posted on how things go.

[RLPhoto]

100mm macro L or non-L will be fine.

[zaleros]

Hey guys!

Thanks for all the advice.

I guess I did forget to mention that I was gonna be using the 5D3 for everything else afterward, but I was asking about the lenses more than the camera itself.

I'm gonna be using it for cityscapes, people, and video work as well.

I just bought it on sale for 3,334, it comes with the body and a 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. I'll be looking into the other lenses shortly. We won't be shooting until January.

I'll keep everyone posted on my progress Thanks so much!!!

[verysimplejason]

100mm macro L or non-L will be fine.

+1.  100mm macro (both L/non-L) is the best lens for your ICE CREAM PHOTOGRAPHY, not to mention that you can also use it for portrait and macro photography.  Sharp edge-to-edge, almost distortion free and fast.  If you're really on budget, the non-L + decent flash/tripod is a great deal.  It's as sharp or sharper than L (as some review sites tested).  If you have money, the L version is a very good investment.

[Julie G.]

About lighting, if you're on a budget, or don't have the space for studio lighting, you can just buy some cheap small flashes. I just bought some on ebay, gonna get it today.

In that case you are gonna need:
- Flash: ex. YN-560, maybe two or three
- Radio trigger: ex. YN-602 with one receiver per flash
- Collapsible light stands
- Bracket B
- Softbox/Umbrella/Honeycomb grid (or whatever you need)
- Background

[Eli]

Get the king of creamy creaminess; the creamy bokehlicious 50mm 1.2...

[Eugene]

A tilt shift lens may come in handy if you're doing cityscape or shooting ice cream with a large depth of field.
You'll need a tripod, of course.

[Julie G.]

Get the king of creamy creaminess; the creamy bokehlicious 50mm 1.2...

Won't that be a bit wide? I mean, you can always get closer, but wont that be a bit impractical?