Best lens for photographing paintings

[pwp]

I have a couple of clients I shoot paintings for, and this area looks like it's going to expand via positive referrals.

Up until now I have shot art with tethered 5D4, 70-200 f/2.8isII at around f/8 with polarizer and also polarized lighting. For larger works the 24-70 f/2.8II gets the job.

A bit of reading on the subject suggests I should be using flat field glass for better results, regardless of the lens corrections that Lr can automatically apply. I have a L 100mm f/2.8is macro which I imagine is flat field, but 100mm is frequently too long for most paintings I've been shooting.

Any suggestions on an appropriate lens? I see Canon has an ancient design 50 f/3.5 macro and a 60mm macro with useful tripod collar for quick rotation. There is also a pre-owned, superseded 45mm TS-E to consider.

-pw

 

[Zeidora]

Zeiss Otus 55/1.4
Zeiss Milvus 100, previously known as the Makroplanar, for good reason.
Re rotation, use an L-bracket on your body.
For quality reproduction work, stay away from zooms. If it just for a website, no problems, but if the images should fill a spread in a high-gloss art magazine, you want to go for high quality.

 

[Larsskv]

Macro lenses generally have low distortion, which I suppose is important for photographing art.. With regards to flat field of focus, my impression is that such problems mostly disappear when stopping down, so it might not be that big of a problem? I would consider the Zeiss 50mm macro planar f2, or the newer milvus version, although those might be to contrasty for your use.

 

[pwp]

Ah yes that Zeiss Otus 55/1.4 would be superb but a doubtful ROI on such a big spend. Thanks all the same...

-pw

 

[deleteme]

I regularly copy artwork and have used a variety of lenses on my 5DsR.

I use a 100 macro and a Sigma 50 f1.4 (NOT Art) and get superb results.

I would note that the 50 macro is no slouch despite its age as the formula of sharp contrasty macro lenses were solved a long time ago. I would go for that lens.

All the noise about absolute sharpness, contrast and IQ is just silly. Macro lenses from almost anyone will outperform the resolution of any sensor you will find to put behind it.

 

[pwp]

Thanks for the viewpoint on the old 50mm macro. Shouldn't be too hard to locate one. If this evolves into a usefully large part of my business, yes, a 5DsR would be a useful addition to current 1DX & 5D4.

-pw