[Nhcoll-l] camera recommendations?

Thu Jul 23 15:48:16 EDT 2015

The iDigBio article has a lot of good information on specimen photography, but being from 2013 is already a little outdated in terms of camera models.  I agree with the Nikon lens recommendations (can’t comment on Canon) and other tips, but I DON’T agree that full-frame DSLRs (FX) are necessarily a better choice than “cropped sensor” (DX) camera models.  The 36 megapixel Nikon D810 costs $3000.  The top Nikon DX model, the D7200 has a 24 megapixel sensor costs $1200. It provides plenty of resolution for most applications (images are 6000 x 4000 pixels). DX models have the *advantage* over FX for macro photography that they provide a wider depth of field at the same f-stop.  Usually we are stopping these cameras down to maximize depth of field in specimen photography, but if you stop them down too far (beyond f/16) you run into blurring from diffraction effects.  This is an advantage DX cameras have over FX for specimen photography.

We recently purchased a Nikon D7200 for specimen photos to replace a very aged Nikon D70 and we are quite happy with it.  We use it with a Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 micro (=macro) and a Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 micro lens. Being a “cropped sensor” camera you multiply a lens’ focal length by 1.5 to approximate its 35mm equivalent, thus the 60 has a field of view like a 90 and the 105 like a 160mm on a 35mm camera.  It is good to have both these lenses to get appropriate working distance from large and small specimens, respectively.  You would not want to use a zoom lens instead of these two primes because of the linear distortion those lenses produce.

My 2 cents,

John

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John P. Sullivan, PhD

Collections Archivist & Curatorial Affiliate - Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates
Research Associate - The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

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On 2015-07-23, at 12:23 PM, Gil Nelson <gnelson at bio.fsu.edu<mailto:gnelson at bio.fsu.edu>> wrote:

Here is good coverage of imaging equipment with some recommendations.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.idigbio.org_content_idigbio-2Dimaging-2Dequipment-2Drecommendations&d=AwIF-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=mCIWMDDHDNyIqIzU1-5G4TK7BhEq02oC2TdfXp1HKcI&s=x1g6VQ4x1EYds81veACCtWdghvhtddHpBZpInBtMWuw&e= <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.idigbio.org_content_idigbio-2Dimaging-2Dequipment-2Drecommendations&d=AwMD-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=IGfNmcbw5Vuw7Tx8_4FrnOoito8ZUyGrnwd31mOupKs&s=RtdVkUF5MZZvhPdojgmxJfXTzWB_yMO5dD5TFtiYcsk&e=>

Gil

On 7/23/2015 11:44 AM, Opitz, Cindy wrote:
What camera brand/model and features would you recommend for good-quality specimen and object photos?

Cindy Opitz
Collections Manager
Museum of Natural History
11 Macbride Hall
The University of Iowa
Iowa City IA 52242
319-335-0481
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Gil Nelson, PhD
Assistant Professor/Research
iDigBio Steering Committee
Integrated Digitized Biocollections
Institute for Digital Information and Scientific Communication
College of Communication and Information

Courtesy Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium
Florida State University
gnelson at bio.fsu.edu<mailto:gnelson at bio.fsu.edu>

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