Which lens is best for photographing paintings with a Canon 550D while minimizing distortion?
Asked 1/20/2011
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I’m buying a Canon 550D mainly to document my fiancée’s 2D artwork for archival purposes. The pieces can be up to 3 meters on the long side, and I’ll be shooting indoors with artificial light. My main priority is minimizing distortion when photographing paintings.
We were considering the EF-S 18-135mm kit lens for general use, but I’m wondering if that money would be better spent on a more suitable lens for artwork reproduction. Our budget is limited, and we don’t already own any Canon lenses.
What focal length or type of lens would be a good choice for photographing flat artwork accurately?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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You'd be best off getting a medium telephoto to minimise distortion - upwards of 80mm I'd say, with a cropped sensor camera. Sigma make an excellent, sharp 105mm lens, the 105mm EX-DG Macro f/2.8, which is about £350-£400.
You'd need to set up the camera a fair way back from the photo, but should get good results with this sort of focal length. Make sure you stop down as much as is practical to ensure as much of the painting is in focus as possible.
Originally by user456. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user456
15y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For copy work like paintings, avoid the wide end of a zoom, since wider focal lengths tend to show more perspective and lens distortion. A normal-to-short-telephoto lens is usually the safer choice on a Canon 550D.
From the answers, a 50mm prime is a strong budget option: it’s sharp, inexpensive, and more practical than a 105mm if you need to fit large 3m artworks in a normal-sized room. A 100–105mm macro/short telephoto can also work very well and should have low distortion, but you’ll need much more working distance.
So if space and budget are limited, a 50mm lens is the most sensible starting point. If you have plenty of room and later want a more specialized option, a 100–105mm macro is a good upgrade.
Also, lighting and color accuracy matter at least as much as lens choice for artwork reproduction. Shoot RAW, keep the camera perfectly parallel to the artwork, stop down moderately for best sharpness, and use software lens corrections if needed.
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