Photographing Watches

Can anyone recommend the best way to photograph (vintage) watches ?

One watch in particular that is proving difficult to photograph is only 15mm in diameter.

Main problems are getting close enough, getting enough light on the subject and avoiding refelections so that you can see the dial properly.

Close enough: I'd start with a macro (like the SMC-F 100/2., or extension tubes
Light: not too sure, but reckon that angled and diffused light would be a start. You'll probably need a reflector or two as well. I'd try something like 30 to 45 degree angle... and possibly a polariser might help.
Matt

The only thing I would add to Matt's post is that you need to use a small aperture the maximise the DOF so that you can photograph it at an angle to get rid of the reflection. I would be loath to use flash. Try outside on a bright day using a piece of white card as a reflector. I would also try to use a dark but not black background.

Kim

www.strobist.com had a blog entry on photographing watches a while back.
Do a search for "Ming Thein". The guy has some great work. Most done with flash. Some example setups were shown so this might help.
The guy apparently has some more elaborate setups for some photos... more so han I would expect would be necessary. But I guess they are not easy objects to get to look "good".

Thank you all for your suggestions.

I tried very quickly photographing an Omega watch outside on a cloudy day, handheld using a DA* 50 -135.

Unfortunately you can see a reflection of the photographer in the glass.

A polarizing filter would appear to be an essential and next time I shall use a tripod.

I looked at the Ming Thein gallery of photographs. They are amazing, worth a look even if you are not interested in watches.

Try a light tent.
prep it carefully (remove the battery and set the time to 10:10) clean it very thouroughly.

Don,

Thanks for the suggestion. I have not come across light tents before but they seem to be ideal for the purpose.

As a matter of interest, why set the time to 10:10 ?

Makes the watch "smile"

Kim

somwhere in these forums..some goof posted a how-to on using a cheap laundry hamper to make a light tent for under ten bucks...

the 10:10 is an industry practice (check out some mags/flyers) it allows the brand name of the watch to be seen without the hands blocking or drawing attention away from it.

I still think it sounds better to say it makes the watch smile.

Kim

If you want a white background a light tent is the best way to go, it keeps the relections down in the watch face. Manually set your white balance and use spot metering. Shoot the watch from an angle and I use some dark paper for the glass to reflect on.

I use a light box with 4 day light tubes - I got the box of eBay and use the backdrops supplied to difuse the lights.

The results are not perfect, but it is the best I have had to date, I keep playing around but have not found the definative answer, but I want a white background. Some post editing also helps using 2 layers and blending options in photoshop.

Some examples
http://www.judijudiworld.com/ViewProduct.aspx?cid=13&sid=44&pid=592
http://www.judijudiworld.com/ViewProduct.aspx?cid=9&sid=11&pid=22
www.judijudiworld.com

Regards

I recently made some shots with my 16-45 and they came out quite nicely.
My A50 1.7 is a bit sharper still.
So for optimum results in sharpness a 50 or 100mm Macro lens will do just fine. I have a small table top "studio" which helps a lot.
A black background and diffuse lighting works miracles on shots of watches.