Specifics. Details. It's always in the details... :-)
You said that you want small photos, of 10-15 knives. My first
question is, "Why SMALL photos?" Aren't the PHOTOS SELLING THE
PRODUCTS? A "crappy"(I'm sorry to be blunt) catalog with tiny
pictures that perhaps doesn't sell knives costs a lot more than the
difference between a good digicam and a cheap one... There are a lot
of time and production costs that must be considered. If you lose
business because of a so-so catalog with tiny vague photos the
catalogs and the digicam savings are actually costing you money rather
than generating income. I hope I'm not over the top here, I'm just
trying to make a point, not scare you.
Is that 10-15 small photos per page, or 10-15 knives per small photo?
How large will the photos be? How large are the knives, and what
level of detail do you wish to communicate? Are the handles carved,
or the blades filagreed? Will you want to show that level of detail?
Are you selling mail order through the catalog, or can image quality
be lower because ultimately someone must come in and look at the
product before buying?
I know those are questions, not answers, but you often must ask many
other questions before you come to the answer of the original question
posed. Let me give you a couple guidelines. You probably need
between 150 and 200 PPI(pixels per inch) MINIMUM for decent gray scale
or color images. 300PPI looks a LOT better in areas of detail.
Frankly, another consideration is that the quality of your
presentation, or catalog in this case, is regarded as a reflection of
the quality of your merchandise.
Resolution Size at 200PPI Size at 300PPI Quality
640x480 3.2 x 2.4" 2.1 x 1.6" ???
1280x1024 6.4 x 5.1" 4.3 x 3.4" <<>>
1600x1200 8.0 x 6.0" 5.3 x 4.0" <<>>
2048x1536 10.2 x 7.7" 6.8 x 5.1" <<>>
From the chart(I hope it formatted so it makes sense to you) above,
you can see that 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 gives you a lot more
flexibility -especially if you're considering larger photos on say 1/2
page of 8.5x11". (8.5" high x 5.5" wide pages)
You may wonder why I didn't mention that you could buy a 640x480
resolution camera for less and take several smaller individual photos
of the knives and either separate or combine them as needed? The
reason I recommended 1280x1024 and up is that I've yet to see really
impressive images from a 640x480 digicam. Now, I'm not saying they
don't exist, I just haven't seen good printed images from one yet.
The other reason is that once most people have a digicam they start
taking a lot more photos than they did before. When the per-image
cost isn't really a factor any more, it tends to free people up to
enjoy and experiment. It also tends to make them want to be able to
share their images and that often means printing them at a decent size
to show others. The 640x480 res. cameras just don't provide enough
resolution for very large photos with very much quality or detail in
them. Who wants to look at a 2.1x1.6" print and "ooh and aah" when
everyone else can print decent 4x6" or larger images? The other
reason I mention the 1 megapixel and up units is that most have a
macro mode that's good for close-up shots like your product photos.
You probably want to carefully consider the macro modes when selecting
a camera.
I'd look at the 1 & 2 Megapixel cameras at the very least. They
should be more than sufficient in quality and resolution and not
hamper you with their limitations. The 3.3MP units are probably
overkill for you.
Consider the reviews at www.imaging-resource.com , they're full of
great information, and you can look at the test images they took and
even download them to your PC and print them to see how well the
images print!
If you're looking for a specific recommendation, I'd say have a look
at the Toshiba PDR-M4. According to another forum reader, Mark
Grebner, who takes a whole lot of photos of documents they're a pretty
good bargain. They're quite reasonably priced these days for a
quality 2MP camera. Toshiba even sells refurbs and they can be found
on Ebay all the time for around $300 or so. You don't get a zoom
lens, but you do get a well built 2MP digicam for a very good price.
Good Luck!
-- Gerald M. Payne (gmp@surferz.net), July 26, 2000.
One more time:
Resolution ---- Size at 200PPI ---- Size at 300PPI ---- Quality
640x480 ------- 3.2 x 2.4" -------- 2.1 x 1.6" -------- ???
1280x1024 ----- 6.4 x 5.1" -------- 4.3 x 3.4" -------- Good
1600x1200 ----- 8.0 x 6.0" -------- 5.3 x 4.0" -------- Better
2048x1536 ---- 10.2 x 7.7" -------- 6.8 x 5.1" -------- Wow!
-- Gerald M. Payne (gmp@surferz.net), July 26, 2000.