Essential Product Photography Tools for Ecommerce

Choosing the right camera, lens, lighting, and gear for your product photography can help you capture images that appeal to your audience.

In-person shopping has one major advantage over ecommerce: In a brick-and-mortar store, you can see the products for yourself. When shopping at an online store, you’re reliant on product photography. That’s why customers expect high-quality images capturing your product from all angles, and showing lots of details.

The good news is, you don’t have to be a professional photographer to take compelling product photos. With the proper tools and a little practice, you can shoot your own products. Here’s how to build a DIY product photography kit for any budget. 

Essential gear for product photography

• Camera
• Lens
• Tripod
• Remote trigger
• External hard drive
• Backdrop
• Air blaster

There’s no getting around it: Photography gear is expensive. But by focusing most of your budget on the camera and lens and saving on accessories when possible, you can put together a kit to serve your business for years on end for less than $3,000.

Here’s a framework to build out a basic product photography kit: 

Camera

Your camera is the cornerstone of your ecommerce photography setup. Purchasing your camera body from a recognized manufacturer such as Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, or Sony is worth the investment. If you currently use a smartphone for product photos, you will see a notable difference in image quality with a professional camera. Plus, these manufacturers have extensive online tutorial resources to ease the photography learning curve.

Choosing a camera comes down to two main options: cropped-sensor cameras and full-frame cameras. More full-frame cameras have larger sensors, allowing them to capture accurate colors and a cleaner depth of field (the distance in front of and behind the photo subject that is in sharp focus). Cropped sensor cameras capture slightly less information with a smaller sensor, less depth of field, and slightly altered focal lengths when using interchangeable camera lenses. 

Both camera types are more than capable of capturing professional-quality photos. A full-frame camera may be suitable for more detailed shots of smaller products, like jewelry or press-on nails. Here are some of the best camera options:

Canon EOS Rebel SL3

If you are looking for a cropped-sensor camera at a budget-friendly price, the Canon EOS Rebel SL3 is a robust entry-level option that is more than capable of capturing high-quality images. The Canon Rebel Series has been a trusted workhorse for many photographers and has all of the settings and shoot modes you could need for product shoots.

Nikon Z 5

A step up from the Rebel SL3, the Nikon Z 5 is a full-frame camera that will allow you to capture slightly sharper images with more digital information at a mid-range price. More digital information is a huge help when you get to the editing and post-production stages of product photography.

Fujifilm X-T5

If budget is not a factor, the Fujifilm X-T5 is a full-frame camera body known for accurate colors, low-light shooting, and incredible detail shots for small products. Cameras of this caliber are far more forgiving if you don’t have perfect lighting, as they can capture details that may be lost in deep shadows when using less expensive cameras.

Lens

For product photography, opt for a fixed lens within the range of 50 mm to 200 mm focal lengths, 50 mm being most versatile for typical product photography. 

Focal length is the distance between the sensor in your camera and the center of your lens, the main factor in creating depth of field. Lenses smaller than 50 mm require you to be closer to the product and can distort your images, giving them a slight fisheye effect, while lenses larger than 200 mm will require more distance between you and your product, which may be an issue if you have little room to work with while shooting. 

In addition, If you are shooting small objects, a macro lens in your focal length of choice is a great way to go for sharp focus and extreme detail. Macro lenses are specifically designed to minimize the focus distance between you and your subject, creating at- or near-life-size images. This means you can get mere inches away from a pair of earrings and have extremely sharp focus to show off small gems or intricate designs.

🌟Resource: Jewelry Photography Tips for DIY Product Photos

Once you find a camera to suit your needs, browse lenses produced by the same manufacturer to ensure compatibility. Prices vary depending on build quality, aperture (how much light is let into the lens), and glass quality. 

When starting out, you don’t need to find the “fastest” lens as far as aperture goes. Simply start with the focal length and compare options in your price range. Many of the distinctions between lenses will be unnoticeable to anyone but a professional photographer.

Tripod

Tripods are essential to ensure you have level framing and composition in your images, meaning your product is centered and square within each shot. Manfrotto tripods are known for their durability, with the portable Pixi and full-size Element serving as great starter options depending on the space and budget you have available. 

Remote trigger

A remote trigger can save you the headache of camera shake, a slight blurring from pressing the shutter button on your camera. It is useful for all product photography shoots, but especially important while using a macro lens for detailed white-background shots.

Check out Pluto Trigger and PocketWizard when adding a remote trigger to your kit. 

External hard drive

Photography requires a large amount of storage and processing power for both storing raw images and operating editing software.

To avoid overloading your computer’s internal hard drive, opt for an external hard drive to store backups of your photos and keep your workflow efficient. For most, two to five terabytes should be enough to store and back up images.

The Seagate Basic 2 TB is robust and portable, ideal for those looking for a budget option to get the job done. If you find yourself taking hundreds of photos a session, you may want to consider a more durable option, like the LaCie Rugged 5 TB, a favorite among many professional photographers for its quick speed and resistance to dust and water. 

Backdrop

Using a backdrop for product photos allows you to focus on your product, showing off the details without distracting colors or objects in the background. If you’re looking to use a solid color such as white or light gray, you can easily use a large roll of paper, a white sheet, or a premade white backdrop. 

If you have smaller products, like jewelry, a light tent is a great option for setting your scene, as they already have a solid background and usually take up very little space. 

🌟Resource: 10 Best Free Background Remover Tools

Air blaster

There is nothing worse than dust and unwanted material in your image, so keep an air blaster on hand to ensure you have a clean space. You can also use air blasters to clean lenses and camera bodies regularly.

Lighting equipment for product photography

• Continuous lights
• Diffusers
• Reflectors

Natural light is a great resource for lifestyle shots, but when it comes to product photography, studio lighting is the standard. 

The basis of most lighting setups, three-point lighting consists of:

• Key light: The primary light source facing your product
• Fill light: Illuminates the opposite side of the product
• Back light: Behind the product

These different angles of light sources diminish harsh shadows and recreate natural lighting. Three-point lighting kits can be purchased online complete with light stands.

Below are some continuous lights and flashes you can use to build a three-point lighting setup for your own product photography studio:

Continuous lights

Continuous lights are great for product videography and photography, as they are always illuminating your subject, providing a real-time preview of what your final photo will look like. The Lume Cube Single Studio Panel Lighting Kit and Andoer Softbox Photography Lighting Kit are beginner options that come complete with stands.

Diffusers

If you find you need softer light and lighter shadows than your lighting setup provides, you may need to diffuse your various light sources with a scrim, umbrella, or softbox:

• Scrim. Scrims are the most affordable option, as you can use a white sheet, light fabric, or premade Westcott scrim and mount it over your light source. 
• Umbrella. Photography umbrellas, such as the LimoStudio soft white umbrella, are a step up from a scrim, diffusing light outward to cover broad spaces with soft light when you are shooting larger products such as furniture. 
• Soft box. A soft box is usually most beneficial because the walls on all sides prevent light from escaping the sides and redirects light onto your product. The Raleno softbox lighting kit is an affordable option, complete with tripods and a carrying case.

Reflectors

Reflectors are not required, yet useful when you need to reflect light onto specific sides of oddly shaped items that may have harsh shadows. Foam board and white poster board are great budget reflector options, yet packs of light reflectors are also available.

🌟Resource: Clothing Photography: Take Beautiful Apparel Photos

Tools to edit product photos

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Lightroom
• GIMP
• Pixlr
• Clipping Magic
• Photo editing services

Once you have captured images in your studio, photo editing software is essential for correcting colors, stylizing your images, and ensuring image consistency. 

Below are some great free and paid options for your post-production workflow:

Adobe Photoshop

The industry standard for photo editing, Adobe Photoshop has all the tools needed to bring your product images to life. The full version starts at $22.99 per month, but a free trial and Lite version are also available if you want to try it out before committing to a subscription. 

Adobe Lightroom

At $9.99 per month, Lightroom’s user-friendly interface and built-in tutorials allow you to hit the ground running with essential editing tools. Lightroom offers fewer options for image manipulation (such as adding layers or removing parts of images) than Photoshop but is better for editing and organizing photos. 

Lightroom allows you to save editing settings as presets to easily apply the same adjustments to a group of photos, creating a consistent feel to all of your images. 

GIMP

The free-to-use GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) may not be as robust as Photoshop, but it is a great (and free) starting point for those who want all of the basic editing tools on a budget. 

🌟Resource: What Is Image Optimization? 8 Tips For Your Website

Pixlr

Pixlr offers both desktop and smartphone app compatibility so you can edit photos on your computer or on the go. There is a seven-day free trial and the basic version comes in at only $1.99 a month, making Pixlr a good starter option.

Clipping Magic

Coming in at $7.99 per month for the standard version, Clipping Magic is an online tool specifically designed to remove backgrounds, refine edges, and reduce blur from your product images. This is especially handy when you may not have access to a backdrop or have a busy image with unwanted objects in the background.

Photo editing services

If you don’t want to handle editing yourself, you might consider Path, a photo editing company providing a range of Photoshop and editing services. Starting at 25¢ per image, Path is available 24/7 and allows you to submit your product photos for background removal, color changes, and retouching to fix smudges or glares within six hours.

For more specialized services geared specifically toward ecommerce, Pixelz uses a combination of AI tools and post-production experts to remove backgrounds, place your products on ghost mannequins, correct colors, and retouch where needed. At $95 per month, Pixelz can alleviate the need to learn post-production yourself and let professionals take your images to the next level. 

Product photography tools FAQ

What equipment is used in product photography?

 A full product photography kit typically includes:

• Camera
• Lens
• Tripod
• Remote trigger
• External hard drive
• Continuous lights
• Flashes
• Diffusers
• Reflectors
• Backdrop
• Air blaster

What camera do you need for product photography?

A DSLR or a mirrorless camera are the best options for professional-quality product images. Having the freedom of shooting in manual mode or aperture priority mode will allow you to adjust the shutter speed, exposure compensation dial, and white balance in ways smartphone cameras can’t match. There is a wide selection of options depending on your budget, but it is a good rule to purchase from trusted brands such as Canon, Fujifilm, Sony, or Nikon.

Can you use your phone for product photography?

You can start out using your smartphone camera and a simple background for product images, but you will eventually need to upgrade to a DSLR or mirrorless camera to capture better photos aligned with industry standards. Phone cameras rely on auto exposure and autofocus, limiting your ability to customize images to your liking.