Home Studio

Mini Home Studio

Last updated:- 1st January 2010
Written by Siegfried Seierlein

The mini home studio is potentially something every family should own. How often does it happen that one require a good picture of an item that’s intended for an internet based auction? Presentation, or should I say proper presentation is part and parcel of repetitive sales success on web. So many people try to present products on the web only to learn it is not that easy. It is only those who differentiate themselves that will stand out and that will make a success. Attention to detail, presentation and the right text, are all critical factors and important for success.

I was trying to sell a camera on a local auction site during December and I was surprised to see how low the average selling prices fell over December. I decided to withdraw my camera and to delay the auction to a later date. Moving the auction date was one method of protecting the selling price, another would be a good presentation or picture of the product and a good description. In addition I have learned that there are more support features offered by the auction houses that can help you sell more successfully.


	The preparation of the picture. One of the most important aspects of web selling is the preparation of the product pictures. That’s why my wife and I decided to try a low cost Mini Studio to see if its worth investing more into a proper home studio. We found one on the web at the equivalent of less than 70 USD.

		Fun using multiple cameras. To add a little fun I decided to use different cameras for the article. I was curious to see what camera will be the best balanced for the job. In the group test I had the G11, the G1 from Panasonic, the E3 from Olympus, the S3 IS from Canon and finally a heavyweight, the 5D MKII.




		Picture taken with the Olympus E3

Unpacking the Studio

The home studio arrived 2 days later and we were happy to test it. While unpacking the kit one could see that the equipment is not manufactured to industrial standards, it is made cheap and it feels cheap.

It is nicely packed, everything you need is included.


	Picture taken with the Olympus E3

The bag is part of the studio. Its a great design I think and something that will help protect the different parts when not in use.

It could happen that we upgrade the lights at a later stage. The danger with the supplied lights are that they get warm and I was concerned that it could present a fire danger.


			Picture taken with the Olympus E3

	Picture 1

Unpacked and ready for use.

Unpacking the studio and setting it up took approximately 30 minutes. Included in the box is a A5 size instruction sheet plus one has the pictures on the box to help you set up the home studio.

The only problem we had was the supports for the lamps, the feet slip back into the support of the lamp and when needed one must slide them out again. The lamp then stands as seen on the picture.


	Picture taken with the G1 from Panasonic



What camera will be best? I think we so often neglect the importance of this question because we only look for the best picture quality. We get overwhelmed by the reviews, the technical data and the best to have product. We often buy something wrong, never use it to its full specification or we simply end up not being happy with it. To answer the question I think we need to get back to the original reason for setting up a home studio. We were looking at ways to take excellent pictures for use on the web. Does this mean we need a 21MP full frame SLR camera or will the camera on my iPod do the job?



		Picture taken with the G1 from Panasonic

	In picture 1 you will see that the camera support looks like a mini type tripod. It is approximately 30cm high and it has a small ball type camera fitting at the top. We quickly realized that the 5D and the E3 were just to big and heavy to be fitted onto this support. That then basically eliminated both the E3 and the 5D from the race. Remaining were the G1, the G11 and the S3 IS. Because my wife will be the one using the studio most we then mounted her S3 IS to the supplied support and started testing more seriously.


	Picture taken with the G1 from Panasonic

The supplied lamps were not powerful enough.

Taking pictures and trying different ways to set up the studio we realized that the included lamps are not powerful enough to do the job. Personally I like to see a lamp that will provide the correct light temperature plus enough exposure power to keep the shutter speeds reasonably high. The included lamps did not adhere to any of these criteria. My son and I then tried the E3 with two Olympus flash units in wireless configuration in place of the supplied lamps. You will see that from the instruction sheet, the manufacturer of the studio advised that the lamps should be positioned on the outside of the actual studio.




		Picture taken with the G1 from Panasonic


		Picture taken with the G1 from Panasonic

	The E3 plus Olympus flash units provided more than enough power to light up the complete studio. The problem we then faced was that with the E3 that close to the studio the flash on the E3 that controls the two wireless flash units became a problem. It would flash to command the two slaves and the light from the camera then were to powerful. I know that on the D300s its possible to select no light from the camera when working in this configuration. With the E3 one can only select a high, mid and low flash output level. We finally decided that with the E3 mounted on a more sturdy tripod and with the camera flash set to low is a good option when more light is needed. The negative with this configuration is that one cannot take a picture from a high, down configuration because sturdy tripod with the camera will be further away from the studio.


	Picture taken with the G11 from Canon

With the S3 IS from Canon mounted we could then do a few serious tests. It was possible to use the configuration as advised by the manufacturer. We used the S3 in full manual mode to create a easy to use work procedure and to ensure good results. The shutter speeds were very low, so we decided to only use the preset timer when using the camera with the mini studio. The exposure from the lamps stayed reasonably constant throughout the tests and it was not necessary to adjust the camera setting too often. We basically fixed the ISO and the aperture and all my wife then has to do is to up and down the shutter speed to adjust the exposure. One of the great advantages of Canon compacts is the excellent implementation of live view they have. By excellent I mean its possible to real time adjust the exposure by just monitoring the live view screen. That made it real simple to design a easy procedure that my wife can follow when taking pictures in the studio. The S3 turned out to be a great partner for the mini studio. The only problem was the zoom lens. With the lens extended the center of gravity moved away from the ball head on the support. That made the setup not stable.

The winner was the PowerShot G11

Finally the PowerShot G11 was a clear winner. Its compact design combined with its powerful zoom made it a well balanced camera to use with the mini studio. Interesting was the fact that the external control dials on the G11 made it easy to change the ISO and to do exposure compensation while working with the mini studio. The rotating screen was also perfect because it was always possible to see the screen.

Many reviewers refer to the G11 design as a pro-type design and the control dials are perfect for the more serious photographer. I find that interesting because personally I would prefer the shutter speed and the aperture, similar to the Leica camera to be on the outside adjustment dials.

The G11 picture quality at base ISO was very good. It could not better that of the G1 I feel because the G1 still deliver exceptional image quality at ISO 800. The disadvantage of the G1 was that it also did not fit well onto the supplied support.




			The picture below was taken with the G1 from a distance and handheld. Its a typical example of the products my wife like to take pictures off. The Spider Cube is a great product to help one find the correct white balance settings when editing the pictures. If you do not know the Cube, do a search for more information.


	Here you can see one of the products I photographed in the mini studio. In Switzerland their is a small factory with knife makers that makes the most beautiful handmade knifes. Here you see a picture of one of those handmade knifes.



		The above picture of the knife was taken with the G11 and the wristwatch was taken with the S3 IS.

Final Thoughts I realize that the above “story” is not the right way to declare a winner and that there is no way that the G11 will out perform the 5D. I think you will agree that often we get too excited and we end up taking the incorrect product. This example demonstrated how important it is to correctly define what you want and to then buy the correct equipment. Having said that I believe the same applies to the mini studio. For the guy on a budget the above studio is great and it will go a long way. For the more serious photographer with higher or more pro demands I will recommend to spend a little more. The basic mini studio I think is good and it will do the job. The lamps needs to be upgraded to better quality materials plus things like cooling and the materials used to build the lamps should be of better. I also think the camera support is not acceptable. As a minimum one should be able to fit the G1 without any difficulty. If you ever decide to buy a mini studio, shop around, look for quality and you will have hours of fun. Siegfried