Congrats on the new position! Couple of random thoughts... first, this book is highly recommended: http://books.google.com/books?id=XwKafyHW3NIC&lpg=PA119&ots=elMk2IDh-d&dq=best%20way%20to%20photograph%20polished%20metal&pg=PA119#v=onepage&q=best%20way%20to%20photograph%20polished%20metal&f=false
Secondly, highly polished metal can reflect everything including your light setup, camera, photographer... so you may want a large softbox for lighting (it will make indistict large reflections). You may even shoot though a small hole in a light tent (where everything around your lens is white). You may want to rig up something that suspends objects more or less invisibly (if light enough, such as with fishing line) so you can remove the shadow of the object by lifting it above your tabletop (or whatever). You may also want to experiment with a table top of curved plexiglass that can be lit from below (perhaps in addition to above). Don't really know a lot about how in-camera HDR really works, if it brings any advantages. Lit correctly, I'm not sure that your parts will really be a high dynamic range scene that will benefit, but then again they might. If thousands of photos/items are to be taken, I'm sure that your employer will want the fuss with each one to be kept to a minimum if they want the project live before the turn of the century. : ) If the end result is web only, any DSLR is probably more than capable. Your money may be better spent on lighting and set considerations. Darren Addy Kearney, Nebraska -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
