9 Best Lenses For Jewelry Photography [Nikon, Canon, Sony]

I Want to make your jewelry, bijouterie, or precious ornaments “pop” or stand out of the crowd, for showcasing or simply making them glimmer to allure potential customers, then you may be in dire need of a “tool” that may advertise your products.

In a rush? Check out my favorite selections!

And from “tool” I meant to say a digital camera that is paired up with a noteworthy lens to do the perfect job because obviously in order to advertise your precious items, words won’t do much and you may need pictures to create a catalog.

Needless to say, if you are embarking on an e-commerce jewelry business, consider yourself lucky because it’s about time fate has landed you in a lucky spot because this is where you are going to find the best lenses for jewelry photography.

The List of 9 Best Lenses For Jewelry Photography

To make it easy and simple for you, I divide the list into 3 sections, the first one contains Nikon lenses for jewelry photography, the second list contains Canon lenses for jewelry photography, and the third list contains Sony lenses for jewelry photography.

So dive down below to know more about them one by one.

Best Nikon Lenses For Jewelry Photography

Here are some amazing lenses for Nikon that I have cherry-picked from across the internet.

1. Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm

My personal favorite, the Nifty fifty, the Nikon AF-S 50mm is truly the holy grail when it comes to the best lens for jewelry-based photography.

Motor type

To stay ahead of the league and satisfy the ever-growing demands, Nikon has utilized a unique technology in this lens which enhances the focusing by cutting down delay in the AF motor. 

In other words, it utilizes a Silent wave motor which uses waves that are then converted into rotational waves in order to keep the focusing mechanism locked onto the subject at all times all while being incredibly swift and without making any sound.

Keeping the noise aspect is incredibly helpful in scenarios where you are performing videography sessions and you don’t want the coil whining sound of the motor to pop up while recording, as it can impact the immersion of the video.

Super Natural Bokeh Effect

Since you would be using this lens to capture some sweet shots of your precious ornament with mesmerizing effect. It is crucial that you have a lens hooked up to your camera that produces a natural rounded bokeh effect.

That’s why I have listed the Nikkor 50mm with F/1.8 aperture size which not only keeps the subject incredibly sharp while it is focused in but also produces a significantly dreamy blur effect in the background and other parts of the frame.

Moreover, it is evident that jewelry-based photography is usually done indoors where ambient light isn’t abundant, the wide rounded diaphragm of the lens ensures plenty of light passes through the sensor even while the ISO settings are kept low.

Stellar Focal Length

While this lens utilizes a fixed focal length, which optical zooming is out of the equation, by utilizing this prime lens, you would have the most natural-looking photographs at hand with super color quality and immense sharpness.

It is an all-rounder lens that’s suitable for almost any photo shoot because of its 50mm focal length, which makes it an excellent lens for portraits, wide angles, and general product photography.

Testing Results

This lens might look like your average “nifty -fifty” but in terms of design quality and durability, it certainly puts the competition in the mud.

For starters, it has a nice matt finish and metal mount which is enclosed with weather sealing in case you decide to use it outdoors.

I love that Nikon even included a dedicated Focus Switch, to keep it seamless, especially during videography. 

It’s nifty makes a click sound and instantly toggles the lens sensor for the assigned mode.

Right off the bat, the lens also comes with a plastic lens hood to prevent strong ambient sunlight from entering the lens and ruining your photo. 

Reason For Recommendation

It’s super snappy and barely makes noise during focus hunt and the best part is it’s versatile enough to be used in both day and night time photography.

Here are the 7 My Favorite Nikon Lenses For Street Photography

2. Nikon AF-S DX 40mm F/2.8G

An entry-level Lens for those individuals who are on a budget, the Nikon AF-S 40mm will provide quality beyond your expectations.

Stellar Macro Results

With only a mere focusing distance of 6.36 inches, this lens can do wonders as you get up close and personal with the jewelry you want to take pictures of and capture all the minute details so the world can see the level of complex craftwork you have in your catalog.

Meanwhile, the 40mm also has maximum magnification up to 1:1 which produces exceptional results and covers pretty much everything that is in front of you without requiring you to take a couple of steps backward.

Focus Override System

While the focusing mechanism on this lens is no doubt exceptional in terms of speed, you can also use the focusing ring to manually override mode in order to fine-tune the accuracy, in case you aren’t satisfied or simply want to create an artistic portfolio.

Super Integrated Coating

Apart from other amazing wonders of this lens, it even has all of its elements coated with a special integrated coating which keeps the flaring, and reflection produced internally in the lens as well as ghosting to a bare minimum so that you can take snapshots in optimal condition without strong ambient light affecting the quality.

Aperture size

Lastly, the aperture size of this lens is F/2.8 which means it may not be too wide to produce an overwhelming bokeh effect but still does the job quite well in letting plenty of light inside the lens hit the sensor, making it optimal for product photography.

On the flip side, it utilizes a 7-blade rounded diaphragm so the background blurring turns up nice and smooth, and has 9 elements in 7 groups.

Testing Results

There is no denying that the lens is made entirely from plastic but nevertheless, it is far from cheap feels incredibly solid, and can easily handle regular wear and tear.

On the other hand, the lens also has not just one but two switches, the former is assigned for toggling the manual focus while the latter controls the focusing aspect and how fast it would operate on the lens.

Since it’s a macro lens, I even tested out its minimum focusing distance which is around 16.3 cm, and the quality of the picture at this distance remains top-notch with perfect clarity.

Reason For Recommendation

Offers exceptional bang for the buck and is incredibly lightweight yet packs a punch as the results generated have quite crisp quality.

3. Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm

Another excellent Nikon Lens that even has zooming capabilities and some other nifty features that will make your investment well worth the money.

VR Feature

Most indoor photo sessions are usually done while moving to get the perfect shot and require precision and high-level skill to keep the camera steady so that the subject you are focusing on remains sharp with immense clarity.

Since it is a challenging feat to achieve for novice users, the Nikon 18-55mm lens incorporates a special Vibration Reduction (VR) which senses any form of jerk or micromovement and corrects the lens by automatically providing stabilization.

3x Optical Zoom

Another notable aspect about this lens is that unlike other Nikon lenses listed above, this one has the capability to zoom onto the subject even if you are standing and capturing pictures from a distance.

This lets you take some close-ups of the delicate items with high precision and detail and even allows you to get some great angles without needing to stand really close to the subject or product.

Lightweight Design

The lens may look like your average “kit lens” and the whole housing is certainly made from plastic, however, it is nowhere near cheap and is actually pretty enough to withstand wear & tear even after years of use.

Although I do wish that they included a metal mount rather than standard plastic, apart from that the whole build looks pretty sturdy.

My experience with this lens has been pretty joyful and the best part is that it’s incredibly lightweight as its net weight is around 9.3 ounces, so even if you pop it in your carrying bag, you wouldn’t feel like you are carrying much.

All in all, for the price it is listed, this lens easily takes the crown as it has phenomenal output quality and color accuracy if you don’t mind the plastic mount aspect.

Best Canon Lenses For Jewelry Photography

When it comes to the best lenses for jewelry photography I cannot skip the Canon, So here are just some classic picks from Canon that will change the way you perform photography for the betterment, of course.

1. Canon EF-S 24mm F/2.8

If you like using lenses that aren’t too big and are incredibly portable, then it’s safe to assume that you would instantly fall in love with this pancake Canon Lens.

Phenomenal Low Light Performance

Being a freelance photographer, whenever I want to perform product photography, the Canon 24mm is my go-to choice for all the right reasons.

Its generously wide aperture size of F/2.8 with 7 rounded blade diaphragm lets me easily capture neat stills without having to worry much about ambient light obstructing my goals.

In addition to that, the bokeh effect is also pretty eye-catching which makes the product stand out of the crowd and gives off professional vibes.

If you want your jewelry to look charismatic and want to attract customers to your eCommerce page, then there is no better choice than this lens.

Motor Type

The lens utilizes an STM Motor type which is also known as the Stepping motor type which is significantly smoother in terms of focusing when compared to those lenses that tend to lack these sorts of motors.

On the other hand, they are also considerably snappy and virtually silent when performing their operation, especially while recording videos.

Speaking of focusing, it certainly uses an electronic focusing mechanism but upon reviewing in my lab, I did find it way too swift which is praiseworthy as most of the other lenses I reviewed in the past tend to have some form of lag or delay while focusing.

Manual overriding is also a neat feature that makes its way into this pancake lens and you can seamlessly switch between automatic focusing and manual focusing in order to attain accuracy with ease.

Spectra Coating

Almost all elements of the glass have a special form of coating in order to keep color fringing, internal reflection, and even flaring caused by strong ambient lights to a bare minimum which makes it quite ideal for both indoors and outdoors.

You can also read 7 Awesome Canon Lenses For Street Photography

2. Canon EF 50mm F/1.8

Another Nifty fifty, but this time it’s from Canon with amazing build quality and an even better Motor type.

Overall Design Quality

The best part about this lens is that not only does it have amazing gripping across the barrel but it’s significantly lightweight as it weighs just 5.6 ounces. 

When I carried it in my palm it felt like I was carrying a bunch of feathers. It’s marvelous how much technology has advanced by creating such magnificent pieces of engineering in such small sizes.

And don’t get me started on the metal mount, which looks very sturdy and solid, and changing this lens every now and then wouldn’t be an issue as it would hold up its integrity for quite a while.

My only complaint is that the exterior doesn’t seem to have any protection against dust or water droplets, so make sure you bring some form of protection while using it outdoors.

Focusing By Wire

Furthermore, the focusing aspect of this lens is controlled by the Stepping motor which is significantly better than its previous iterations and has a slight humming sound while using the lens but it is nowhere near annoying.

Another nifty feature that is quite innovative is that as long as the shutter button is pressed halfway through, the lens will keep on focusing on the subject to perfectly track it, making it quite optimal for dynamic photography.

Focal Length & Aperture Size

Since it’s the “fifty nifty”, don’t expect it to have optical zooming, nonetheless, the picture quality it produces is no doubt one of the finest I have ever seen. 

Moreover, the 50mm focal length produces very natural-looking photographs as this sort of focal length tends to hit the sweet spot for both indoor and outdoor product photography or modeling.

Meanwhile, the F/1.8 aperture with 7 rounded diaphragm blades produces a pleasing yet shallow depth of field with satisfactory results.

3. Canon EF 100mm F/2.8

Words cannot describe the level of quality this lens has but I will share my personal experience with you guys in the form of a review and you may get a glimpse of its excellency.

Superior Macro Photography

The lens shines the brightest when used for macro photography as it tends to bring out the details of the subject that you are focusing on in tremendous depth.

Even though it has a considerably larger barrel for a macro lens, it still has a minimum focusing distance of 11.8 inches and allows you to get extremely close and personal with the products you want the world to see.

Meanwhile, the Ultra-low dispersion element ensures the contrast accuracy remains optimal for macro-oriented photography.

In the world of macro lenses, the Canon EF 100 surely is one of the finest pieces of craftwork that you will ever find at such a price point.

Hybrid Image Stabilization System

Instead of relying on an ordinary stabilization solution, the lens utilizes a specially designed stabilization system known as Hybrid Image Stabilization, which automatically detects movements and corrects angular and shift camera shake.

It is safe to assume there is plenty of brainstorming invested in this lens so that it reaches perfection and the users attain immense detail while performing macro photography.

Motor Type

Moving onto its motor type, under the hood, the lens operation is powered by the USM motor type which is also known as an Ultrasonic motor.

This unique motor uses piezoelectric elements to create Ultrasonic waves in order to control the rotor and precisely lock onto the subject even if the lightning isn’t sufficient enough.

Not only is the whole mechanism incredibly rapid but it also has no audible sound produced which may disturb you, cutting you some slack in the post-editing process.

Best Sony Lenses For Jewelry Photography

Here are some of my favorite picks from Sony, that is optimal for jewelry photography.

1. Sony FE 20mm F1.8

At first glance, you may think that this is an “overpriced” small lens, but let me tell you the technology it is packing will no doubt make it well worth the money.

Advanced Tier Glass Elements

Sony never compromises in their quality, especially when it comes to digital camera lenses and this one is no exception. 

In order to eliminate nasty image distortion such as chromatic aberration and axial chromatic aberration, the lens incorporates a triple Extra-low dispersion element (ED) which preserves the beauty that you want to capture in a frame without compromising on quality.

In other words, it ensures all your images have top-tier clarity with corner-to-corner high resolution without any sort of color fringing as the color contrast will always look true to life.

Dual XD Linear Motors

Furthermore, the lens also incorporates not just one but two Extreme Dynamic linear motor units which precisely detect moving subjects and swiftly lock onto them and does not suffer from any form of “Focus hunting”

This form of technology has seen quite a lot of upgrades and the noise aspect has been reduced drastically so that you can easily record videos for your social media accounts or take some beautiful stills at the moment’s notice.

Nano AR Coating

Aside from all these amazing features, the lens also has a special form of AR coating which prevents flaring and ghosting which used to be prevalent issues in previous Sony lenses I have reviewed.

Keep in mind that jewelry-based photography is not an easy task to achieve as you need to have the correct exposure while maintaining the colors of the products all while keeping ample details intact.

And in order to make those shiny ornaments look glamorous and shiny, having a flare feature is extremely crucial.

Read Also: My Favorite and Unique Lenses List for Sony A7C.

2. Sony FE 24mm F1.4

With such a mighty wide-angle lens and super generous aperture size, there is no way you are attaining perfection in your photography.

11 Blade Diaphragm

When it comes to blade diaphragm, only the “best of the best” tend to have a higher blade count, and the Sony E-mount FE 24mm is one of those elite lineups.

With such a lofty aperture size of F/1.4 and 11 Blade diaphragm, performing photoshoots even without a proper external flashlight is a breeze.

All your stills would look charismatic if taken by a professional and your portfolio would attract an audience faster than you can imagine.

Because not only will your precious items look incredibly fabulous to the eyes but they will have a unique dreamy and shallow depth of field that will instantly mesmerize you.

Unique Glass Elements

In terms of image quality, Sony goes well and beyond as it has incorporated dual XA(Extreme aspherical) elements which dramatically reduce aberrations, color distortion, softening, fringing, and even as much vignette effect to appear at the corners.

Since wide-angle lenses also suffer from issues like sagittal flaring and astigmatism, the Nano Coating on the glass elements ensures the picture color accuracy remains intact.

Professional-grade photographers that don’t mind the costly price tag, should most certainly invest in this lens as it will provide clarity and sharpness that will blow your mind.

Motor Type

Under the hood, the lens is packing next-level cutting-edge technology as such a level of the motor unit is only used in flagship-level lenses.

The FE 24mm has Ultra speed, extremely silent Direct Drive Super Sonic Motor (DDSSM) that keeps focusing breathing to a bare minimum and as snappy as possible as you would be taking some wide angle shots for your products.

3. Sony SEL30M35 30mm F/3.5

If you are looking for something premium under a handsome price, then I would totally recommend the Sony SEL30M35 30mm F/3.5 for your daily conventional use.

Compact & Portable

Not everyone is comfortable with bulky camera gear, especially if you are performing a photo shoot for a longer duration of time.

And that’s where Sony SEL30M35 can come in handy as it has a dimension specification of 2.44 x 2.44 inches and only weighs 4.87 ounces approximately on a scale.

Being this lightweight is quite astonishing to me as the whole housing of the lens is made from silver metal material which is incredibly robust and sturdy. 

Perfect For Jewelry Photography

If you want your items to shine bright with natural glimmer, a great macro lens with a decent Minimum focusing distance can come in handy.

Luckily, the Sony 30mm also has an incredibly noteworthy minimum focusing distance of 3.7’ and has a 1:1 magnification ratio and can easily record or take stills of any minute details which are barely visible to the human eye.

Glass Elements

The lens utilizes an internal focusing mechanism that is no doubt snappy and as for color and wavelength correction, it has a single extra-low dispersion element as well as a triple aspherical element to reduce chromatic aberration as well as fringing to greater extents.

Bottom Line

In the end, I would like to finish this article by adding my two cents that while there are plenty of lenses manufactured by these certain brands on a yearly basis, not all of them tend to live up to the standard in terms of quality and performance.

And that’s why, I took my time to carefully cherry-pick the best lenses for jewelry photography that won’t disappoint you, in case you decide to invest your hard-earned cash in it.

That being said, have a nice day.