Camera Labs

Hi,

I'm new to this site and the camera. I need to take pictures of paintings. Can anyone help me with the settings?

Hi parroteyes, welcome to Camera Labs! And congrats on your new camera

A couple questions about how you want to shoot these paintings... are you shooting them for archival purposes/reproductions or are you taking photos of paintings on a wall in a gallery? There really is no such thing as "taking pictures of paintings settings", as it all comes down to the light, the lens, and the intent of your photos. We could definitely point you in the right direction though

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Canon EOS 5D MkII | Canon EOS 7D | Canon Digital Rebel XSi | EF 35mm f/1.4L | EF 50mm f/1.8 II | EF 85mm f/1.8 | EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM | EF 135mm f/2L | EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS | 580EX II | LumoPro LP-120

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I have a friend that painted a picture on canvas and would like me to put the picture on tile. There is no one in the area that could scan a 16x20 painting so I thought I take a picture of it (in my home) then bring it into the computer and print it.

The way I would try to do it:
Put the painting against the wall, the camera on the tripod at the same angle as the painting has so the center of the painting is in the center of the viewfinder (the corners of the painting should be in the corners of the frame). Choose the right focal length. Longer focal lengths have usually less distortion - primes at least. If it's a zoom lens the least distortion is usually found somewhere in the middle. Low ISO (=> 100), F8, long exposure if needed (that's one reason for the tripod). Shoot RAW to control the colors and maybe the distortion afterwards - Digital Photo Professional can do that; that's the software that comes with the camera.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

Thank you for taking the time to answer this. I will try it.