If we wrote it once, we've written it a thousand times: you don't need expensive equipment to capture high-quality studio photography. As photographer Dustin Dolby of Workphlo demonstrates in this video, even that expensive cosmetics look is doable with cheap speedlights... and skill.
Some strange news from Nikon today: the company published a press release detailing some decisions made at a meeting of the Board of Directors that was held today. The directors were discussing some proposed amendments to the company's Articles of Incorporation that will be discussed at the general shareholders meeting on June 28th. Under the section that spells out Nikon's business activities, they're proposing the following amendment:
Manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals, quasi-pharmaceutical products and cosmetics;
Unless we're reading this press release incorrectly, it seems to indicate that Nikon is planning to manufacture and sell pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
I really love using old lenses on modern digital cameras, but many old lenses have cosmetic issues that make them a little less pleasant to use. Here are a few very cheap and easy things you can do to make these old lenses a little nicer to look at and to use. I don't advocate doing this to rare collectible lenses; this is for "user" lenses.
Note that these things have nothing to do with internal functionality of the focus or aperture, nor the condition of the glass. That should all be good before even thinking about this. No sense making lens ergonomics better if the lens isn't known to be worth using!