Product photography — Pro (600 key, macro flash, two stands)

Bring your own

• a CFexpress Type B card for the camera's second slot
• a tethered capture workflow
• acrylic, glass or a sweep for the surface
• sandbags for the roller stand

Why this kit

A professional product bench is defined by how small a subject it can handle and how little it has to move between categories. The AD600ProII in a 60 x 90 box gives a source large enough relative to a table that reflections on glossy cartons become long gradients instead of hot streaks, and the roller stand is specified because a loaded 60 x 90 on a light stand is a lever with a set underneath it. The AD100ProII is the head that goes inside the set: it fits where the key cannot, which is the entire reason for keeping a second, smaller body on Bowens-compatible triggering. The MF12 is the one item here that is not interchangeable: once the lens is close enough to a ring or a connector to shade its own subject, no amount of softbox solves it, and a macro flash is the only answer. Between them these three heads cover from a pallet-sized carton down to a 5 mm component without re-rigging the room. The camera is a 45 MP Canon R5 Mark II: the RF24-105mm f/4L frames the cartons and the RF100mm f/2.8L Macro reaches 1.4x for the 5 mm parts, the same end of the range the MF12 is there for.