most people tend to hate dental photography because it's so hard to get your head around
at all what camera or lens do I buy will this work with that what settings do I need to use
and how do I even position the patient usually all these things combined will
put you off from taking photos in this three part series i'm going to simplify things as
best as I can to make dental photography achievable for everyone let's get into it
so in this first episode of the series i'm going to cover all the necessary equipment
starting from camera lens and flash all the way down to even the sd cards and which
cloths to use so use the timestamps below to skip around if you want to
in the next video i'll talk you through figuring out the settings that you need
for your setup and in the last video i'll show you my technique for actually taking the photos
okay so let's start with equipment now some of you might be in a practice that has a shared camera
but here's why i think you should get your own first of all if you have your own camera in your
schedule right next to you at all times you're way more likely to actually be taking photos rather
than having to plan ahead and asking your nurse to get their practice camera and once you've actually
spent some money to get your own you would want to get your money's worth so again way more likely to
take photos also others in the practice might change the settings on the camera and it gets
really annoying having to play around with the settings each time and you should be seeing this
as a long-term investment just like loops you'll be using this for many years ahead and will make
patient communication so much easier and you can learn so much more from analyzing your own work
so the camera setup consists of three parts the body the lens and the flash
in the description you'll find a link to the blog post where i've written the suggestions
for all the equipment suggested in this video with information on price and specification
i've also included links to where to buy them both new and used if you can afford getting
everything new then go for it but picking up used camera parts from a reputable website like mpb.com
is also a great option and i would personally recommend it i've purchased used items quite
a few times now and i've had no problem so far you'll also notice in the blog post i mentioned
the weight of all the different parts and that's because one of my main suggestions is to try and
build a setup that's nice and lightweight because it makes taking photos so much easier you'll also
notice that i give quite a few options and i'll mention which ones you go for depends on your
budget the general advice is if you can afford it get all the main components in the same brand
so for example get a canon body with a canon lens and a canon flash this kind of setup is more
expensive compared to mixing brands but they tend to be a little bit more reliable and compatible
so for the camera body you can go with either a canon or nikon dslr it really doesn't matter
you'll get great results with each if you're trying to decide see which brands your friends
and colleagues around you have and go with the same one that way if you need help with the camera
then you can ask them for advice if i had to choose between canon and nikon i would personally
choose canon because you have a lot more choice when it comes to the lenses and the flashes
most people also have canon which again makes it easier to get advice if you need it but i'll
also be including nikon suggestions in case you already have a nikon camera you can also go for
a sony mirrorless camera like i have and there are quite a few good reasons as to why you might want
to and later in the video i'll cover those reasons but bear in mind there's not much information on
the internet for using a sony mirrorless camera for dental photography so if you're a beginner
i wouldn't really suggest that because you might struggle to find help and advice online
so when choosing a camera body you can get one with either a full frame sensor or a crop sensor
the crop sensors as the name suggests just crops the picture in more for dental photography i
suggest you get a crop sensor because they're much cheaper smaller and more lightweight and
you don't have to be so close to the patient to get a very close-up shot which body you go with
purely depends on your budget in my opinion if a photography is not a hobby for you and this
camera will only be used for dental photography get one of the cheaper and lighter ones because
all the features and specifications of the more expensive camera won't be of any use to you
one feature however that might actually be useful for you and the more expensive cameras
is the ability to control wireless flashes so if you think you want to go for a more advanced
setup with wireless flashes on a bracket then you might want to opt for a camera with that
feature and again all of this is noted in the blog post for which camera has these features
now earlier in the video i mentioned going with the sony mirrorless and i really think that
might be the future of dental photography and no one is really talking about it traditional
dslr cameras have a mirror inside which bounces light into the viewfinder that you look through
mirrorless cameras have gotten rid of this mirror which makes the camera much smaller and lighter
look at the difference in size this smaller and more lightweight form factor makes it easier to
take shots even with one hand if you need to but this isn't the main reason i suggest mirrorless
cameras in fact some people might not like that it's so small but the main reason i recommend
them is because of something called focus peaking one of the main complaints and problems people
have with dental photography is that it's too hard to make sure that you're in focus on the
teeth and so the photos come out blurry focus peaking on mirrorless cameras highlight the
edges of the areas which you're trying to focus on so when i take a photo i don't need to take
off my loops and my visor or even look through the viewfinder to make sure i'm in focus i can
just point the camera move it back and forth until the blue lines show around the tooth and then i
can take my shot this is honestly the biggest game changer especially during agps having to take off
loops and trying to look through the viewfinder with a massive stealth mask is very difficult
this solves all of that now before i move on to talk about lenses i'd really appreciate if you
guys give the video a thumbs up it really helps our channel grow and reach more people thank you
so next is the lens for dental photography you need to opt for a macro lens with a
one-to-one magnification ratio a macro lens as the name suggests is for shooting small things
and the one-to-one magnification ratio means that the real-life size of the subject is
projected onto the camera sensor and the main thing to consider when choosing a lens is the
focal length this focal length is basically how zoomed in the lens is the higher the number the
more zoomed in the options usually start from 60 millimeters and go up to 105 millimeters so if
i stand in the same spot and take a photo with a 100 millimeter lens and a 60 millimeter lens
you'll see that the 100 millimeter lens is much more zoomed in lenses with a focal length of 90
to 105 millimeters are generally best for dental photography the only time i would recommend a
60 or 85 millimeter lens is if you're really sure it means you don't have to be so far out
from the patient to get a close-up shot if you're really short and you go for a 105 millimeter lens
you might have to tiptoe when trying to take photos when the patient is lying flat in the chair
when it comes to picking up the lens again i think it's down to your budget and the weight
of the lens the more expensive lenses out there have features like image stabilization or better
autofocus motors but both of these features aren't used much in dental photography and they end up
making the lens heavier i've made the list of all the options in the blog post with their respective
prices and weights so you can compare in the list are other brand lenses included such as tamron
sigma and samyang these companies make amazing lenses for canon nikon and sony cameras and
they're a great option when buying these lenses make sure you buy the one for your specific brand
as i mentioned before if you can afford to get the same brand as your camera then go
for it the less brand mixing you do the more compatible and reliable all the parts will be
next up is the flash the flash is the one that will affect how your photos look the most and
this is where you need to choose if you want to go down the more easier more basic route
or the more expensive and advanced route there are three different options you can either go with
a ring flash a twin flash or a twin flash on a bracket there are more advanced options like
massive soft boxes but i'm not going to get into that in this video the ring flash is what
i would recommend for most people because it's the easiest to use and you can consistently get
good anterior and posterior shots the light with a ring flash is very close to the lens
which means light can travel straight all the way down to the back of the mouth and so you'll get
good well-lit posterior shots the disadvantage of the ring flash is that the reflection of the light
on the anterior teeth is not as aesthetically pleasing as with twin flashes the reflection
tends to be around the center of the tooth and makes the image look more flat twin flashes on the
other hand produce a much nicer reflection which highlights the vertical primary anatomy lines and
produces a much nicer texture you can take it a step further by mounting the twin flashes on a
bracket this looks even nicer as you can move the flashes further apart and if you use something to
make the light softer like a diffuser you can get shots that look very soft and hide imperfections
having your flashes on a bracket also allows you to get very well lit posterior shots because you
can move the light very close to the lens and closer to your subject so the light reaches all
the way to the back of the mouth as you can see this is where the twin flash setup gets a little
bit more advanced and complicated so my flash recommendation would be this if you're more of
a beginner and aren't concerned about getting the absolutely best looking anterior shots or
the softest photo get a ring flash i have my recommendations based on budget in the blog post
if you're more concerned about anterior shots like a lot of whitening invisalign or bonding
cases get a twin flash and if you want to take it a step further mount the twin flashes on a bracket
if you're going for the bracket option straight away remember it's best to get
a camera with a wireless flash support and a pair of wireless speed lights to mount on the bracket
this setup will be lighter than getting a twin flash with wires and mounting that on
a bracket in the blog post i'll put a link for the bracket i recommend which is the owl bracket
now if you opt for twin flashes on a bracket or not you can make your photos look much nicer by
making the light softer this is called diffusion and it's when the light passes through some sort
of material which helps the light spread and it makes it look softer rather than very harsh and
bright the diffuser you use will depend on the flash that you have a good starting place is
to google the name of your flash followed by a diffuser you might be able to find specific ones
for your flash if not there are these generic soft boxes that you can buy from amazon that tend to
fit on most flashes a safe and cheap option which is what i have done for my flashes at the moment
is to make your own diffusion paper you need to buy thick 90 gsm tracing paper and some velcro
again links in the blog post for all of this take one sheet of tracing paper and fold it over twice
tape the three edges sharp with some clear tape now depending on the shape of your flash
you need to put velcro on each side so you can attach the paper to a flash like this
you can take it on and off each day and over time if your paper gets ripped or folded you can just
make another one because you have a whole pad of tracing paper this is so easy to do and could
take your photos to the next level if you want to get more professional looking diffusers then
i would recommend dr minesh patel's photography kit i'll put a link for that in the description
so moving on for your flashes you'll most likely need to buy some batteries
flashes require a lot of power so it's best to use a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery
rather than the typical alkaline batteries the most commonly suggested is the panasonic on loop
pro batteries but the ikea larger batteries are a third of the price there's a theory out there
that these ikea batteries are the exact same as the only pro batteries but just branded
differently and it's because there's only one factory currently in japan that can make
these nickel metal hydride batteries so save yourself some money and get the ikea batteries
with the ikea battery charger as well people have tested it and they're basically the same battery
the last thing that's left for the camera is the sd card i suggest you get a fast one so it can
handle saving multiple jpeg and raw files quickly again links for my recommendation are in the blog
post now to store all of this i recommend you get a camera bag i use a newer bag which has lots of
inserts with velcro so you can optimize the shape of the compartments to fit your
equipment it's quite big so i can even fit my loops in there but only buy a camera bag
once you have all your equipment ready so you can be sure that everything will fit in there
so moving on from the camera there's a few more things you'll need to be able to take good photos
those are cheek and lip protractors contrastors mirrors and microfiber cloths again i've got
links for all these in the blog post but i'll just quickly go through why i've chosen each one
cheek retractors come in metal or plastic i personally prefer plastic ones because i think
they're a bit more comfortable for the patient lip protractors are essential when taking occlusal
shots without them the patient's lip tends to curl over the insides or edges and then to move them
you have to use your fingers and now you've got fingers in your photos and it just looks horrible
so make sure you use lip protractors contrastors are great for anterior cases
as you can get photos with black backgrounds they come in either metal finishes or silicon
i would suggest you get the silicone coated ones because they're more durable don't scratch as
quickly and they're more comfortable for the patient sometimes with the metal ones when you
tilt them you might hit the patient's teeth and hurt them or even fracture a bit of the tooth you
can also get ones which are flexible and these are great because it makes them so much easier to hold
the next important item is the mirrors mirrors can come in different coatings like chromium rhodium
titanium or ultra bright dielectric the difference between them is their scratch resistance and
reflectivity chromium coating reflects about 65 of the light rhodium 75 percent titanium 80
and the dielectric ultra bright reflects 99 so of course the best is the dielectric but
they're super expensive my recommendation would be titanium because of their high reflectance and
scratch resistance when buying mirrors watch out because some sights only sell one-sided mirrors
if you can opt for two-sided ones because if you scratch one side you can still use the other side
for photos mirrors come in a variety of sizes and shapes but the three most important ones are the
occlusal buccal and lingual ones for the occlusal one i would recommend getting a long adult one the
long ones are better than the standard because when you hold the mirrors in the corners it's
less likely that your fingers will be in the shop because they're extra long the buckle ones
you can use for your buckle and lingo shots and also your quadrant photos for posteriors lingual
mirrors have a curve which makes it easier to get the mirror in to get your lingo shots because you
can bypass the anterior teeth as always i have links in the description for my recommendation
now if you want your mirrors to last you really need to take good care of them teach everyone in
your team that handles the mirrors on the best way to clean them first of all never wipe them with
a paper towel because they're abrasive and will scratch the surface if you warm up your mirrors
with warm water dry them with either the three in one spray or use a microfiber cloth don't stack
mirrors on top of each other and don't put other instruments on top of them the best way to clean
them is either cold sterilization or autoclave and if you have the budget you can get specific
cassettes to hold your mirrors and lastly there's a couple of accessories for your camera you might
want to buy i recommend having some sort of reliable camera strap just in case you drop
your camera i know it sounds silly but the last thing you want to do is drop a camera on the floor
or even your patient you might also want to get a blower to clean any dust off the camera sensor
when you're taking the lens on and off the camera make sure to hold the camera upside down
this helps prevent dust from getting onto your sensor when dust gets on your sensor you see these
little black spots in your photos consistently if that does happen you need to use one of these
blowers to clean the sensor whatever you do don't try to blow off the dust with your mouth
so that was everything in terms of equipment i know it was a lot but i hope you found it useful
a lot of effort has gone into this series so if you enjoyed this episode please give the video a
like and subscribe so you don't miss out on the next one stay tuned for the next episode where
i'm gonna teach you how to figure out all the different settings for your camera and your flash