Dental photography is key for treatment planning, presentation, lab communication, social media, and much more. There's a lot to learn about dental photography, so if you want tips and tricks on taking the best dental photos, check out our guide. This guide will be focused on the best gear to buy for dental photography.
Tips for Using this Guide
Try to buy all gear used if possible to save on cost. There's no reason to buy brand new equipment as your gear will be abused in the dental setting. Look for good condition equipment that is 100% functional, check eBay, Amazon, B&H Used Department, etc. The only thing you may have to buy new is the flash as there aren't many used flashes on the market. SD cards may be bought new due to their relatively low cost (and you don't want to risk the integrity of the card when buying used).
There's a new wave of compact mirrorless cameras that tend to be smaller and lightweight with no moving shutter. They are typically more expensive than non-mirrorless DSLR cameras. For dental photography, a traditional non-mirrorless DSLR camera works just fine, so only splurge on mirrorless cameras if you have the cash and want the latest tech. A lot of lenses on the market are designed for traditional non-mirrorless DSLRs cameras (ex: EF mount). If you buy a mirrorless camera, you'll typically want to buy lenses designed for mirrorless (ex: RF mount) but there are adapters to fit non-mirrorless lenses to mirrorless cameras (ex: EF to RF adapter).
Flashes and other accessories typically mount on the lens. Each lens has a filter size (typically measured in mm), and you want to make sure the flash or whatever accessory you're attaching can fit your lens filter size. They also make adapters for filter sizes.
This guide is periodically updated for the latest/best gear.
Camera
Budget: Canon Rebel T8i (non-mirrorless)
Ideal: Canon EOS RP (mirrorless)
Lens
Budget: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM (discontinued but works great)
Ideal:
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens (for non-mirrorless cameras unless you buy lens adapter)
Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM Lens (for mirrorless cameras)
Flash
Ring flash: Canon MR-14EX II Macro Flash
Twin flash: Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-26EX-RT
Memory Cards
SanDisk - Extreme Pro 128GB SDXC UHS-II Memory Card
