Toy Photography, Cameras, and Camera Phones

Discussion in 'Whatever' started by Madmax405, Mar 14, 2019.

  1. zindabad

    zindabad Line of Credit

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    Just here to plug the hell out of Night Sight. @Roger knows where it's at :)

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. Roger

    Roger Vintage

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    Sweet!
     
  3. Roger

    Roger Vintage

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    Last edited: Apr 12, 2022
  4. Roger

    Roger Vintage

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    Last edited: Apr 12, 2022
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  5. blakewest

    blakewest Post Pimp

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    Does anyone have experience using a light tent like one of these from Amazon?
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GIL6EU4
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MTG257V

    The light in my place sucks, and I don't have great options for outdoor shots either. So I've been looking for a way to get better shots indoors. I even thought it might be possible to put different backdrops behind the figures. I have some ideas for Captain Ultra space backgrounds that I'd like to try.

    Is one of these things worth the cost?
     
  6. zindabad

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    Damn I want a light tent now (and absolutely should not be buying one). Curious as well!
     
  7. Radin

    Radin Toy Prince

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  8. blakewest

    blakewest Post Pimp

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  9. gatchabert

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    It really boils down to what you want for your pics. I've used. Pixel3 and now a 4 for a lot of my pics. My DSLR is a simple Sony a6000 with a nifty 50mm. Never found use for the light tent I inherited. I just use paper to diffuse light where needed (or reflect light). One thing I did notice, when I would port over pics from the camera to phone, the Pixel's camera software would adjust the colors on its own. Really annoying. They way I see it, if I wanted to make a print then I'd use the Sony. If it's just going to IG then I just use my phone.
     
  10. blakewest

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    OK. I ordered this cheap tent and took some test shots. I have an LG V30 phone and used the manual mode. I started out with auto settings and then adjusted the ISO and shutter speed (?) so the screen preview looked better. I don't know what any of that means yet. Just read to do it. Afterward I only cropped the pictures.

    Seems pretty good size for 6 inch or smaller figures. The standard size was a little cramped. I feel like I still got pretty grainy results, but this was my first try. Hopefully working with it I can get better results. Will post more shots in the Marmit thread.

    I've been wanting to have a better way to take pictures to share, but I also want a shot of each toy for record keeping. This will probably be sufficient for that.

    Small guy
    [​IMG]

    6-inch
    [​IMG]

    Standard
    [​IMG]
     
  11. brobles

    brobles S7 Royalty

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    for the larger figures you can either crop like suggested above or photoshop the background if you have that option.

    I decided to buy a fairly cheap light box after my own DIY project fell apart from use. It even came with several background colors and I’ve used the options provided.
     
  12. gatchabert

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    @blakewest
    They came out looking good. The easiest way to see what ISO and shutter speed do is to just play with them. You can probably just leave the ISO setting and play with the shutter speed, that's how film cameras work. With an old school film camera, the ISO is set by the film you used so if you needed more light, you need to change your shutter speed (among other settings). Lower shutter speed needs steadier hands (or a tripod). If you find yourself moving each time you take a shot, just use the timer so you can brace yourself and not have to worry about tapping the screen. When you shoot outdoors, you can play with the aperture setting (which also has to do with light, just to make it more confusing) or f-stop. Basically, a lower setting makes for a blurrier background (depth of field). If I shoot with my DSLR, I'll shoot a few pics using different f-stop settings and then pick the one I like after the shoot.
    Anyway, there's guys on here more knowledgeable than me so I'm going to stop before I say something wrong. Hahaha.
     
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  13. xSuicide Squadx

    xSuicide Squadx Super Deformed

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    @blakewest This is all coming from me and what limited, hands - on knowledge I’ve obtained from using my DSLR. So take it with a grain of salt, and Google is your friend, not my babble speak! :lol:

    ISO and shutter speed pretty much work hand in hand. ISO basically handles the camera sensor’s sensitivity to whatever light is present. The higher the ISO, the higher the sensitivity to surrounding light, therefore the brighter the image produced. Shutter speed is how long the camera shutter stays open to draw in light before closing(or how quickly it opens/closes). Darker settings will require either a high ISO and a quick shutter speed, or a low ISO and a long shutter speed(which needs the use of a tripod as gatcha suggested). The drawback to a high ISO and a quick shutter speed in darker settings is photo noise. It’s the grain that gets produced over an image due to the high sensitivity of light hitting the camera’s sensor. So if you can help it, always go lowest ISO setting and a tripod, but experiment with the shutter speeds. It’s a whole lot of trial and error. I have issues with comprehension and information retention, so a lot of what I know is from just futzin’ around and figurin’ out what does/doesn’t work. And I’m still learnin’ new things all the time! But the shots you brought here look solid! Big fan of the Miura Toy mini!
     
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  14. akum6n

    akum6n Vintage

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  15. blakewest

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    Thanks for the additional info. I think I have a setup now I can spend some time with fine tuning, and I have some more ideas what to fiddle with.

    It's nice to hear that folks like the shots I posted. :)

    I was using a little tripod and had one of those bluetooth shutter release gizmos. My hands shake like hell! I don't have a lot of space, so the fact that the light tent I bought folds up is pretty nice. I also discovered that the LED lights can produce three different color shades. I don't think I had the pure white light on the shots above. I switched to the white light for the shots I took in my sale thread, and I liked the results better.
     
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  16. blakewest

    blakewest Post Pimp

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    Tried shooting in my light box with a Pixel 3a, which does not seem to have a manual mode. I think I got crisper images. Adjusted the white balance afterward in GIMP to get a more pure white background.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. gatchabert

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    Pixel cameras are great. The software allows you to make simple adjustments for exposure and contrast before you take the pic, then touch up after you snap the pic. For a few years they were much better than iPhone cameras (Apple finally caught up after two or three years). Night Sight is amazing. The one thing, if you shoot and want that juicy Boca, nothing will beat any SLR (or DSLR). Again, the difference will only matter if you want high res images.
    Going back to the Pixel, you can edit the image from your phone. Brightness/Contrast work together and affects the overall pic. Highlight/Shadows affects the extreme light/dark. Temperature or Warmth (not sure why they call it warmth) is basically your white balance.

    Looking good and congrats on that Steven the bat score.
     
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  18. xSuicide Squadx

    xSuicide Squadx Super Deformed

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    Temperature is usually the manual adjustment tool, and cool/warmth is the left/right of the toggle. Further left gets you bluer, colder tones, while further right will give you warmer, yellow/orange tones. White balance is more the automatic tool that tries to neutralize temperatures of the photo to its natural appearance. Setting a white balance is kind of a preempt to having less temperature correction post edit. This is all, of course, according to my perception of use with my DSLR! :oops:

    Shooting with cameras like the Pixel Series, iPhones or even point and shoots are great ‘cause a lot of results hit the photo at the shot when it’s taken. In addition to ‘Bert’s mention of high res, I also find massive benefit in shooting RAW on a DSLR, as it allows me much more creative leeway in post edit, which I *love* to do and experiment with. That Steven shot looks *awesome*, and it’s also a damn great Bat. Congrats on both your results and the toy itself! :mrgreen:
     
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  19. gatchabert

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    I just looked at the other settings in the Pixel. White/Black point can help adjust...ummm... brightness (for lack of a better term). I think this only affects the brightest white and the darkest black versus all the white/black values in highlights/shadows. That's just a guess from tinkering with them.
     
  20. Roger

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    Last edited: Aug 3, 2021
  21. Roger

    Roger Vintage

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  22. Madmax405

    Madmax405 Addicted

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    I've moved up to the Samsung S22 Ultra and the pictures look amazing just shot as is. It's incredible how far the camera phones (and, just as importantly, their software) has come. More and more it seems true that you need to be truly passionate about photography before even bothering with a separate device as a camera.
     
  23. akum6n

    akum6n Vintage

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    Just wanted to share a cool lighting tool that I found recently: SGOT! Hobby Lighting Base by Doyusha

    Hobbylink Japan product page: https://www.hlj.com/sugo-hobby-lighting-base-a5-dys13000

    It also comes in an A4 size version. I feel like the product photos don't really do it justice, but it is a very thin light plate that gives you even underlighting or backlighting for your photos. It uses a micro USB cable for power, so you either need to be near a computer or have an adapter for the wall outlet.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  24. blakewest

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    The product page says "SUGO!". Is that supposed to be "sugoi" with an exclamation mark for the "i"?
     
  25. xSuicide Squadx

    xSuicide Squadx Super Deformed

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    This is awesome, Daniel, thank you for sharing!!! Is that textured cover removable for a solely white lit floor/background, or is that inherently a part of it?
     

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