Camera experimenting

woodsrunner

For some reason I can't take decent digital pictures of guns. Just trying to see what this looks like.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-2/113543/MVC-019S.JPG

Woods

woodsrunner

In case anybody cares. Clockwise from top. Navy arms 1858 Remington replica, Pre WWII comercial Colt 1911, S&W 27-2, 1920's vintage Colt 38 officers model, S&W 44 special "Triple lock", Colt 1851 navy reissue, Colt woodsman from 1949, 1908 Colt "vest pocket" 25, Armi San Marco 1851 navy Richards conversion 38 special.

Woods

brier-49

nice collection! it looks to me that you are taking the picture from to far away,but im not an expert.even so great guns

woodsrunner

I can't get a decent no glare picture with the flash. Without the flash it's too dark. Maybe David will see this and tutor me a little. I know he uses a mavica also.

Woods

Suspension

whens the auction start????[;)]

nice pieces! Picture seems okay to me? Are they oiled up a lot, can that effect your glare any?

NRA Life Member ---"A pocket knife, a clean hankey, and a pistol... things I can use." - Ted Nugent

chorkie

Try placing a tissue over the flash or just use the "edit" feature in your photo package software (some cameras have this in the camera itself).

???

CS8161

Looks a little out of focus too, what kind of digital camera is it? How many pixels?

Chris8161
Admit nothing, deny everything, demand proof!

woodsrunner

lets try this one. Lighting is now indirect with no flash. Also much closer.

Woods

dheffley

quote:Originally posted by woodsrunner
For some reason I can't take decent digital pictures of guns. Just trying to see what this looks like.

Best trick of all is to take the picture outside in natural light. You'll like the results.

How you doin'!

Colt Super

Woods - I've got 2 Mavicas - one with the floppy and 1 with the CDROM.

I'd set the resolution another notch higher, and try the flash on the "-"(minus) setting.

When I do shots like this, I also use as much lamplight as I can, with the lamps at different positions around the subject.

Outdoor natural light is also good.

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offeror

Woods -- These new cameras are so light sensitive that they can do without a flash indoors, as long as you bring in a work lamp with about a 100 watt bulb and point it at your guns to bring out the color. I have used a $5 garage work lamp with a porch light bulb, and I have also used a $15 halogen-300watt job to do this with great success. The light can be 3-5 feet away for longer shots and a couple feet away for single guns. You should be able to tell when you have enough light in the viewer.

The "jaggies" are caused by the lower resolution combined with the JPG compression. The Sony Mavica has at least two settings, one lower, one higher, and it saves the pictures to a compressed format, JPG. If you use the higher resolution initially you'll get better original pics (more picture information) to download to your PC, but then you will want to use a Paint program like PhotoDeluxe or Paint Shop Pro to practice "optimizing" your photo size for the web. The nice thing about the "export" or "optimize" feature in these newer Paint programs is you get a real-time preview of the result as you adjust the compression, so you can choose the most file reduction that still leaves the picture looking sharp enough.

T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."

NRA Life Member

woodsrunner

Just how fast are these camera's? I'm wondering if part of the problem is me moving the camera when I'm taking the picture. What cracks me up is the camera is tapped on the bottom for a tripod, but there is no way to trip it remotely without touching the camera.

Woods

barto

Woods-
On my Mavica I have to hold the button about 1/2 way down for a split second before snapping the pix. A little green light glows when it is in focus. Might also try that.
[^][^]barto

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.-JFK

offeror

woods -- Pretty fast. I guess you could ruin a shot by moving the camera while shooting, but as long as you hold it still you should be alright. I don't think the problem is moving the camera. Everything is automatic on these, so if there is an automatic iris in yours, you will again benefit by adding a work light, desk lamp, or table lamp to bring out highlights, since the overall light will also increace, and that should allow a smaller aperture size as well. I haven't broken down the internal parts of these things, but I imagine it is still true that the softest focus tends to come with the lowest light conditions, since these probably still have to adjust the same way the film cams did. It's a good point and worth considering, but again, you don't need a ton of light with these, just a nearby source dedicated to your shooting. Good close-up of the two guns by the way. What I have done several times in the past, instead of shooting a long shot of a passle of guns, is shoot them like you are doing one or two at a time -- then I create a "collage" of the pictures into one image in a Paint program. Of course, that takes a little bit of training on the Help files to learn how to use Paint Shop or PhotoShop to cut 'n paste images together into one canvas, if you've never done it before. I do think your latter picture is now getting to be acceptable quality for web use though. I'd call that a pretty good success, over the earlier pic. Congrats.



T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."

NRA Life Member

Iconoclast

Woods, I try to use natural light only by taking the photos far from a window on a cloudy day or early in the day. With a smooth metallic surface, the flash is a killer (I don't have the more flexible detachable flash for my camera yet). Sometimes I must lighten the image slightly in the editing process. I use a different brand of camera which has a delayed shutter function built in, but all good cameras have a provision for adding a remote shutter device (don't know the technical name) and timed shutter release. A small tripod will serve all your needs with a little ingenuity (e.g., putting the camera on the edge of a table and shooting toward a lower place) and the absolute stability of the tripod is an enormous help. All the photos in the below listing were taken following this procedure:

http://gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=16114134



"There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain) ". . . And DemoCraps" (me)

offeror

Icono is right about an inexpensive tripod helping improve shots. I have used good and bad tripods, and when I'm shooting in a hurry, trying to adjust a cheaper one to just the right position can take longer than doing the job by hand. If you have a steady hand, you can live without one for SOME of your picture sessions. But there ARE times, as when adjusting an item just the right way to look best in the frame, that a fixed tripod can be a big help, and since they cost only $15-35 at discount store camera departments, there's no reason not to have one in your arsenal of camera accessories.

T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."

NRA Life Member