Advise needed : Taking macro of hardware

[Wai]

My latest graphic card review contains quite a number of photos of the cards, however i encounter these problems:

1. either too dark or too bright when no flash is use, problem with metering properly...
2. reflection by the hardware when i use flash
3. barrel distortion (can be solved by PS or crop out center part of the photo)
4. dunno should use macro or not
5. cannot see the details on the hardware
6. have to keep a photo below 70kb to speed up loading, how should i compress it??
7. difficulty in focusing
8. most of the pic are blur, even i use tripod

some of the photo can be found
http://www.reviewmakers.com/showdoc.php?review=23&pg=1
http://www.reviewmakers.com/showdoc.php?review=23&pg=2
http://www.reviewmakers.com/showdoc.php?review=23&pg=3
http://www.reviewmakers.com/showdoc.php?review=23&pg=4
http://www.reviewmakers.com/showdoc.php?review=23&pg=5


Can someone teach me the best way to take photos of hardware? I dun have studio light at home, not even a table lamp.

how should i compose my picture??
directly from top?? - it cast shadow
from the front?? - difficult to make everything "stand" properly

 

[Wai]

also, how should i take picture directly from monitor using Digital camera?

 

[mpenza]

a bounce flash could help with shadow problems.

you probably want to use a small aperture in order to have the greatest depth of view.

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by kamwai
also, how should i take picture directly from monitor using Digital camera?

Set shutter to 1/30 or so, put the camera on tripod, set it square to the monitor, exactly parallel then shoot.

Regards
CK

 

[Wai]

Originally posted by mpenza
a bounce flash could help with shadow problems.

you probably want to use a small aperture in order to have the greatest depth of view.

bounce flash still can see the reflection

already use F8, but exposure abt 4 to 7 seconds, so it is quite noisy and blur even with tripod

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by kamwai
My latest graphic card review contains quite a number of photos of the cards, however i encounter these problems:

1. either too dark or too bright when no flash is use, problem with metering properly...
2. reflection by the hardware when i use flash
3. barrel distortion (can be solved by PS or crop out center part of the photo)
4. dunno should use macro or not
5. cannot see the details on the hardware
6. have to keep a photo below 70kb to speed up loading, how should i compress it??
7. difficulty in focusing
8. most of the pic are blur, even i use tripod

Can someone teach me the best way to take photos of hardware? I dun have studio light at home, not even a table lamp.

how should i compose my picture??
directly from top?? - it cast shadow
from the front?? - difficult to make everything "stand" properly

How about something like this? This was taken with a Nikon Coolpix 950 and a single SB28 bounced off a foam board (on top, slightly angled towards the card) and a home made seamless background (mahjong paper).

Usually, I find that taking pictures of cards directly from the front is not so nice. But if you want to do it, set the card at an angle, set the camera parallel to the card then shoot. Also use bounced flash.

Set the picture to like 500-600 pixels on the wide/tall side, compress using JPEG Level 4 to 5, and that should yield a file less than 50K and still maintain good quality.

Use a small aperture to ensure good DoF. This will also mean low shutter speeds, so tripod is a must. Don't trigger the shutter by your finger, use a remote cord if available or self timer.

Some cameras cannot focus so close, even in macro mode, so you might want to take note of that.

Regards
CK

 

[Wai]

nice background u have got there

but i want to take from the top of the card to show EVERY components on the card...and i want them to be very clear

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by kamwai
nice background u have got there

but i want to take from the top of the card to show EVERY components on the card...and i want them to be very clear

Like this? This is shot using the technique I mentioned above (angled card).

The larger version is here

Regards
CK

 

[Wai]

Originally posted by ckiang


Like this? This is shot using the technique I mentioned above (angled card).

The larger version is here

Regards
CK

yes...but still not sharp enough leh....but the lighting is even, nice...

argh...audigy...i am so tempted to get....and your photo reminded me...

 

[ckiang]

Hi,

Originally posted by kamwai


yes...but still not sharp enough leh....but the lighting is even, nice...

argh...audigy...i am so tempted to get....and your photo reminded me...

You should get. Comes with free FireWire Port and great sound.

Anyway, did you see the larger version? Can see the labels of every single component and even the part numbers of the chips!

And this is only 2 megapixels. With a higher resolution camera, you should be able to resolve more details. There is also a limit to how much detail a given lens/sensor combination can resolve. Obviously, if you have something like a Nikon D1X + Nikkor AF 105mm f2.8 Micro lens, you will get a LOT better results.

I did a lot of experiments to get the lighting and other technicalities right. So, just experiment, play around with settings, various lighting, etc.

Regards
CK

 

[willyfoo]

I just set up a mini studio for my client to help him take his product shots....

I found the softbox very useful in diffusing the light... and for the 707, you have to use hotlights, not strobes.

 

[Wai]

Originally posted by willyfoo
I just set up a mini studio for my client to help him take his product shots....

I found the softbox very useful in diffusing the light... and for the 707, you have to use hotlights, not strobes.

softbox??

hotlights??

strobes???

can explain in layman? thanks!