taking phots of miniatures - which camera or phone?

[Daveum79]

Hi everyone.

I would like to to take photos of some of my small model scenes that combine very small HO size (1:87) figures, that I can then turn into prints up to A3. I'm looking for reasonable results that will print well but not anything that requires great investment to begin with. I am fairly good with photoshop so can do final touch ups there hence having a very expensive camera isn't a requirements at the moment since i'd like to learn and invest further down the line.

Can anyone provide any advice on a suitable entry level camera or phone? I have a small budget so would probably have to buy a camera secondhand. However,I 'm due a phone upgrade so not sure if there are any decent new phones out there that might be a good starting point.

All shots will be taken indoors on a table using a white background. Most shots are aerial or maybe a foot away from subject with various figures in different positions. The most important factor is trying to retain some of the detail on figures especially face.

If anyone can offer any guidance it would be appreciated.

 

[megroot]

https://www.planetfigure.com/pages/Photographing-miniatures-and-figures/

very interesting article, it answers all your questions

Marc

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

That's a really good article! Thanks for sharing. The only thing I would add is that I have several IKEA Tertial lamps which I've fitted 5000k bulbs, I use a roll of white paper for a backdrop or a sheet of black fabric. Total cost was about £30.

In terms of cameras, I think there are issues with some phone cameras as the firmwear adjusts the images in ways you can't control. I use a DSLR I've had for over a decade with a 50mm lens that does a decen't job I think. I also have a cable to connect the camera to my phone to avoid any movement when I take the picture.

 

[megroot]

No, that 50 mm don't do the job.
You will need a macro lens or a extension tube.
You can also take the picture from further away and with Photoshop you can look like it is a fullscreen picture. I do the same with my camera. In macro it doesn'tlook right. So i take the picture from further away. I take a 42x 59 cm picture and made a 18x13 of it in Photoshop.
Avoid a white background. The camera will see it as 18% grey and your colors aren'tlooking good. Black looks always the best with a one stop under the light exposure.



Marc

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

I might try that, although I can’t very far from the object I’m photographing in my shed. To be fair I’ve not got any complaints about the images on m getting from the 50 in terms of image quality, I’d be interested to hear what’s ‘wrong’ with them from a technical point of view and how I could improve them.

 

[Blind Pew]

I'm no expert, as photographing stuff is almost a hobby in itself, but I would avoid a white background.

 

[marco14]

oh boy,if I must take pictures from a bust whell.......... I hate it,it's never good I got just a digital cheap little camera
but it works hé

Mario

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

I'm no expert, as photographing stuff is almost a hobby in itself, but I would avoid a white background.

Agreed, although one approach is to use a white background with angled lights to make it look grey, something like this:



Also, sorry for the obnoxiously large images, this should be better.