My new tiny ultra-portable photo setup

zrlevin · January 18, 2018 11:45PM

I live in the city and don't have space to keep a semi-permanent photo setup or to store a large copystand for my DSLR/macro lens. It's a hassle to get out my camera and lights and align everything anytime a new coin comes in the mail, so my photos can end up pretty out-of-date. I recently got a new phone with a pretty good camera, so I designed and built a mini-copystand for it on my 3D printer. With LED flashlights on custom stands instead of my usual halogen lamps, the setup could be wireless. My goal was just to get decent photos to record my inventory or post inexpensive coins for sale. I wasn't planning to use this to take world class photos of crazy slabbed toners or anything...

Unfortunately the frequency of the LEDs and the camera don't get along. This effect can be averaged out with slow shutter speeds, but this requires the lights to be diffused with parchment paper to dim them for the time being. I'm looking into getting new incandescent flashlights so I can use direct lighting - if anyone has a suggestion, please let me know!

Overall I was very pleased with the results - I included a few examples below. I thought the setup was able to show the luster of the sovereign well and the lighting was even enough to cover the whole surface of the Lafayette. It seemed to do OK for my slabbed AU58 Gettysburg too (which isn't the best slabbed coin to use to test a photo rig but its the only slabbed coin I have ). If anyone has experience using a smartphone to take good coin pictures, I'd love your tips!

northcoin · January 19, 2018 12:19AM

Interesting. Am I correct in seeing some post production work involved as well? Are you using photoshop or something simpler?

Congratulations on the successful use of the 3-D printer to create the copy stand. Looks impressive. I agree with your thoughts about the lighting. If i recall correctly Ott Lites have been used successfully by others trying to photograph coins. Perhaps a superior alternative to incandescent or even halogen.

Looking forward to your checking back after you have tweaked the lighting issues to let us know what worked best.

TeamDennis · January 19, 2018 4:01AM

Very cool set-up.

Jimnight · January 19, 2018 4:18AM

Practice makes perfect.

1630Boston · January 19, 2018 4:29AM

A very inventive idea
Keep posting your future results.

bsshog40 · January 19, 2018 5:05AM

Very creative! Have you tried a diffuser to help cut the glare? may help. I could see a tiny diffuser blind on each end that you can lower and raise. Lol

ricko · January 19, 2018 7:02AM

Very nice set up and great pictures. I am sure the experts can offer tips for improvement, however, in my inexperienced opinion, those pictures are just fine. The picture of the gold coin shows all the details and luster. Cheers, RickO

fastfreddie · January 19, 2018 7:19AM

Very cool. I am more impressed with your utility table you're using for your workshop - Walnut slab crotch with a live edge?
Freddie

RogerB · January 19, 2018 7:26AM

Nice setup!
Could you explain the phrase "frequency of the LEDs" for readers?

EXOJUNKIE · January 19, 2018 8:03AM

Ingenious! Very creative. Well done!

DIMEMAN · January 19, 2018 8:14AM

Very creative. Keep us informed on new changes. You pics look great. Those new phones take great pics.

Dave99B · January 19, 2018 8:40AM

Ingenious setup. You should produce those by the hundreds, and sell them on eBay. I’m dead serious.

The pics are outstanding as well, BTW. Really nice work!

Dave

zrlevin · January 19, 2018 8:43AM

Thank you all for your comments and ideas!

@northcoin said:
Interesting. Am I correct in seeing some post production work involved as well? Are you using photoshop or something simpler?

I didn't edit these photos, just a simple crop and resize. I do not know if my phone automatically makes any tweaks.

@northcoin said:
Looking forward to your checking back after you have tweaked the lighting issues to let us know what worked best.

I have some incandescent mini maglites coming today to try out - I'll let you know how they work out!

@fastfreddie said:
Very cool. I am more impressed with your utility table you're using for your workshop - Walnut slab crotch with a live edge?
Freddie

Yep, exactly! It's my kitchen table.

@RogerB said:
Nice setup!
Could you explain the phrase "frequency of the LEDs" for readers?

My rudimentary understanding is that just like your TV and fluorescent lights, these LED flashlights flicker really fast (too fast to see). When the phone takes a picture, it captures the image from one side to the other rather than all at once. If your shutter speed is too fast and it scans the pixels too quickly, it will catch your lighting while it's 'off' and leave dark bands in your images. Taking a longer exposure will allow the LEDs to flicker several times for each region of the image, averaging out the bands.

RogerB · January 19, 2018 9:24AM

Thanks for the added info.

There are likely settings in your phone camera that will remove some of all of the post-processing that seems to be happening. You'll probably get better looking photos without the digital sharpening, contrast and other "stuff" added by the manufacturers.

ms70 · January 19, 2018 11:20AM

Coin dealers with crappy website photos TAKE NOTE. It's not that hard.

BryceM · January 19, 2018 11:30AM

I like it! If you keep at it I’m sure you’ll find a lighting solution that works great. Really, the sensors & lenses in the new phones are amazing. Imagine where they’ll be in a few more years.

guitarwes · January 19, 2018 12:03PM

@fastfreddie said:
Very cool. I am more impressed with your utility table you're using for your workshop - Walnut slab crotch with a live edge?
Freddie

That was exactly my first thought.

sparky64 · January 19, 2018 12:12PM

That setup is cuter than a speckled pup in a little red wagon. I like it.

stealer · January 19, 2018 12:37PM

@zrlevin @RogerB

Just for posterity, other types of bulbs have an inherent frequency depending on the power source and their physical construction:

https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/13400/what-invisible-flicker-do-different-types-of-light-bulbs-have

On the other hand, (like the SO post says), LEDs are inherently constant by construction, but may have a built in flickering mechanism to reduce brightness.

Re: taking photos left to right, I was very suspect that it was actually the correct explanation for the bands based on the fact that digital cameras act like film, but instead of using photosensitive materials, they expose an array of sensors to light.

Here is an explanation for the bands:

https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/84533/how-can-i-avoid-dark-horizontal-lines-stripes-or-bands-with-led-lighting

It also explains why long exposures work better. Taking the terminology from the SO post, the PWM likely follows a fixed pattern when turning off portions of the array of LEDs to simulate a dimmer light. My guess is then that using a shutter speed that is longer than the PWM's period would eliminate these artifacts since the camera's sensors would be exposed for an entire cycle and thus the sensors will see all the lights as on.

MikeInFL · January 19, 2018 12:47PM

Considering your small setup, those are excellent pictures.

With a little work they could be even better. Dial back the exposure a bit, and then use post processing (you can do it right on your Android) to boost it back up. Your highlights are blown and the pictures are just a hair overexposed.

That last part offered as constructive criticism and a helping hand in improvement. Again, excellent photos and thanks for sharing...Mike

RogerB · January 19, 2018 1:46PM

Yep. "Flicker" might be the better term. If the problem were inherent to the LED flashlights, diffusion would have no effect; also, there would be two overlapping patterns. Lastly, power is from a DC source and not the AC grid, and flicker is related to the power grid not the LED itself.

zrlevin · January 19, 2018 2:47PM

@MikeInFL said:
Considering your small setup, those are excellent pictures.

With a little work they could be even better. Dial back the exposure a bit, and then use post processing (you can do it right on your Android) to boost it back up. Your highlights are blown and the pictures are just a hair overexposed.

That last part offered as constructive criticism and a helping hand in improvement. Again, excellent photos and thanks for sharing...Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the feedback. No question that photo is overexposed. I'm currently not able to dial back the exposure at all due to the LED issue, so my solution so far has been more layers of parchment paper in the diffusers to reduce the amount of light. I've got new lights coming today which should give me much more flexibility with the photo parameters.

Zach

Stork · January 19, 2018 3:14PM

How are you triggering the shutter release? When I use my phone for things to big for my regular photo set up (medals) I set it on a stable surface and use a blue tooth shutter release to avoid any phone shake. I thing some headsets can use a volume control button for the same function. This is the one I got (out of stock, but there are many more of them):

https://amazon.com/gp/product/B01EUAS20U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I really like that stand you made...and the table too.