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Message
Posted
I'm going to have to give in - none of the photographs I've taken of my paintings lately have done them justice (and Lord knows, they have enough to contend with without bad photography). Plus, I really hate using softward to manipulate them into better shape, because to me that's a bit of a cheat. So I'm going to have to get a better camera - not the very latest thing with all bells and whistles - I'd never manage it, and would hate to have to pay over the odds for it: Mean is my middle name.
So - your recommendations please: camera? Ipod? Tablet? Iphone? I frankly don't know where to start - but just about all of you are producing far better photographs than I am, so I'm assuming and trusting that you'll have an idea or two.
Posted
Robert I have a couple of good cameras but only use my iPad or occasionally my iPhone to take the photos of my paintings .
I do what Alan Bickley suggested and put them on the floor but not in direct sunlight, I sometimes loose a bit of the vibrancy but not a lot . I crop them to size using the iPad software not photoshop etc . Until a year or two ago I would never have used the pad or phone but it is much easier as they are where you want them instantly no need to transfer etc, as my phone and pad are linked they show up on each device which is a added benefit.
Posted
I’ve got lots of ideas and it’s time you had something better to work with!
I’ve got a Nikon DSLR but only because I have to send hi-res images to the magazine… you definitely don’t need anything like that of course.
Depends how much money you want to lash out. Let me mull it over and see what I can suggest!
Posted
I get really good images using my iPad, but always take the photos in daylight. I do use the edit function, not to manipulate the image, but there’s a really useful ‘auto’ option which fixes any slight discrepancies in exposure. I have, though, found for some time - I think it was since the last site upgrade on POL - that when I upload my images to the gallery, the colours appear a lot duller than the image on my iPad, and I have to up the vibrancy quite a bit before posting to get the same result.
Edited
by Jenny Harris
Posted
An iPad Air May be a good solution it’s a bit smaller and lighter than a conventional iPad.. I also Tend to use my iPhone as easier to handle! However that’s expensive if buying new models! Any smart phone should do the job but can’t say anything about quality although I am sure others will advise on other types available. I am impressed with the results I get with my apple phone and ipad! I rarely use my camera these days! Good luck Robert!
Posted
I use my iphone, it takes images that are more than adequate for projection or viewing on a screen and you can use the simple editing tools to crop the edges. However should you wish to print your images at a decent level of resolution you would need a modern camera. I use my full frame Canon DSLR for this and get them printed professionally using archival paper and inks.
Edited
by Alan Morris
Posted
A modest camera is almost certainly cheaper than an iPad or iPhone, but be careful Robert, even with a relatively upmarket camera odd things happen. I have a (slightly old) Nikon D90 but even so I find I need to take a series of photos at different aperture settings before I get something that looks like the original painting - the difference between shots is often marked and more than slightly surprising. I am sure it all has something to do with the electronics and there are other exotic things to fiddle with such a 'white balance' which I don't really understand. I would make sure that if you do buy a camera you can change the aperture settings, at least. On occasion I have been known to tweak the brightness and/or contrast on my laptop (GIMP is a good free tweaking programme). I won't tweak anything else but it still feels like cheating even though the final image is as close to the original artwork as my eye can tell. My late wife had a Panasonic Lumix TZ 30(?), probably long replaced but it was the best small camera I have come across, though I never photographed paintings with it. If you go for an iPad, one of the forum members (I'll remember who, tomorrow, possibly), recommended an App called Photoscan which I downloaded (so it must have been free) though I have never used it. Apparently it takes several images and combines them into something decent, but perhaps this note will jog someone's memory.
Posted
iPads and iPhones have excellent cameras, I’ve got both but they come at a price….
I’ve had a little Nikon Coolpix digital camera a while ago and found it excellent, in fact if you go on the Saatchi website the guy is demonstrating how to photograph your work, and he’s using one.
It’s got an automatic setting so it’s basically a point and shoot job!
There’s lots of models but if you go to Amazon there’s this one at £85… mine was around £350 I believe but these things just get cheaper!
Nikon Coolpix S220 Digital Camera - Red (10.0MP, 3x Optical Zoom) 2.5 inch LCD
That will give you excellent medium res photos and from the best camera manufacturer.
I’m not sure if it has cropping features etc but I can check that out if you’re interested.
Posted
I can always crop an image, provided it can be uploaded to my PC, so that looks like a very good option from Alan, and the price well within my target. Will give this thought - yes, I do put them on the floor and photograph them there, cunningly cutting out my tootsies, but I think my old Olympus, plus my own limitations, is doing me no favours.
It's fine for what we used to call "snaps", but when I contrast the pictures a friend of mine took on his Iphone (I think) the quality is so much greater than I realized I was using rather ancient technology. At least it wasn't a Kodak Box Brownie - how I miss that old camera!