How do I get sharper images? NX1100

great to know you are already considering using artificial lighting. there is nothing wrong with it as long as you set-up properly. truth is, natural light is not really enough for such photography.

also, beautiful beads.

jennyrae wrote:

great to know you are already considering using artificial lighting. there is nothing wrong with it as long as you set-up properly. truth is, natural light is not really enough for such photography.

also, beautiful beads.

What I'm finding is that any light source is enough light with this new camera. With my old camera, ISO 100 was the highest I could go. The problem is that natural light from the window can make some beads look washed out.

Here is an example of what I was talking about in the previous post. On the left is a crop from the picture under natural light, and on the right is a crop from the picture under lamp light. The light reflections (from the window) on the beads to the left look more natural, but they're larger, and the colors are washed out. On the right, I don't like the pin-point light reflections from the lamp, but the colors can be seen better. I don't want to move to a fancy set-up with a light dome and large lamps, because that's just too much trouble.

(To make the beads look the same size, the crop on the right had to be reduced, which makes it look crisper than it did right out of the camera.)

I'm raising this thread to the top to let people know how things turned out.  My original complaint was that the photographs of my beads (which I sell for a living) were coming out very soft.

My initial solution was to increase the ISO to 400 because that caused the aperture to be smaller.  Several people advised me to just set the aperture to where I wanted it, and that's what I ended up doing.  I'm now setting it at F-5.6, and all my shots are coming out sharp (except for the occasional shot that has severe hand shake).

For 12 years I have been photographing my beads in natural daylight in front of a window, and I think I am going to abandon that also.  Daylight from the window (meaning ambient daylight, not direct sunlight) makes the beads look washed out, and I was also getting a huge reflection on each bead from the window.  (Direct sunlight doesn't work because the shadows are too dark.)

Amazingly, the ISO capabilities of this camera are so good that I can get really excellent results from photographing under one 60-watt (equivalent) bulb.  My old point-and-shoot camera couldn't make anything look good under such a weak bulb.  After 12 years of using a point-and-shoot, it's pretty shocking to be able to put beads on a plate, stick them under my desk lamp, and get fabulous pictures.

In my desk lamp I use a daylight-balanced bulb (5000 kelvins).  Since 5000 kelvins is "daylight", I initially set the camera to daylight" and then to "cloudy", but the photos came out way too yellow.  So I looked at the camera settings, and I was surprised to find that the camera has three florescent settings:  4200K, 5000K and 6500K.  Setting the camera to 5000K resulted in nearly perfect pictures.  I took photos under a 60-watt-equivalent LED bulb and also under a 75-watt-equivalent florescent bulb (both 5000K), and the florescent bulb gave me the better results.  I am getting a light reflection on each bead from the bulb, but it is smaller than the light reflection that I get at the window, so it's not a problem.

The color-accuracy of this camera is so good that I haven't had to make any adjustments to the colors (so far).

So anyway, that's where things stand, just in case you are curious.  I am still grateful for all the good advice I got.

What a fabulous camera this is!

Thanks for reporting.  Samsung gives great value at entry level.  You can even specify a color temperature or tweak auto white balance.

Your type of photography takes a nice diffuse light plus some specular highlights (your desk lamp). You made the first step with a fixed setup.  A small tent or a diffused lamp could do wonders. Handheld seems faster but if the camera were on a tripod, you could simply swap beads in and out quickly.  And, again, Samsung does have a cable release point-those cost about $5-10.

Continued success.

good to hear you figure out the various white balance daylight setting on your own.

if you want to reduce reflection, you have several options. you can bounce lighting off wall (indirect light) rather than lamp focused on product (direct light). use a polarizer on the lamp or cover it with it. or use a light tent for your products.

a polarized film cost about $5 and a light tent is $10-$15.  consider these options if you want to go further on learning and improving your product's pictures for your website in the future.

also, it is nice to hear you appreciate camera and willing to learn and use it's capacity at it's fullest. seldom that I see smart people like you that is willing to learn and improve picture taking ability and I appreciate that. I guess that is difference when you use camera for a living as opposed to some that are novice hobbyists or gadget-focused individuals that blame equipment for their own incapacity or even as ridiculous as finding fault in camera that has nothing to do with photography.

with the right mindset and acquired skill, you can bring out the best out of the camera and most importantly, yourself.

Gesture wrote:

Thanks for reporting. Samsung gives great value at entry level. You can even specify a color temperature or tweak auto white balance.

Your type of photography takes a nice diffuse light plus some specular highlights (your desk lamp). You made the first step with a fixed setup. A small tent or a diffused lamp could do wonders. Handheld seems faster but if the camera were on a tripod, you could simply swap beads in and out quickly. And, again, Samsung does have a cable release point-those cost about $5-10.

Continued success.

I used a light tent once and didn't like the results.  It made the beads look dull.  In fact, it made shiny beads appear to have a matte finish.  I realized at that time that some clear light reflections are needed to make it evident to the customer that the beads are shiny.

Using a diffuser on a lamp may not be the best thing to do either.  I've seen beads photographed with a diffuser, and it puts a big, bright reflection on each bead in the same way that a window does.  If I use a lamp with one small, bright bulb in it, then the light reflection is limited to one dot on each bead.

I'm still trying to make my hand-held shots work.  If I get a tripod, I'll post my experience here.

TJL LTFF wrote:

I have followed this thread somewhat - didn't really have any advice - but was confident the OP would find the right way to maximize results with the NX equipment.

I just wanted to 2nd Gesture on the cable release suggestion. I use it in similar situations to the OP's while using the 60mm macro, which can be a demanding prospect for me to get good results at extremely close distances. I think it would be a wonderful addition to the OP's setup.

Thanks for your suggestion.

All my shots are taken from about one foot away, so I'm not doing close-up macro work.  I may eventually buy a tripod, but I don't have the money right now (or a suitable work space).

jennyrae wrote:

good to hear you figure out the various white balance daylight setting on your own.

if you want to reduce reflection, you have several options. you can bounce lighting off wall (indirect light) rather than lamp focused on product (direct light). use a polarizer on the lamp or cover it with it. or use a light tent for your products.

a polarized film cost about $5 and a light tent is $10-$15. consider these options if you want to go further on learning and improving your product's pictures for your website in the future.

also, it is nice to hear you appreciate camera and willing to learn and use it's capacity at it's fullest. seldom that I see smart people like you that is willing to learn and improve picture taking ability and I appreciate that. I guess that is difference when you use camera for a living as opposed to some that are novice hobbyists or gadget-focused individuals that blame equipment for their own incapacity or even as ridiculous as finding fault in camera that has nothing to do with photography.

with the right mindset and acquired skill, you can bring out the best out of the camera and most importantly, yourself.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Bouncing light off a wall sounds interesting, but my landlord painted all the walls in colors.

What does putting a polarizer on a lamp do?

As for the light tent, I tried that, and it made the beads look odd.  They need some light reflections from direct light in order to show that they are shiny.

Yes, I'm growing happier with the camera the longer I have it.  Samsung seems to be using good design sense in the features they build into their cameras (well, except for the new flip-up selfie screen).  Before finding this camera, I had to return a Nikon camera that blocked the screen with symbols and camera settings for 3-4 seconds after every shot, and there was no way to defeat it.  I'm not finding stupid things like that with this camera.  And the menus are easy to use.