Quote:
Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951
THIS!!!!! (is the beauty of product photography...) You have a fixed focal length (If you have a tripod).
Back to the future:
"Where we are going, we don't need autofocus"
The bolts aren't going anywhere.
And with a tripod, neither is the camera.
You do not need autofocus at all. Switch to manual.
Luke- "you have turned off your targeting computers...."
On the picture of Matt (the guy I took a MTB pic of) - I think I disabled autofocus on the shot. The MTB riders were coming down a 2 ft wide singletrack. I was standing stationary. I didn't need autofocus, they were in a (fairly) set range. I set DOF as wide as possible to include them in the pic (within reasons for low/natural light- it was raining in pic/overcast) and instead of worrying about distance from (me- to - them) I worried about left to right tracking.... In your case, You know the distance and the subject is not moving. I'd focus on the half-axle splines (perhaps the brake calipers) as focal points as a starting point (because they seem to be the midpoint between raised/ and on the table focal lengths, get a reasonable DOF and go from there.
edit- another (constructive suggestion)- When you are lining up the bolts / etc. in the pics, use a ruler on the bottom edge of the bolts to line up their position. Then remove the ruler and line up the next line of parts in the next column down. This will keep the bolts lined up in perfect up/down alignment. To help with multiple rows of bolts, I would use a yard stick, which is very long and would overshoot the picture right to left. Out of picture shot (to the right and left), would be a board with graph / measurements/ markers to keep the yard stick in alignment from one row to the next, but out of sight of the pic. This would make product layout quick and easy.
p.s-- I'm liking the 1/4 window release handle pics! At least in terms of contrast/tonal value. They do look (again constructive) like, perhaps a mismatched pair, but that could be the angle, especially if you are shooting at a wide angle. I would also angle the allen bolt on the right window release knob down to be not visible.(as a side note- any 911 I've owned without that feature- I've installed it with the corresponding windows! great upgrade!)
Good luck!
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It would be great if I could use a tripod but I can't for 95% of shots taken. Box came in today for a 89 Speedster for a dealership in DE entering the car in an East Coast dealership concours event. Assistant took the shot below and as you can see there is a slight angle. Lens should be perpendicular to the table. We take this shot and 20+ close-ups. The close-ups are critical to make sure everyone gets their own stuff back and the reason for the camera... sometimes you have really zoom in. Porsche has 10+ M8 bolts that are each 2mm longer than the one before so we are always counting threads, looking at head markings, seeing if the shank is fat or thin in a stud, a nick or rolled edge here says this part goes with this customer vs. another, etc. The tiniest details make sure whatever someone sends us, they get their stuff back. A $1000 camera is cheap compared to the time spent with a 10MP LX5 and the new Canon just plain sucks for these kinds of shots.
This new camera will expand the quality of social media and other posting, maybe advertising, so it's money well spent.
I've been doing plating for 4.5 years now, the company was originally founded on plating.
Great idea for a ruler to line up studs! I used to do artistic shots but the pics like the below but pictures are used for: knowing who's parts is whose, did anything get lost in preparation or plating (Have plated well over 50,000 pieces in 4 years and only lost 2 small nuts so far), for billing (count pieces) and for customer before and after (everyone gets their own dropbox folder). So clearly laid out parts is critical for fast and efficient billing since we bill by the piece.
