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chiptalk
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Posts: 1837
Location: USA
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 Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2003 12:07 pm Post subject: How to take good photos of cpus |
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Does anyone have a good meathod for taking photos of cpus? Lighting, background, camera stand, etc.
Thanks! |
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anheier
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 182
Location: Richland, WA
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| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2003 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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Chiptalk,
I use a Nikon digital camera mounted on a homebuilt illuminated camera stand. The camera is pointed down. The chips are placed on a white background card. The light bulb is mount next to the camera so that is fully illuminates the chips. I use a photography grade light bulb to illuminate the scene. If you use a standard light bulb you will have to mess with the illumination settings on your camera to get the correct color balance. If your camera doesn't have this type of adjustment, then true white will show up as purple etc-- at least on my camera. If I am imaging gold processors, I have to slightly tilt the processor so that the specular reflection doesn't enter the camera lens. Ceramic processors with laser etched letters must be tilted to see the text also.
With the same camera mounting position and zoom settings, I can get all my images taken with the same image scale. This useful if you are going to build a website.
Good luck,
Norm |
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chiptalk
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Posts: 1837
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Norm,
Cool, thanks for all the info. I want to start an inventory of my collection with pictures. I was thinking about building an online database that I could manage via the web (add new cpus with text and upload images etc).
How far away from the cpu do you take your shots? |
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gshv
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 7038
Location: Fairfax, VA USA
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| Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 12:05 am Post subject: |
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The more the better, especially if you want to take top view pictures of the processors (cpu-museum.de style). In many cases you won't be able to use internal flash because of the reflection from the chip, and you'll need either very good lighting or external flash. If you want to take pictures in cpu-museum.com style then it's better to use flash. Now, using the flash will result in very dark shadow, that will ruin the look of your picture. To make the shadow lighter you can:
- Get another lamp and point it at the chip from different angle, so that the shadow from the chip drops in your direction.
- Use white list of paper behind the chip to reflect flash light back to the chip.
Usually combination of these two methods gives the best pictures. As for the white balance/contrast/etc I found that Photoshop's "Auto Levels" feature works very good in most cases.
Probably white for top view pictures, white, light colored or pastel colors for isometric view pictures.
I don't have it  Maybe I'll get one this Christmas.
Genna |
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CPUShack
Joined: 16 Jun 2003
Posts: 12840
Location: State of Jefferson, USA
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| Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 12:21 am Post subject: |
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I scan mine in with a scanner since I dont have a camera..long as I use a high enough res the turn out fine.
_________________
***I Aim to Misbehave.***
Some where out there . There's a bullet with your name on it .....
Trick is, to die of old age before it finds you.
Visit The CPU Shack of microprocessor history and information. |
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anheier
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 182
Location: Richland, WA
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| Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 11:42 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | How far away from the cpu do you take your shots? |
The camera is mounted about 12" (30 cm) above the processors. Yes *someday* I will get my collection on a website. Just collecting them consumes considerable amount of time.....
Norm |
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chiptalk
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Posts: 1837
Location: USA
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| Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks guys!
Genna,
Good idea about the secondary lighting. Do you diffuse the light?
CPUShack,
Wow, not bad for scanning! Pretty good detail and not much reflection.
Norm,
Do you use a macro mode at 12"?
Thanks everyone! |
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gshv
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 7038
Location: Fairfax, VA USA
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| Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2003 2:21 am Post subject: |
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| chiptalk wrote: | | Good idea about the secondary lighting. Do you diffuse the light? |
My secondary light is not bright, so diffusing it won't make the picture better  If your light will be bright enough then diffusing may give better results.
Genna |
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anheier
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 182
Location: Richland, WA
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, I set my camera to macro mode. This provides a sharp focus. Have fun!
Norm |
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Grampa
Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Posts: 55
Location: Erlangen, Germany
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| Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 5:45 am Post subject: |
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/me is using a scanner as well, but I noticed that it's a good idea to use a high gamma correction (~2.5) and a little less contrast than default as otherwise pictures may become too dark and especially the golden parts too saturated. At least that's true for my scanner
However, it's difficult for me to say if my pictures look okay as I suffer from a "Deuteranopia" and a minor "Protanopia", two types of color blindness which cause me to see colors very different than they really are  BTW: I didn't notice this fact until I was 18 years old
- Grampa
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CPUShack
Joined: 16 Jun 2003
Posts: 12840
Location: State of Jefferson, USA
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| Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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yah I use photoshop after I scan to fix things.
ceramic/gold chips always turn pruple so I have to fix those etc.
as long as I keep the res up I get beautiful scans.
_________________
***I Aim to Misbehave.***
Some where out there . There's a bullet with your name on it .....
Trick is, to die of old age before it finds you.
Visit The CPU Shack of microprocessor history and information. |
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