How to take good photos of cpus

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anheier



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 182
Location: Richland, WA

PostPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2003 7:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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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gshv



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 7898
Location: Fairfax, VA USA

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 12:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

chiptalk wrote:
Lighting


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.

Quote:
Background


Probably white for top view pictures, white, light colored or pastel colors for isometric view pictures.

Quote:
camera stand


I don't have it Smile Maybe I'll get one this Christmas.

Genna
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CPUShack



Joined: 16 Jun 2003
Posts: 34259
Location: State of Jefferson, USA

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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anheier



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 182
Location: Richland, WA

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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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gshv



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 7898
Location: Fairfax, VA USA

PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2003 2:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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 Sad 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

PostPosted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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: 56
Location: Erlangen, Germany

PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 5:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

/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 Smile
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 Think BTW: I didn't notice this fact until I was 18 years old Smile

- Grampa

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CPUShack



Joined: 16 Jun 2003
Posts: 34259
Location: State of Jefferson, USA

PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.

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