how to take best pictures of CPUs??

[gg1978]

I've been collecting for quite some time now. I've never gone to the trouble of photographing any or all of my CPU collection, but seeing all the nice collections around here has changed my mind on that.

It appears to me that most people seem to be taking pictures with the flash turned off otherwise it washes out the CPU markings. Other than that, any other tips?


As for what i like to collect, pretty much every type of CPU. I favor the Intel PPro and DEC Alpha series of CPU's, but there are others that are neat as well!!!



My first picture will be of my SL2FJ Pentium Pro 166/512K that i've had for about 10 years now.. I never got the box for it, unfortunatly, but it's neater to see outside the box anyway Looks like it was well worth buying back then though..

[Neon_WA]

plenty of natural diffused light will help.. especially if camera has a automatic focus
most automatic cameras have quite a bit of difficulty focussing in low light conditions
If you cant rely of natural light then worth making up a photo booth with lights behind diffusers

very nice Pro you have there.. only know of 4 others in collections..and 3 of those are in sealed boxes

[CPUShack]

Very nice CPU at least box or not

[Cpuswe]

Many also uses scanners to document their cpu:s. In my mind its almost always simpler and gets good detail of the cpu. It also gives the advantage of scanning many chips at once. Scan 10-15 chips and split them up into single images in a photo editing software.

Make sure you use a CCD based scanner. Other techniques like CMOS or Canon LiDE only have a few mm of Depth of field and not suitable for scanning objects. You can find used scanners for 20-50 on eBay.

This is the one i have used http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ScanJet-2200C-Flatbed-Scanner-used-works-great-/271026794666?pt=US_Scanners&hash=item3f1a74b0aa#ht_500wt_1202 for www.cpucollection.se

[smithy]

I use a Kaiser Reprokid Copy Stand, which is small flat table with a vertical arm which the camera attaches to (so a form of tripod i guess). You can move the arm up or down to get different distances away from the item you are photographing, plus it has two lights. I use manual setting on the camera - manual focus (as the vertical arm has cm graduations, so i know exactly how far away it is), no flash, 2 sec timer, and exposure compensation.
Much slower than a scanner, but you get decent results

[gg1978]

Well hopefully with a bit more light i'll be able to get better results. Much better than using the camera in my phone though that's for sure

[sherwoods12]

I used a scanner for most of mine with excellent results.

[UMMR]

[gg1978]

Well i was using my couch in the living room, i'm sure the lighting isn't quite optimal I did use the macro mode of my camera to get the text at least somewhat sharp though. I do have a scanner, pretty new, but not sure what kind of sensor it uses..