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Figure GAF |OT5| Discussion opened, posters a little damaged

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C

CrazyMoonTalk

Member
These last couple of pages have inspired me do some more photography tonight. I'm gonna open up a few more figures and get back to you guys in a bit :p

I bought a few different bulbs at the store and I'm going to see if I can do better than my previous pics.

To H3X and/or Giolon, do you guys know what temperature light is ideal of the top of your head? I couldn't find anything listed "cool blue" I can just make do with the bluish natural daylight lights. I picked up 3 different ones at 2900k, 2910k, and 2500k.

I used to know all this light stuff back when I was keeping up on my reef aquarium =/
 
Giolon

Giolon

Member
CrazyMoonTalk said:
These last couple of pages have inspired me do some more photography tonight. I'm gonna open up a few more figures and get back to you guys in a bit :p

I bought a few different bulbs at the store and I'm going to see if I can do better than my previous pics.

To H3X and/or Giolon, do you guys know what temperature light is ideal of the top of your head? I couldn't find anything listed "cool blue" I can just make do with the bluish natural daylight lights. I picked up 3 different ones at 2900k, 2910k, and 2500k.

I used to know all this light stuff back when I was keeping up on my reef aquarium =/
Click to expand...

Daylight White is 5000K. I typically only find them in CFL or LED bulbs. The 2900K/2910K are still going to be a bit on the yellowish side, but of the ones you bought those will do best for you, and if your camera can white balance properly it may not be an issue.

Edit: When I let my camera auto-white balance, my photos commonly come back in the 3500K-4000K range, despite using 5000K bulbs. Some of that might be due to using the previously mentioned shipping boxes w/ a sheet over them as a soft light box. The brown color of the cardboard lends a bit of a warmer (yellower) tone to the light that comes out.
 
T

Tempy

don't ask me for codes
Beautiful.

http://blog.livedoor.jp/figurenews2/archives/43757014.html

50a7e27d.jpg
Click to expand...
 
C

CrazyMoonTalk

Member
Alright, here's a quick example. the main thing I'm after here is to reduce noise. There's too much of it in my pics. The assumption is I didn't have enough light, so I purchased a new lamp and here's a few quick results. I was using the 2910k light, and filtering it through a white sheet.
j/k I used a tshirt

No lamp. The default light in my room, and an example of what most of my shots look like in regard to noise.
k8Wky9b.jpg
Click to expand...

Lamp, but direct light. Too much, and it washes out the image.
zinewDs.jpg
Click to expand...

Indirect light. ISO at 100, reduced the exposure value to 1.0. I think my camera is using "exposure" to define f-stop /shrug. This one is probably the best.
SknO8Qi.jpg
Click to expand...

BUT, it's BRS so a little darker lighting (2.0) sets the mood better :p
NxizIGM.jpg
Click to expand...

I feel like I can see a clear improvement in noise reduction, which is what I was going after. The lighting color could use a little work though. My phone's white balance only has presets, and here I was using incandescent. Also, I need a tripod bad. I'm looking around for something to steady the phone, but I can't find anything good. My hands shake so bad lol.

Will keep working at it. My pictures may still suck, but sucking at something is the first step toward being sorta good at something!
 
kiunchbb

kiunchbb

www.dictionary.com
I tried out taking some picture after finally took some time to read the tutorial. I think I need a better camera since I am using an old Sony Cyber shot. I set the ISO to 100 and EV to 4(any lower than that my camera will force NR) with a tripod.

WGhZ8qM.jpg
Click to expand...
Y1BImUc.jpg
Click to expand...

I also found out how dirty my figures are, they are in detolf 24/7, I don't get how they got so dirty. There is also heavy PVC smell when I open the detolf, is that anything to worry about?
 
Bloodember

Bloodember

Member
Well, I bit the bullet and pre-ordered Racing Miku Sepang edition from hlj.com. Of course then I went to amiami.com and they now have her back up for pre-order. But its only 36 yens different so, not mad.
 
A

antibolo

Banned
Well I've completely given up any hope of ever getting a decent close-up pic with the camera in my hands. No matter how many times I retry a shot, my hands just aren't steady enough.

I did this quick "camera sitting on the desk" test this morning before heading to work to confirm once and for all that my shitty blurry pictures are indeed my own fault, and not my camera's.
antibolo1429878733.jpeg
Click to expand...
 
Theonik

Theonik

Member
antibolo said:
Well I've completely given up any hope of ever getting a decent close-up pic with the camera in my hands. No matter how many times I retry a shot, my hands just aren't steady enough.

I did this quick "camera sitting on the desk" test this morning before heading to work to confirm once and for all that my shitty blurry pictures are indeed my own fault, and not my camera's.
Click to expand...
Terrifying.
 
M

Muzicfreq

Banned
antibolo said:
Well I've completely given up any hope of ever getting a decent close-up pic with the camera in my hands. No matter how many times I retry a shot, my hands just aren't steady enough.

I did this quick "camera sitting on the desk" test this morning before heading to work to confirm once and for all that my shitty blurry pictures are indeed my own fault, and not my camera's.
Click to expand...

This is the best my camera can do
I have to also set it on a timer so it has time to stabilize after I let go
16932900958_49df87678e_o.jpg
Click to expand...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129389461@N02/16932900958/in/set-72157651500326230
 
A

Astral/H3X

Member
CrazyMoonTalk said:
Alright, here's a quick example. the main thing I'm after here is to reduce noise. There's too much of it in my pics. The assumption is I didn't have enough light, so I purchased a new lamp and here's a few quick results. I was using the 2910k light, and filtering it through a white sheet.
j/k I used a tshirt

No lamp. The default light in my room, and an example of what most of my shots look like in regard to noise.

Lamp, but direct light. Too much, and it washes out the image.

Indirect light. ISO at 100, reduced the exposure value to 1.0. I think my camera is using "exposure" to define f-stop /shrug. This one is probably the best.

BUT, it's BRS so a little darker lighting (2.0) sets the mood better :p

I feel like I can see a clear improvement in noise reduction, which is what I was going after. The lighting color could use a little work though. My phone's white balance only has presets, and here I was using incandescent. Also, I need a tripod bad. I'm looking around for something to steady the phone, but I can't find anything good. My hands shake so bad lol.

Will keep working at it. My pictures may still suck, but sucking at something is the first step toward being sorta good at something!
Click to expand...

Yeah, as you can see, indirect light is almost always going to be better. Makes it more like a natural, overhead light. Also, those colors are MUCH better. If I look at them, they maybe have a bit of yellow to them, but it's such an improvement that I have to look for it. Usually I find auto WB to work well enough, as long as you aren't using flash (which would change what WB you'd need as you were taking the picture), but I don't use a phone much anymore. :x
Also, it looks like you've all but eliminated ISO noise -- right now, it's mainly JPEG artifacts that's messing with your photo at this time. Which sucks, but there's absolutely nothing you can do about it, apart from seeing if there's a way to save in RAW instead (which AFAIK isn't possible in Android, unless the most recent update included it. Something to do with how the camera API works).

kiunchbb said:
I tried out taking some picture after finally took some time to read the tutorial. I think I need a better camera since I am using an old Sony Cyber shot. I set the ISO to 100 and EV to 4(any lower than that my camera will force NR) with a tripod.




I also found out how dirty my figures are, they are in detolf 24/7, I don't get how they got so dirty. There is also heavy PVC smell when I open the detolf, is that anything to worry about?
Click to expand...
One quick tip -- on that Gundam, don't feel obligated to get a picture with all of the tentacle things. It's making you zoom out way further than you need to, without really filling the space. As such, it looks a lot like someone just quickly walked by and took the photo, without really trying to get a good one. I guess I could say... it looks like it was taken at an expo, just to show what the figure was, rather than a deliberate attempt to take an interesting photo. Don't be afraid to crop out a good large chunk of the figure in the photo! Usually makes it look better. :)

antibolo said:
Well I've completely given up any hope of ever getting a decent close-up pic with the camera in my hands. No matter how many times I retry a shot, my hands just aren't steady enough.

I did this quick "camera sitting on the desk" test this morning before heading to work to confirm once and for all that my shitty blurry pictures are indeed my own fault, and not my camera's.
Click to expand...
Yeah, with lower end cameras, it's all a matter of compromise (Well it's always about compromise but whatevs). They have to use longer exposures, so more than any other camera you need to be ABSOLUTELY STILL. Tripod + Timer works great though. Your camera is capable of taking good pictures though! I can clearly see the details of her, with minimal amounts of fuzziness. (A lot of which looks like it being a Jpeg, though)

I'm glad to have inspired people to up their figure photography though. :)
 
A

antibolo

Banned
H3XAntiStyle said:
Yeah, with lower end cameras, it's all a matter of compromise (Well it's always about compromise but whatevs). They have to use longer exposures, so more than any other camera you need to be ABSOLUTELY STILL. Tripod + Timer works great though. Your camera is capable of taking good pictures though! I can clearly see the details of her, with minimal amounts of fuzziness. (A lot of which looks like it being a Jpeg, though)

I'm glad to have inspired people to up their figure photography though. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm pretty satisfied with that pic despite it being a very quick test. I forced the ISO to the minimum (125) and the primary source of illumination is the halogen flood light over my desk. Which incidentally gives Mikudayo a somewhat creepy mood, which is only fitting lol. Although I should definitely try to have the light reflect away from the scene for future pictures.

And yeah, the JPEG compression is awful. I double checked and there is really no RAW option.
 
A

Acid08

Banned
Ooooooh the Love Live notebooks are actually in stock in my order now :O just need to wait for Sepang Miku to be in stock and my April orders will be done.
 
kiunchbb

kiunchbb

www.dictionary.com
H3XAntiStyle said:
One quick tip -- on that Gundam, don't feel obligated to get a picture with all of the tentacle things. It's making you zoom out way further than you need to, without really filling the space. As such, it looks a lot like someone just quickly walked by and took the photo, without really trying to get a good one. I guess I could say... it looks like it was taken at an expo, just to show what the figure was, rather than a deliberate attempt to take an interesting photo. Don't be afraid to crop out a good large chunk of the figure in the photo! Usually makes it look better. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I need to start being a bit more artistic.

By the way Its not tentacle, its funnels! Although my whole family think it is tentacle, especially when it is display next to anime figures.

original.jpg
Click to expand...
 
R

Ryuuroden

Member
H3XAntiStyle said:
If you're that strapped for cash, I'd just wait for the job then. $200 is in the territory of ALMOST enough, but not quite. Besides, that just means more photos when you get it. I'd hate for you to be disappointed.

Besides, if you buy used, well, it's already used. You bought it for what it's worth used. If you decide it's not for you, it's easy to sell it back
to liquidate into more figures.
Click to expand...

I really agree with H3X here, I ended up affording my camera by getting a Best Buy card tho and the camera had a 18 month free financing option so I paid it back with no interest over a year and a half. Did the same thing with my 46 inch tv and my sound system and soon will do so to get a macrolens for my camera.

I have a Nikon D5300 btw.
 
E

exemp30

Member
Anybody here order the nendo beach bodies? I ordered them on impulse going to pick them up today but not sure if I want them. Was wondering if anybody would be interested in buying them as a set or individually, not entirely sure if I will sell them yet just wanted to know if anyone would like first dibs on them if I do.
 
C

chrono01

Member
A new [painted] image of Hestia [Kotobukiya] is out. That hometown! I'm still interested in seeing Max Factory's version first, but I fully expect Kotobukiya's version to sell out nearly instantly [given her popularity]. I am undecided.

Also, sculpts for Belial [Seven Deadly Sins] and Charles D'Artagnan [Hyakka Ryouran]. Both look amazing, and will be owned by me. I just hope I don't have to go through a proxy for Belial. Damn you Orchid Seed for restricting sales of Seven Deadly Sins outside of Japan. :mad:

Also, an announcement for a Takanashi Rikka - Bunny ver. figure, but I'll be passing on that one.
 
T

Tempy

don't ask me for codes
exemp30 said:
Anybody here order the nendo beach bodies? I ordered them on impulse going to pick them up today but not sure if I want them. Was wondering if anybody would be interested in buying them as a set or individually, not entirely sure if I will sell them yet just wanted to know if anyone would like first dibs on them if I do.
Click to expand...

Where did you get them? They're kinda hard to find.
I'd love to get them, but US->NL shipping is too much to make it worth it.
 
kiunchbb

kiunchbb

www.dictionary.com
chrono01 said:
A new [painted] image of Hestia [Kotobukiya] is out. That hometown! I'm still interested in seeing Max Factory's version first, but I fully expect Kotobukiya's version to sell out nearly instantly [given her popularity]. I am undecided.
Click to expand...

I was wondering why you didn't post the image, then I went to mfc, yeah.... not going to post that.
 
E

exemp30

Member
Tempy said:
Where did you get them? They're kinda hard to find.
I'd love to get them, but US->NL shipping is too much to make it worth it.
Click to expand...
Ordered them from GSC it was around the same time the orders for winter wonfes opened. I thought I'd use them but realized they would be more for taking pictures and I don't really take pictures of my figures.
 
T

Tempy

don't ask me for codes
chrono01 said:
A new [painted] image of Hestia [Kotobukiya] is out. That hometown! I'm still interested in seeing Max Factory's version first, but I fully expect Kotobukiya's version to sell out nearly instantly [given her popularity]. I am undecided.

Also, sculpts for Belial [Seven Deadly Sins] and Charles D'Artagnan [Hyakka Ryouran]. Both look amazing, and will be owned by me. I just hope I don't have to go through a proxy for Belial. Damn you Orchid Seed for restricting sales of Seven Deadly Sins outside of Japan. :mad:

Also, an announcement for a Takanashi Rikka - Bunny ver. figure, but I'll be passing on that one.
Click to expand...

Belial sure is top-heavy.
 
F

Femto.

Member
chrono01 said:
A new [painted] image of Hestia [Kotobukiya] is out. That hometown! I'm still interested in seeing Max Factory's version first, but I fully expect Kotobukiya's version to sell out nearly instantly [given her popularity]. I am undecided.

Also, sculpts for Belial [Seven Deadly Sins] and Charles D'Artagnan [Hyakka Ryouran]. Both look amazing, and will be owned by me. I just hope I don't have to go through a proxy for Belial. Damn you Orchid Seed for restricting sales of Seven Deadly Sins outside of Japan. :mad:

Also, an announcement for a Takanashi Rikka - Bunny ver. figure, but I'll be passing on that one.
Click to expand...
Please don't be an exclusive.
 
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