Cell phone photography

[jpachl]

While I normally use other cameras, I recently did some experiments on the use of cell phone cameras for model railway photography. Here is one of the latest results. This picture of one of my TT scale (1:120) dioramas was taken by the cell phone camera of a BlackBerry Classic. The HDR effect provided the atmosphere of an approaching thunderstorm.

 

Before the thunderstorm by Jörn Pachl, auf Flickr

 

Here an earlier photo of another diorama. It was my first successful use of a cell phone camera for that purpose. It was even taken by the rather low end 3.2 MP camera of a Samsung Galaxy Tab 1 7.0

 

US-Boxfile_13-11_04 by Jörn Pachl, auf Flickr

[jonny777]

Very nice. The quality of phone cameras has improved dramatically over the last few years.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

That first photo is very, very effective.

[Oldddudders]

The French photo mag Chasseur d'Images found the camera in the iPhone 6 to be stonkingly good. Their image of a TGV at speed was wonderfully sharp. Meanwhile, real camera sales worldwide continue to plummet. Who needs a DSLR when your phone does most of what you need?

[jpachl]

Yes, it's impressive how the capabilities of cell phone cameras have improved lately. Even fast moving objects are no longer a problem. The only shortcoming compared with traditional compact cameras is the lack of an optical zoom. For model railway photography, this doesn't matter, however.

[ParkeNd]

The risk with phone photos is that they can too easily be temporary storage devices for photos that are ditched as soon as the phone is upgraded. Not a problem for layout photos that have no historical relevance. But how many 20/30 year olds will ask Dad if he has any pictures of him/her when they started school and be told "Don't be daft - they were on my ancient iPhone6 and I use an iPhone38 now".

 

I know they can be backed up - but who does it just for a phone picture?

[Graham Walters]

The risk with phone photos is that they can too easily be temporary storage devices for photos that are ditched as soon as the phone is upgraded. Not a problem for layout photos that have no historical relevance. But how many 20/30 year olds will ask Dad if he has any pictures of him/her when they started school and be told "Don't be daft - they were on my ancient iPhone6 and I use an iPhone38 now".

 

I know they can be backed up - but who does it just for a phone picture?

 

My phone automatically backs up all my data and personal stuff ( including pictures) every time I walk into my house, it does it via the WiFI over the home network to my laptop.

[Pacific231G]

There's a technical, or rather an optical, reason why cameras in phones are particularly good for model photography, often better than conventional cameras if you're going in close with your own layout.

The very small imager sensor gives a much greater depth of field than a typical "proper" camera with a much larger sensor. For serious photography that can be a disadvantage but for photographing model scenes it's a definite plus. You can maybe think of a phone camera as a scale model of a full size camera.

I do back up any images I want to keep from my iPhone to my PC though not as rigorusly as I should. With my DSLR I upload the card to a digital store after every shoot and tend to see the card as the equivalent of a (very large) roll of film. .

[Mikkel]

The risk with phone photos is that they can too easily be temporary storage devices for photos that are ditched as soon as the phone is upgraded. Not a problem for layout photos that have no historical relevance. But how many 20/30 year olds will ask Dad if he has any pictures of him/her when they started school and be told "Don't be daft - they were on my ancient iPhone6 and I use an iPhone38 now".

 

I know they can be backed up - but who does it just for a phone picture?

 

I agree that there's a "future" problem with mobile phone photography (and all things digital?) that many people seem to forget.

 

But as Graham mentioned above there are automatic backup functions that work pretty seamlessly these days. My mobile photos upload immediately via the phone's internet to two online photo storage sites that I have - one is  backup site, the other now serves as our family's main photo album, which can be accessed from anywhere and is integrated with our phones for instant viewing. It all works very well and means we now actually see our digital photos 

 

Occasionally I then download the photos from there to a backup hard drive as well. I try not to trust the internet too much 

[roundhouse]

So far I have stayed with phones that have removable storage memory but most companies now seem to be going the iphone way including Samsung with their Galaxy S6 not hanivg removable memory.

 

However as I charge my phone via the desktops USB ports its quite easy to transfer the photos to other storage locations.

 

I still take my DSLR on trips out but I am tending to use the ipad or phone for layout photography these days.

[jpachl]

I know they can be backed up - but who does it just for a phone picture?

 

I treat my phone pictures the same way as pictures I take with other digital cameras. All pictures worth to be kept are copied to a computer and put into my file system. The rest is deleted on the phone. I hardly have more than 10 pics on the phone.

[stewartingram]

I always back up my phone pics to the PC and also back that up. But, a slightly technical question, I have yet to establish a home network, something I really must get done.

My desktop is connected by cable to the router. I cannot connect the phone (Windows 8)) to the PC as the desktop is still XP Pro, but I can Bluetooth pics across. My laptop (also XP Pro) can be cable connected to the router but for convenience I usually wi-fi it to the router. My 2nd (also XP Pro) PC, in the mancave/garage/modelling room is connected by cable, via a cooection over the mains wiring, to the router.

Previously, without really trying much, I was unable to set up a network as such, with mixed connections to the router; it had to be all cable or all wi-fi it seemed. Is it possible to do this?

(And before it is suggested, I don't want to upgrade from XP Pro at this time).

 

Stewart

 

Edit: I don't know what Windows Smiley means but I intended that to read Windows X P.Pro

[jpachl]

There's a technical, or rather an optical, reason why cameras in phones are particularly good for model photography, ...

 

I remember an article on photography in a model railway magazine some years ago, still at the time before high quality cell phone cameras became available. For the same optical reason, the recommendation was to use a compact camera with a good lens for layout photos. After some tests with my Leica DLUX-3, I was so impressed that it is now my preferred camera for layout and diorama photos.

[Ray M]

The risk with phone photos is that they can too easily be temporary storage devices for photos that are ditched as soon as the phone is upgraded. Not a problem for layout photos that have no historical relevance. But how many 20/30 year olds will ask Dad if he has any pictures of him/her when they started school and be told "Don't be daft - they were on my ancient iPhone6 and I use an iPhone38 now".

 

I know they can be backed up - but who does it just for a phone picture?

I e-mail them to myself.

so that i already have them on my pc, when i get home.

[vitalspark]

i phones are a great tool for model railway photography due to the aforementioned depth of field and just as importantly importantly they can be placed with the lens inverted where larger DSLRs cannot go like under canopies etc and with the lens at around the same level as a person would view it often results in more realistic images. 

Our group has a library of pro shots taken by the members using Nikon DSLRS..DS3/D700 and assorted low angle lenses etc but one of the most admired and published images of a WD 2-8-0 simmering in the yard in the afternoon sun was taken with my iPhone inverted and dropped down the space between the platform canopies…it remarkably made it into the MRJ amongst others!

Not suggesting that my DSLR is redundant far from it but for extreme low angle close ups a decent phone takes a lot of beating.

 

 

 

 

 

[vitalspark]

…spurred on by all the 'likes'..thanks you guys means a lot..so have attached the original phone pic in colour plus another of the bookstand on the platform again with the phone.

A hidden corner of the train set that the public don't really see which is a pity..but we know its there!

Finally before I incur the wrath of the purists I have attached a low angle shot taken with a 'proper' camera..50mm prime lens f22 @5 secs and subject then selected from bigger image.

Clearly it does have much better depth of field but we are talking almost pro outfit so should be better however the phone camera can still find its way into corners that no dslr can..definately room for both.

 

Dave.

 

 

 

 

 

[jpachl]

Dave,

 

Your first photo is also a good example that sometimes, the B&W version of a photo looks much better than the original colour version. It's amazing how transforming a photo to B&W will make you focus on completely different details. It doesn't work with every picture but definitely with this one.

 

Joern

[vitalspark]

Couldn't agree more Joern..images in B&W often work better for what we are basically trying to recreate..which in my case is circa 1960.

 

Also I suppose in my case if the image is not too distinct it can serve to hide a few of my modelling shortcomings!

 

All good fun..attached another B&W example again taken with the phone..a weathered Bachmann 105

 

Excuse the oversize plastic wiper arms..now sporting brass replacements. 

 

Thanks to all for the acknowledgements.

 

Dave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Allegheny1600]

Hi folks,

How do you like my attempt?

 

WP_20150724_23_42_34_Refocus by Allegheny1633, on Flickr

 

John E.

[vitalspark]

Some nice and very varied stuff there..both model and full size.

Your greenery and trees are particularly good and some shots could almost have been a garden layout.

Forgot just how magnificent the 01 pacifics are..did they match the Chapelon equivalent on power?

Currently reading the book about the Gresley10000/Hush Hush and it mentions Gresleys meetings with Cahapelon and how the latters 4-8-2s developed 5000hp!..we really could not match that in the UK no matter how misty eyed we get about Duchesses and A4s.

Take it you were visiting a museum in Germany..where was it?

Particularly like the 0-10-0 tank..a beauty right enough and your brass bogie hoppers..you've a great collection and very diverse.

Well done.

 

Dave. 

[Allegheny1600]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for your kind comments!

It would appear that even rebuilds of the DB 2 cylinder Pacific's were still some way behind the best of Chapelon's designs, a quick skein of Wiki shows a typical 2 cylinder DB 01 at between 2200 & 2400Hp whereas a Chapelon 4 cylinder machine could be up to 2800Hp, wow! No wonder they were known as 'Super Pacifics'!

The museums I visited last September were the DB museum at Nurnberg, The Bavarian museum at Nordlingen and also the museum at the foot of the Schieffe Ebene, Neumarkt Wirseberg - the DDM!

I like the T16 0-10-0T or class 94 too, that's why it's my avatar!!!

Cheers,

John.

[jpachl]

How do you like my attempt?

Nice photo, which also proves the capabilities of cell phone cameras for model railway photography. There are also some other interesting photos in your Flickr stream.

 

Joern

[Pacific231G]

i phones are a great tool for model railway photography due to the aforementioned depth of field and just as importantly importantly they can be placed with the lens inverted where larger DSLRs cannot go like under canopies etc and with the lens at around the same level as a person would view it often results in more realistic images. 

Our group has a library of pro shots taken by the members using Nikon DSLRS..DS3/D700 and assorted low angle lenses etc but one of the most admired and published images of a WD 2-8-0 simmering in the yard in the afternoon sun was taken with my iPhone inverted and dropped down the space between the platform canopies…it remarkably made it into the MRJ amongst others!

Not suggesting that my DSLR is redundant far from it but for extreme low angle close ups a decent phone takes a lot of beating.

 

IMG_0317 - Version 6.jpeg

 

IMG_4956-1.jpeg

Excellent

If you'd told me that the B&W of the WD was a photo of a scene you wanted to model I wouldn't have noticed anything that would have given the game away. Maybe the lack of any whisps of steam but there were moments when that could be true. When I examined it at full screen I did start to notice a tension lock hook but the weathering etc. seems spot on. . 

[vitalspark]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for your kind comments!

It would appear that even rebuilds of the DB 2 cylinder Pacific's were still some way behind the best of Chapelon's designs, a quick skein of Wiki shows a typical 2 cylinder DB 01 at between 2200 & 2400Hp whereas a Chapelon 4 cylinder machine could be up to 2800Hp, wow! No wonder they were known as 'Super Pacifics'!

The museums I visited last September were the DB museum at Nurnberg, The Bavarian museum at Nordlingen and also the museum at the foot of the Schieffe Ebene, Neumarkt Wirseberg - the DDM!

I like the T16 0-10-0T or class 94 too, that's why it's my avatar!!!

Cheers,

John.

I was in Dusseldorf and Essen last April and will be returning again this year..its the only time I get to travel on the German network.

I was always impressed by the Pacifics but wondered how they fared against Chapelons designs.

There is a photograph in the recent publication of the Gresley Hush Hush 10000 book of a Chapelon 4-8-2 with the caption '5000 horses'..  wow indeed.

I recently inherited a 4mm model of an articulated twin streamlined railcar..beautiful piece of engineering given that its probably 40 years old..they certainly produced better

models than we did then.

Need to try and visit some of the museums mentioned.

Dave.

[vitalspark]

Excellent

If you'd told me that the B&W of the WD was a photo of a scene you wanted to model I wouldn't have noticed anything that would have given the game away. Maybe the lack of any whisps of steam but there were moments when that could be true. When I examined it at full screen I did start to notice a tension lock hook but the weathering etc. seems spot on. . 

Thank you for your kind comments..praise indeed.

There are a few corners of the layout that lend themselves to low angle photography and can look quite realistic..the platform shot is one of them.

Another favourite is from the operators side of the train set..public don't get to view this but its also excellent.