MG Char’s Zaku II 2.0 (with a Sony α7 IV)
First of all, apologies to ohai for the filesize on this post.
I love the Zaku II. Probably my favorite mobile suit design, besides maybe the Barbatos Lupus. The MG Zaku II 2.0 is a fantastic rendition of the suit, and definitely worth getting.
I borrowed my friend’s Sony α7 IV mirrorless camera and took some (unfortunately not bright enough) pictures in a lightbox.
#gunpla #gundam #universalcentury #mastergrade #modelkits #mecha #plamo
As much as this sounds like heresy, if you have a vaguely recent phone you may find that it does a better job for close-in stuff like this than a crusty old DSLR. Not better than a shiny new DLSR or mirrorless, probably, but compared to what you’ve got you’ll probably be surprised. If you have an Android phone in particular you can use Open Camera which gives you a wide array of manual controls and options probably well above and beyond what your phone’s stock camera app offers you, and it can also do bracketing — not just exposure but also focus bracketing. You may find this helpful.
Many of the advantages of a DLSR are moot and/or the disadvantages of a phone’s camera mitigated, because you’re taking a photo of a stationary subject all at the same distance in very controlled lighting conditions, and probably off of a tripod. So having a massive sensor with low light capability, a versatile array of interchangeable lenses for different situations, optical stabilization, etc. all really don’t matter. Exposure consistency matters, and being able to get as many sharp pixels across your subject as possible.
It’s been a while since I gave Open Camera a try. My main issue with using my phone for these pictures was just getting the thing to focus where I wanted it and not make everything yellow in my work’s less-than-optimal lighting. I’ll have to experiment some with focus and/or exposure bracketing in Open Camera and see if that gets me closer to where I want.
Thank you again!
Absolutely. I’m always stoked to help a fellow nerd.
Open Camera has manual white balance settings you can use to compensate for wonky lighting, and as you know you can also always twiddle with that in postprocessing. You can also manually focus with a slider. I used it extensively before I shelled out for my Canon R10, and many of my knife reviews up until last year were shot exclusively on my dinkum Moto G5. I did find it immensely helpful to use a 3D printed clamp thingy to affix my phone to a tripod so it wasn’t jiggling around.