Serial Number Photos with Webcam
I need a better camera for close-ups of lettering, engraving, pitting, etc. I see these inexpensive webcams for under $20 and wonder if anyone has experience with them. Not a lot at risk to just buy one but maybe you have advice and/or suggestion of anything better. Price is not much of an issue but convenience & simplicity in use is important. Thanks for your time and experience.
Edit couple days later Thanks for all the good replies. I studied and played with my old Nikon Coolpix S6 and find it can do better than I thought. Brings back the old saying about "when all else fails read the instructions". I had a little Intel camera that plugged into USB but won't work on Vista. I think I will buy one of the cheepie webcams just for the convenience. I'll report back my success or failure with it. Thanks again.
Edit couple days later Thanks for all the good replies. I studied and played with my old Nikon Coolpix S6 and find it can do better than I thought. Brings back the old saying about "when all else fails read the instructions". I had a little Intel camera that plugged into USB but won't work on Vista. I think I will buy one of the cheepie webcams just for the convenience. I'll report back my success or failure with it. Thanks again.
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You need something with whats called a "macro" lens that lets you take close up, sharp photos. It's doubtful that any $20 camera is going to have that ability. 0 -
For my auction pictures, I use a very old Sony Mavica camera. It has less than a megapixel of resolution and uses a 3.5" floppy disk as media. I use it because it will focus down to about an inch or less from the lens.
It was state-of-the-art high-dollar stuff when I got it, but now you can probably pick up a used one for less than $100 on one of the sites that specializes in second-hand merchandise.0 -
I use a Nikon CoolPix 5400, and as rufe-snow pointed out, it has a super macro-zoom feature.
Here is an example of what it can do... the picture is the serial number on one of my Winchester Model 12s.
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Nice pics !! Did you ever think about renting out that camera as a
Magna-flux tool????? I think I can see the grain in the steel itself !!!
[:)] bob0 -
You can also cheat if you have to. Just hold a magnifying
glass over your camera lens. In the first photo the
ring you see at the bottom is the rim of the magnifying
glass. In the second photo I cropped it out and nobody
would know.
I now use close-up lenses which screw on and off of
my camera lens. They do the same thing as a magnifying
glass, but are more convenient to use.
John0 -
I use a Sony Cyber-Shot with 6.0 megapixels 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Spider7115
I use a Sony Cyber-Shot with 6.0 megapixels
That's cool how the last "1" is upside down, in all three places! [:p]
John0 -
I said I would update this when I got the "cheepie" $12 webcam. It is useful but not great. It will take closeups of such things as engraving and numbers but not in the greatest detail. Altogether not bad with nothing better available. Like a .25 auto beats no gun at all.
Pictures are of my S&W Triple Lock, my engraving, my ivory work. Also one of my pocket knife taken with a better Intel webcam that I finally got working. Better by far with the detail. Both cams are better for close shots than for the full gun. Maybe better if I pursue and gain experience.
My engraving was done 25 years ago when I engraved every piece of clean metal that stood still long enuf. I didn't pursue being an engraver. Just do a little in my antigue gun restorations.0
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