Cell phone photos...

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I have been toying with the idea of writting up my snow plow build in N-Scale. I took lots of photos durning construction with my cell phone:




They arn't really good, but I'm curious if they are good enough to get published. This could be the first model train article to use a cell phone as the primary camera.

[Philip H]

Based on what we've seen here, and over at NSVA I'd say you could well do it. The resolution is good but not spectacular, so be prepared to shoot a few as builts in a higher res format. But I would think it would be sufficient.

[robert3985]

Depends on where you want to publish them.  If you want to publish them online, then they're probably okay, but for printed media each magazine has its own digital photo standards, which usually means smallest allowable file size.  You'll need to go to your chosen magazine's website and find out what their photo requirements are.  Could be your file size is large enough.  Usually you'll need a camera with a minimum 8MP sensor and your photos should be taken at maximum resolution.  My Nikon D40 produced excellent photographic results, but it didn't yield a large enough file size to publish in Model Railroader since it had a 6.2MP sensor.  I had to purchase a D300 with a 12.3MP sensor to get a big enough file to submit, even though my D40's photos looked great to me!

Bob Gilmore
Modeling the UP in 1951 between Ogden and Wahsatch

[Puddington]

With due respect to the magazines and with ultimate respect to those who take the time to submit; I am tired of hearing about photogrpahic standards from certain publications; the printing process they are using, the quality control on registration their suppliers obviously use and the stock they print on often do not warrent anything better than a cell phone photo; yet they cling to fashion magazine standards for submissions. I have spent years in the printing industry and cringe at the quality of printing I see in major railway mags.... not to mention subject matter.

If they consntrated on their printers QC and their choise of stock and laid off the uber stringent quality standards for submission their overall content would improve and we'd beable to actaully see it through the "fuzz".....

Knock yourselves out with this one gang !

[rickb773]

N Scale Magazine requires 4 megapixel photos.
You can find their author's guidelines at: http://www.nscalemagazine.com/authors_info.html

[sizemore]

You should also take a look at clip on lenses for your smart phone.

The S.

[MVW]

300 dpi actual size should be adequate for publishing purposes. If a photo is going to be published 3" wide, that's 900 pixels. A photo published full-page width (with bleeds) would need to be around 2700 pixels wide.

You can actually get decent reproduction with photos as low as 220 dpi or so. Like Puddy says, there are a lot more factors determining how the final product will look than just the file size of the photo. The printers I've worked with prefer 300 dpi. As a practical matter, that's not always possible. A publisher or page designer may skimp on dpi to get the photo enlarged to the size they need, provided it's a quality image.

Jim

[Puddington]

300 dpi actual size should be adequate for publishing purposes. If a photo is going to be published 3" wide, that's 900 pixels. A photo published full-page width (with bleeds) would need to be around 2700 pixels wide.

You can actually get decent reproduction with photos as low as 220 dpi or so. Like Puddy says, there are a lot more factors determining how the final product will look than just the file size of the photo. The printers I've worked with prefer 300 dpi. As a practical matter, that's not always possible. A publisher or page designer may skimp on dpi to get the photo enlarged to the size they need, provided it's a quality image.

Jim

+1........man knows of what he speaks.

[Smike]

Hey Daniel,
Try taking the photos of objects place on a white sheet of paper. If you have a large sheet of white matt board that works great (and you can bend the one side up to fill in the backgroud if it shows.) I see what you are trying to show the photos, but the background is too distracting and gets in the way. If you trying to show DOF use something like looking down the rails of a section of track on a white sheet.

Here is one I shot with a sheet of white matt board with iPhone 4 http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/album.php?albumid=1125&attachmentid=39803


Also +1 on the 300ppi rule