Hi,
I would need some advice to choose a photo camera for Reality Creation.
Anyone having any preference or guides/tips ?
Thank you !
PIck a good prime lens first and then the best body you can afford. It is all about budget. I use a 5d mk2, which is 8 years old but is fine. Anything new should be fine. Buying today I would lean towards Nikon as there are a lot of old lenses you can get cheaply.
Florin Barbuceanu wrote:
Hi,
I would need some advice to choose a photo camera for Reality Creation.
Anyone having any preference or guides/tips ?Thank you !
Camera equipment and quality of taking pictures can go a long way to improving your models. Most modern cameras will do. However, the better the camera, the higher source quality for your software and the resulting output models. We highly recommend you to use a camera with at least 6Mpix resolution (a rule of thumb), fixed lens and good shutter speed to avoid blurry images.
By the way, the software is called RealityCapture.
I started with a Sony [ASPC] Nex5 and a not-so-great prime 20mm 35mm equiv. lens and got pretty darn good results. I’ve been testing with a GoPro spherical array (from my 360 video shooting days) and am impressed with the results and will also be using a GoPro for drone shooting.
But general rule of thumb is better the camera, better yield in RC. I’ve shot with a Sony [ASPC] 6300 and and [Full-Frame] 7rii and they were sooo much better than the excellent Nex5 results that I decided to upgrade.
I’ll be getting a 6500 as it has in camera stabilization and I can use some existing lens sets and a whole kit that is rather light. I’ll be getting the 10-18mm zoom lens (I dropped and broke my prime) with image stabilization as well. I’d say for most people a 7r or a 7 ii is excellent, as is any modern camera 1" or higher sensor.
The image stabilization stuff is generally something you don’t need or want in RC shooting (I think, other people may correct me on this and I’d listen to them). But I have found myself doing a great deal of outside and inside shooting that requires some solid exposure times shooting at F11 with no tripod in sight - so I’m losing a little bit as the camera will do some focus breathing, but it’s far better than the blurfest images I was getting with my Nex5 prime without image stabilization. If you do find a good wide angle zoom lens that you want to use, you’ll probably have to tape down the zoom ring as if that changes on a shoot it can really put a damper on the RC reconstruction.
I decided to get the Pentax K1 camera for these reasons:
- It has image stabilization on the sensor.
- No Anti Aliasing filter.
- Super resolution by sensor shift.
I know there are some recommendations to not use lenses with built in stabilization.
What about image stabilization in the sensor like the one on Pentax K1 ? Will it affect the reconstruction ? Or the guidance refers only to lenses with built in stabilization ?
Do you think that the Super resolution by sensor shift from K1 can help the reconstruction or it should be turned off ?
While searching for a wide angle prime lens for Pentax k1 I noticed that many have only manual focus.
Do you think it will be hard to keep the objects in focus without an autofocus lens ?
Thank you !
Again, if it’s between me and another person you may want to weigh their advice a bit more than mine as I’m still beginning.
Florin Barbuceanu wrote:
I know there are some recommendations to not use lenses with built in stabilization.
What about image stabilization in the sensor like the one on Pentax K1 ? Will it affect the reconstruction ? Or the guidance refers only to lenses with built in stabilization ?
I think guidance refers to both (I.S. in lens or in camera) but it’s really kind of a ‘don’t use stabilization if everything else is perfect’ kind of scenario. Like I said, I’m buying a kit that has tons of stabilization as it’s better to have some focus breathing which I.S. can do than a blurry image. You can always turn I.S. off on the camera - you’ll find out pretty quickly if it has a major effect during testing.
Florin Barbuceanu wrote:
Do you think that the Super resolution by sensor shift from K1 can help the reconstruction or it should be turned off ?
I would love to know the answer to this - best way is to test with it. I’d assume ‘it wouldn’t help’ but I really don’t know. Tripod shooting, manual focus, no I.S. would probably be a good start of settings with a sensor shift as it rules out other things that would muck up a reconstruction. I think you’ll have enough megapixels to play with without super resolution regardless - better to have an extra shot from a slightly different angle than a single shot with more pixels.
Florin Barbuceanu wrote:
While searching for a wide angle prime lens for Pentax k1 I noticed that many have only manual focus.
Do you think it will be hard to keep the objects in focus without an autofocus lens ?
From my understanding, and my best shots, you want manual focus - specifically you want to get a good hyperfocal distance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfocal_distance) and tape the ring down. I do this even with handheld shots using I.S. and have gotten good results. Using auto-focus will still yield good results, but if you’re shooting at F11, it won’t be hunting for clarity that much unless the specific shot is extreme.
Thanks a lot for the valuable tips.
One more thing that I am concerned is whether to get a fixed focal lens or a zoom lens.
I know that it’s recommended to use a wide angle fixed focal lens (i.e, 20mm f1.8 ), but at the same time if a zoom lens is used it is advised to keep the same focal length for the whole set of images.
I wonder if a fixed lens would yield better results than a zoom lens or it is only a matter of preference.
Do you think that the Super resolution by sensor shift from K1 can help the reconstruction or it should be turned off ?
The pixel shift is nothing extraordinary based on what I have read about it because I was interested in that too… One of the best possible image quality produces Sony A7rII or Nikon D810. These are the ultimate cameras at least for now… they have best color depth and SHARP images + few other things…
i was really happy with EOS 6D, but due to some reason which i will not speak , i’m choosing a new camera
Wishgranter wrote:
Do you think that the Super resolution by sensor shift from K1 can help the reconstruction or it should be turned off ?
The pixel shift is nothing extraordinary based on what I have read about it because I was interested in that too… One of the best possible image quality produces Sony A7rII or Nikon D810. These are the ultimate cameras at least for now… they have best color depth and SHARP images + few other things…
Yo!
Wanted to re-visit this post to see if you still think the Nikon D810 is one of the best possible cameras to use for photogrammetry today? Was thinking to buy one.
Currently using Canon EOS 750D with a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 “ART” and if the D810 is a better option, I will go for it (and will also get the sigma 50mm f/1.4 “ART” to go with it)
Cheers
Jono
Hi Johnathon
Yes for now is the Nikon D810 one of the best cameras on market, not only for sensor quality but almost all functionality is ahead of competitors. Sigma ART lenses are best for price/performance and only most expensive lenses can be compared to ART lenses ( 3000+ EUR range )
But as reading some information’s highly recommend to wait 1-2 months as new successor of D810 come on market, it look to be announced and released in September. Rumors say 50+ Mpix sensor, improved sensor sensitivity and etc.
Cheers for that Milos,
I suppose that would be the wiser choice, I will wait for it 
For now, here is some scans achieved with a 750D and the Sigma
This is a macro scan of a very small plastic part about 3mm wide and 37mm long. The “fin-like” looking structures on the top are 0.2mm apart
This is a close up render of a recent scan of a surround console from a Toyota Supra
Personally, I think there is no right answer.
It depends on so many things.
From what I have done and read so far, one can still achieve “good” (it is a very relative word) results with low cos consumer grade cameras.
We ha quite an interesting discussion on different cameras and techniques here recently:
Accuracy and speed. I’m impressed.
My stuff was done with Panasonics DMC FZ-28 and LX100, both not very “serious”, but the results are more than ok for my purpose.
40-70 m structures with an accuracy of a couple mm is in order I would think.
I shot with IS, AF and even distortion correction (LX100).
I guess that the better your camera is, the less problems you might get during alignment and so need to spend less time correcting that. I still need to do some testing with RAW vs. JPG, many of the examples in the link are actually done with JPGs…
So if your aim is e.g. to get models from natural stuff likes rocks or plants in the jungle where you need to carry a lot and the camera might suffer from the environmental conditions, then you might be better off with a cheaper camera.
If you do high-end aerial mapping or work in industrial design and need to squeeze the last half percent of accuracy and 20% of speed out, then you might want equipement for 10-20k euros.
My point is don’t throw all of your budget at the camera if you don’t need to.
BTW, does anyone have experience with Fujifilm sensors?
Hey Jonathon,
now it’s my torn to revive this Fred.
Forgot to say that your models look awesome! Is that out of the box or did you do post?
Also, did you get the 810 or 850 by now and if, how satisfied are you?