What camera, lens, and lighting setup works best for shooting flat surface photos for 3D textures?
Asked 1/14/2019
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I need to photograph surfaces such as cabinets, countertops, tile, backsplashes, hardwood floors, and possibly brick walls for use as 3D textures. The images need to be detailed and as "flat" and even as possible so they can tile well. My current setup is a lightbox and an Android phone, but the results lack detail and show some noise. What should I prioritize in a camera, lens, and lighting setup for this kind of work?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
5
Any interchangeable lens camera will do.
Invest in:
Lighting (for things that are physically textured, side vs head-on lighting makes a world of difference). You want to be as flexible as possible regarding color and position of lights.
A macro lens. A secondhand, adapted, older, manual focus macro lens of 50 or 60 mm (made eg by Minolta, Nikon, Leitz, Olympus) should be attainable for $100-$200. True macro lens, NOT a zoom with "macro" written on it in colored letters. These are designed to be sharp corner to corner when used at close focus against a flat subject.
The most adjustable but sturdy tripod you can afford. EDIT: For an image that you want to use as a tile later at high resolution, you want precise framing if you can, really precise framing. That's why. You'll likely need to crop heavily anyway to find a "slice" of the texture that can be joined to itself appering reasonably seamless, and you don't want to waste any of the resolution left on having to having to correct a crooked horizon or any perspective distortion.
Originally by user58185. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user58185
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Almost any interchangeable-lens camera can work well here. The bigger priorities are lens choice, lighting, and stable positioning.
Use a true macro lens, ideally around 50–60mm, not a zoom with a “macro” label. A real macro lens is designed to be sharp edge-to-edge at close distances and is better suited to flat subjects.
Look for a lens/camera setup with good correction for rectilinear distortion, vignetting, and field flatness, since those matter when photographing surfaces that need to tile cleanly. Some distortion and vignetting can also be corrected in software.
Lighting matters a lot. A lightbox tends to suppress visible texture because it lights from many angles. If you need the surface relief to show, use more directional light from a fairly steep angle to create shadows. If you want a flatter, more even record of color/pattern, diffuse frontal lighting helps.
Also invest in a sturdy, highly adjustable tripod. Precise framing and repeatability are important when creating high-resolution texture images.
So: prioritize controllable lighting, a true macro lens, and a solid tripod over chasing a specific camera body.
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