Camera Suggestions For Toy Scene Photography?
 

Hey all! So, several years back I got into setting up scenes and taking pictures of my 1/12 figures. I’m really thinking of getting back into, but my budget is sadly limited. I think any camera I bout would have to be below the $150 mark. Any suggestions?

Kodak disc
Polaroid Instamatic
Your cell phone.

but really... your price mark leaves you a bit limited..
you'd be better off starting a search on like best buy or amazon..with that price max in the range field (filter) then look at the reviews...that's be a good start.

I use an old cell phone with no chip in it because I can leave it plugged in and accessible to the computer. My drawback is I am shooting 4" figures and if I get too close they start to blur, which would be great if I was shooting Smallville, but this might be less of an issue with larger figures.


CCC.

I think you're going to be kind of limited in your price range. You're basically going to be looking at point and shoots and not much else. I'm not too familiar with them myself but a quick search gave suggestions in your price range. What you need to do is find one with a good "macro mode" to allow you to get close to a (small) object and focus

https://www.cnet.com/news/best-digit...r-150-roundup/

At that price point it will really depend on how new your current phone is. The latest iPhone and Samsungs both have phenomenal cameras in them. And since they are your phone you upgrade and replace them every few years anyway just as part of your normal life budget/CEL phone plan. Short of going to a nice DSLR that would probably be your best Camera option.

If your phone camera is good enough, your budget can be better put towards some basic tools. A small tripod and phone mount for it. A remote trigger. Some inexpensive LED lights. Maybe a small light tent/photo booth.

The point and shoot Camera’s are not going to give any real advantage over the phone. While they have some manual options, not really enough to justify it. Past using the phone ( and don’t take that in a derogatory way. You can do some amazing things with modern phones) you might eventually want a DSLR. As the lens and manual options give you a ton of easy creative control. Things like depth of field. Right now as I post this the sweet spot for most full featured yet cost effective hobbyist DSLR to my eye is the Cannon T6i. Which will drop into the mid $500’s on sale and performs comparably to the pro series Nikons and Cannons, in most environments.

Lighting, not camera is important
 

Hi.
I'm a professional food photographer and I can speak from experience on this: It's all about the lighting.

Here are some basic rules:

1) Dont' mix light colors (ie temperatures from different colored lightbulbs or outdoor light mixed with indoor).
2) Use soft light (ie no hard shadows). Soft boxes are good for this.
3) Use bounce light to fill in the dark areas

If you have a recent model, high end cell phone, it will be enough. Otherwise, just do some light research on a camera in that price range. It's not going to vary too much at the $150 price point. Put it on a small tripod so you can take longer exposures to let more light in the camera.

Google some articles and tips on stock photography and it will expand on these ponts.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tips! You’re obviously pretty familiar with the subject, so I hope you don’t mind if I ask a couple questions?
First, someone mentioned a ”macro” setting. In your experience, is this an important feature? I tend to shoot pretty close, up to even headshots of figures.
Second, any nuggets of wisdom on backdrops? I’m thinking scale grey brick (like castle walls) or wood planks. I imagine that would affect the lighting quite a bit, maybe even make a lightbox impractical for some shots.

Just chiming in as someone who enjoys toy photography (and also mentioned the macro feature lol)

If you're buying a point and shoot and it doesn't have a macro feature, it won't be able to focus on small, close up subjects like figure head shots. Though honestly I can't imagine there being many without this feature.

Whatever you use for your backgrounds, make it make sense and/or try and make it interesting. You're computer monitor provides an endless library of backgrounds for pictures

https://i.imgur.com/rMbnD1N.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MKynYa5.jpg

Depending on the quality of your monitor/tv and camera. You wan't to put a decent amount of space between your focus figure and the monitor so you can't see the pixels in the image.

https://i.imgur.com/HKelidq.jpg

And you wan't to match the lighting of your background. Use minimal lighting if its a night shot and in general place it in the same place the light source in the background so the shadows on your subject match the shadows in the background.

https://i.imgur.com/p7C3LFy.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hw5YpV9.jpg

Putting objects or other figures in the background (and foreground) behind your focus will help give the picture depth and not feel like you're just snapping a pic of a toy against a flat screen.

https://i.imgur.com/NYJEhsJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QRkn1Zm.jpg

Adding a floor or something that matches the image will help sell it too. Reflective floor in the image? Use a sheet of plastic to reflect the image of the monitor and help everything blend together

https://i.imgur.com/bU31BwA.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/z0uPCWi.jpg

But really just try and match the flooring and you can give your picture even more depth. Or get super creative and print stuff out to use

https://i.imgur.com/Hu3nG5k.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/baHcVXT.png

https://i.imgur.com/4H2iKVb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QuvSXBw.png