Home-Made Pen Studio

[tenurepro]

Check out my home-made pen studio for taking nib pictures... What do you think?

(equipment: Nikon D7000, Nikkor 105mm macro lense, Nikon's wireless macro flash; flash on the left was suspended above the chamber, firing through the diffuser)

 

Here are some sample shots

Edited March 15, 2012 by tenurepro

[dan in montreal]

Very well done, nice setup. The photographs are really sharp, and the diffuser eliminates much of the glare on those nibs - great details. Thanks for posting the photos.

[christof]

professional set up and perfect pics! That's the way how to do. Congrats.

[pavoni]

Fantastically useful to see the way to set up the perfect nib shoot Christof. Thank you very much indeed for sharing.

 

Pavoni.

[christof]

Fantastically useful to see the way to set up the perfect nib shoot Christof. Thank you very much indeed for sharing.

 

Pavoni.

 

 

...uhm... thanks, but it's not me who started this thread. You'll have to thank someone else.

[tenurepro]

Thanks all; the idea of this step came to me after spending a couple of frustrating nights trying to shoot nibs; i lost a lot of the details, and i could always see my reflection on the nib! The paper cylinder seemed to have done the trick. I just taped the ends of a letter-sized paper together, and cut a little window to shoot through.

Edited March 15, 2012 by tenurepro

[KrazyIvan]

I would want something to take a picture of the whole pen but for your purpose, you get very nice results!

Edited March 15, 2012 by KrazyIvan

[pavoni]

Sorry about that tenurepro, it is obviously to you that I aim my thanks for sharing your excellent setup. I naturally associated the great shots with Christof.

 

Other than for the fact that you have come up with a super homemade way of capturing the detail in your nib shots, of particular interest for me was to see the nibs photographed with ink remaining on them, rather than the typical and predictable 'clean' nib shot.

 

Great work and thank you for sharing. :clap1:

 

Pavoni.

[tenurepro]

Thanks Pavoni. I am actually fond of 'dirty' nib pictures; there is something nice about seeing a fountain pen fulfill its destiny!

Sorry about that tenurepro, it is obviously to you that I aim my thanks for sharing your excellent setup. I naturally associated the great shots with Christof.

 

Other than for the fact that you have come up with a super homemade way of capturing the detail in your nib shots, of particular interest for me was to see the nibs photographed with ink remaining on them, rather than the typical and predictable 'clean' nib shot.

 

Great work and thank you for sharing. :clap1:

 

Pavoni.

Edited March 16, 2012 by tenurepro

[Cerbeos]

That's awesome! Great job!

 

Once I get some pens worth taking pictures of, I'll have to remember this

[tenurepro]

Thanks Cerbeos

[cingin pens]

That is very creative. Makes me want to get a macro lens for my Olympus Pen1. I've never seen remote flashes. Those are very neat. Are they proprietary to your Nikon or can they be used on other cameras?

 

Keith

[Chi Town]

Very Kool set up, I'm jealous!

[christof]

Here's one of my latest nib shots with my usual set up. not as good as yours I have to admit, but still...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8147/7106301145_1e20db34c0_b.jpg

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6106/6285524019_0d0daef2f2_b.jpg

Edited April 27, 2012 by christof

[ethernautrix]

Thanks all; the idea of this step came to me after spending a couple of frustrating nights trying to shoot nibs; i lost a lot of the details, and i could always see my reflection on the nib! The paper cylinder seemed to have done the trick. I just taped the ends of a letter-sized paper together, and cut a little window to shoot through.

 

 

Thank you for this very instructive post! Photos and everything! I'm going to try it. I've read other posts from other helpful FPN members about setting up an easy light tent, but yours really makes me think it's easy and I can do it (easily). Thank you!

[ethernautrix]

Here's one of my latest nib shots with my usual set up. not as good as yours I have to admit, but still...

 

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6106/6285524019_0d0daef2f2_b.jpg

 

 

I love it!

 

My apartment is SOOOOOOO DARK.

 

My last apartment was downright filthy rich with natural light. This one... the opposite. *Sigh*

[christof]

Here's one of my latest nib shots with my usual set up. not as good as yours I have to admit, but still...

 

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6106/6285524019_0d0daef2f2_b.jpg

 

 

I love it!

 

My apartment is SOOOOOOO DARK.

 

My last apartment was downright filthy rich with natural light. This one... the opposite. *Sigh*

 

should be no problem - with a SB-900, you could live in a cave.

Edited April 27, 2012 by christof

[tenurepro]

Thanks. The remote flashes are great - they can attach to the camera via a ring on the lens; or you can setup up on their little stands. Not sure if they'll work on other cameras - they are controlled by the onboard flash.

That is very creative. Makes me want to get a macro lens for my Olympus Pen1. I've never seen remote flashes. Those are very neat. Are they proprietary to your Nikon or can they be used on other cameras?

 

Keith

[tenurepro]

That is an awesome pic - love your setup. I'll try it.

 

Here's one of my latest nib shots with my usual set up. not as good as yours I have to admit, but still...

 

 

 

 

[tenurepro]

Thanks - it took a bit of playing around, but i like the simplicity of it; you probably don't need the wireless flashes - a couple of regular lights should do to.

 

Thanks all; the idea of this step came to me after spending a couple of frustrating nights trying to shoot nibs; i lost a lot of the details, and i could always see my reflection on the nib! The paper cylinder seemed to have done the trick. I just taped the ends of a letter-sized paper together, and cut a little window to shoot through.

 

 

Thank you for this very instructive post! Photos and everything! I'm going to try it. I've read other posts from other helpful FPN members about setting up an easy light tent, but yours really makes me think it's easy and I can do it (easily). Thank you!