Solution to Better Smartphone Camera Card Pics?

[imi26dude]

Recently I invested (i use that lightly it was 9 dollars shipped) in a light box, a miniature photo booth that is foldable and portable. It's the size of a small laptop basically.
Anyway, the lightbox is great because it can create a great way to take better pics of your cards. We always have to find weird angles to take picture without glares and reflections but this way with a lightbox, LED lights from the top shine down to get a beautiful picture of cards even with a team bag or in BGS slabs (OR BOTH).

Here are some examples. If you don't have a scanner and rely on a smartphone camera, this might be worth looking into.

As you can see the whole card is clear and no glares are present and the pics themselves are very bright and pop out. If you'd like to see more pics for example let me know! @scottkoz20

[acecardking34]

Could you do some base chrome cards? Andrew luck topps chrome rc for example. I always have trouble scanning or getting a good pic. I was going to build my own light box but if i can get one for $10 ill just do that lol. Thanks

[acecardking34]

Also maybe some more straight on pictures instead of angled. I know the stand is angled but the phone is not parallel to the stand so you get the super wide at top to going to narrow at the bottom effect

[mess0312]

ok post the link to the specific box please.....does it come with the LED lights?

[imi26dude]

@acecardking34 doesn't help I'm a bad photographer lol. I just got this so I'm still learning to use it. How are these?

[imi26dude]

@mess0312 there are a few listings on eBay but I specifically bought this one. They come with the LEDs already installed and both a black and white background. I think they look nicer on the black background.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Light-Room-Photo-Studio-9-Photography-Lighting-Tent-Kit-Backdrop-Cube-Mini-Box-/311641404985?hash=item488f467639:g:gTgAAOSw4A5YpnA 7

[acecardking34]

@acecardking34 doesn't help I'm a bad photographer lol. I just got this so I'm still learning to use it. How are these?
IMG_8637 by Imran Noorali, on Flickr
IMG_8638 by Imran Noorali, on Flickr

Those look better, i have still found that taking the pics out on my porch in the natural daylight have came out the best

[imi26dude]

Yeah it's definitely not the solution for everyone but I think it can be for most. I live in a large apartment complex and don't have a porch to get that awesome natural light you can use so this light box is perfect for me

[acecardking34]

Yeah it's definitely not the solution for everyone but I think it can be for most. I live in a large apartment complex and don't have a porch to get that awesome natural light you can use so this light box is perfect for me

Ive been looking for better alternatives as i dont necessarily want a stack of cards outside lol. I have a nice scanner but it takes a long time to scan and then crop and then upload. Snapping a pic is way faster

[vbhat]

I use the "Scannable" app on my iPhone. Sort of turns your phone into a scanner. It can automatically take a picture when it finds the 4 corners of a document (or you can take a picture manually). If you take a picture at an angle to avoid glare, or to bring out a refraction effect, and it will pick the corners and "straighten out" the image. If you don't like where it picked the corners, you can manually adjust it. There are definitely pros and cons that I could elaborate on, but overall it works for me. I'll put a couple of sample pictures below. --Vinny