Camera with 1" sensor or smaller and remote live view shooting ... is it possible?

doodledsnaps

doodledsnaps

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Following on from my previous thread https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/focal-length-for-product-photography-9mm-or-90mm.652545/ (really appreciate the advice there) I concluded my camera was probably a bit OTT for what I needed so I set off to find a better fit by looking for something with a smaller sensor. But I've run aground on a couple of issues:

- I can't seem to find anything much simpler/cheaper in any brand than my Canon EOS 70D which has remote live shooting so I can view the image on a laptop before taking the shot. Does anyone know of any compact cameras with remote live preview?

- If I can get over the hurdle above the next one is understanding what a 1" sensor actually is! In the other thread Nawty said "modern compact cameras with a 1" sensor (which are actually nothing like 1" but that's a different story)". I think I need to know that story as my Canon has a sensor 22.5 x 15mm. Thats 26mm diameter which is not far off 1"?

Cheers.
 
A 1" sensor is one where the width + the height is 1" (25.4mm) as opposed to your 70D which is 37.5mm (using the same measuring method).

Bob


Edit.......oh not it's not.....see post #3 below
 
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Canon Bob said:
A 1" sensor is one where the width + the height is 1" (25.4mm) as opposed to your 70D which is 37.5mm (using the same measuring method).
Click to expand...
Hold the front page!!! Sorry Bob, but that's not actually correct.

A 1" sensor is one which has a diagonal of 16mm[*]. And you can extrapolate from that: for example a 2/3" sensor has a diagonal of 16mm x 2/3, a 1/6" sensor has a diagonal of 16mm x 1/6, and so on.

[*] Some manufacturers use 15.86mm.
 
StewartR said:
Hold the front page!!! Sorry Bob, but that's not actually correct.

A 1" sensor is one which has a diagonal of 16mm[*]. And you can extrapolate from that: for example a 2/3" sensor has a diagonal of 16mm x 2/3, a 1/6" sensor has a diagonal of 16mm x 1/6, and so on.

[*] Some manufacturers use 15.86mm.
Click to expand...
Sincere appologies as it's not how I described it.....I plead guilty to believing what I read (which is becoming increasingly dangerous in the online world)

Bob
 
Thanks Bob and StewartR for clearing that up!

JohnX - I've had a look at the Panasonic LX100 and I don't see an option to connect to a laptop for live preview shooting. It does, like many others, allow you to control the camera via a SmartPhone but I don't see the same sort of EOS Utility functionality. Have I missed something?
 
Your right about the LX100, it can use an app to shoot remotely with live view but has no pc or mac software to allow it to be used as such with a laptop.

The smallest solution I know of is the Olympus OMD EM5 MK2, so an M4/3 sensor, the software is free from Olympus and it tethers nicely with full control just the same as your Canon with the EOS utility software, of course its smaller, the lenses are smaller and both are a lot lighter than the Canon equivalents
 
magicaxeman said:
The smallest solution I know of is the Olympus OMD EM5 MK2, so an M4/3 sensor, the software is free from Olympus and it tethers nicely with full control just the same as your Canon with the EOS utility software, of course its smaller, the lenses are smaller and both are a lot lighter than the Canon equivalents
Click to expand...

... yes ... but with a price tag like that I don't think I am trading down and suspect it has even more bells and whistles .... ?
 
doodledsnaps said:
... yes ... but with a price tag like that I don't think I am trading down and suspect it has even more bells and whistles .... ?
Click to expand...

I know I'm nit picking here but there are people who'd not view a move from a Canon 70D to an Em5 MK2 as trading down :D
 
woof woof said:
I know I'm nit picking here but there are people who'd not view a move from a Canon 70D to an Em5 MK2 as trading down :D
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I think you misunderstood me. I want to trade down to something simpler but the EM5 MK2 looks like a trade up!
 
do you need full tethering support or just remote viewing?
Afaik probably anything with an HDMI output should be able to supply a remote feed.
I imagine that the target customer for cheaper/simpler compacts isn't considered to have the need for full tethering (or the manufacturers would like to sell up for that).
 
You can remotely control most Fuji X cameras including the compact Fuji x30 If you can find one, but they are available second hand.
I can control mine with my tablet and change most settings including aperture, shutter speed, and focus point.
 
Unless I'm missing something, the Panasonic image app works fine wirelessly? At least, it works fine on my FZ1000 (1" sensor) and iPhone SE. You can control zoom, exposure and focus etc
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
You can remotely control most Fuji X cameras including the compact Fuji x30 If you can find one, but they are available second hand.
I can control mine with my tablet and change most settings including aperture, shutter speed, and focus point.
Click to expand...

stickytape said:
Unless I'm missing something, the Panasonic image app works fine wirelessly? At least, it works fine on my FZ1000 (1" sensor) and iPhone SE. You can control zoom, exposure and focus etc
Click to expand...

I think the point is that @doodledsnaps wants to use a laptop, not an iPhone or tablet. So either a tablet/phone is too small or they don't have one available to use.

If connecting to a laptop is important, then I would suggest keeping the Canon 70D and work on perfecting the set up. If you want a smaller camera for holidays, I'd suggest getting a second compact camera just for that purpose and leaving the 70D at home/office for product photography.

As well as the complication of sensor size affecting the depth of field, you also need to consider that the closer to an object you get, the shallower the depth of field.
IE: if you have the camera 1metre from an object and the aperture at f4, you will have more of the object in focus than if you move the camera closer to 20cm from the object, even if you keep the aperture at f4. So to get more of the object in focus at closer distances, you have to increase the aperture.

I would set up your object on a table with your lights, put the 70D on a tripod, zoom the lens to the 50mm mark and then move the camera so the object fills 3/4 of the frame (ie leaving space around it). Put the camera into A mode (aperture priority) and rotate the dial to get about f8 to start off with. Try ISOs of 100-800 (don't go much higher as you'll get lots of noise which isn't great in product photography), then see what shutter speed the camera selects. If f8 doesn't let you have enough of the object in focus, increase it in steps till you get enough in focus and let the camera pick the right shutter speed, even if it goes down to 1/4 sec (With the camera on a tripod you can have slow shutter speeds without a problem).

It might be an idea to post an example of one of your images so we can see what could be improved.

Here's an example (probably not a brilliant one) taken with my old Canon 60D, at f8 most of the hands are in focus (at least sharp enough). Taken with one cheap flash in a softbox.

Precious Earth by Alistair Beavis, on Flickr
 
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