Zooming in on signs

[Mergingtraffic]

When you take a pic of a sign do you zoom in before you take it? Or do you take the pic far away and zoom in or crop it after? I use my iPhone 6s camera.

I was going thru my pics and some I've taken too far away to my liking. I zoom in but then they pixelate too much.

When taking pics of button copy are there any tricks you use to make the buttons stand out more without affecting other colors too much?

Any tricks to "hide" aliasing? I notice it when button copy signs are taken at an angle.

[Jim]

I have success using optical zoom but not digital zoom.  However, I don't generally take pictures with phone cameras, so I don't know how much if any optical zoom capabilities they would be expected to have.  Seems like it might be little or none.

[AsphaltPlanet]

An iPhone 6 uses digital zoom, which basically means that to zoom in, the phone uses less of the camera's pixels to take a photo, which degrades image quality.  It's the exact same effect as cropping a photo after it has been taken.

Newer versions of photoshop have perspective crops that can help to straighten sign photos taken in post processing.  Programs like photoshop can also help to add contrast or sharpening to make the buttons "pop".

But... the best thing to do is realize the limitation of your camera, and take photos from a close proximity of the sign, at as much of a straight angle as possible, at a time when the light is such that the buttons are being illuminated.

As powerful as programs such as photoshop are, they don't eliminate the need for good photographic techniques at the time the photo is being taken.

The iPhone does not have a terrible camera, however, it also is not a particularly good camera either.  Better photos require better optics.  If you are finding that you aren't happy with the results, it might be time to shell out a few hundred bucks on a more capable camera.

[jemacedo9]

An iPhone 6 uses digital zoom, which basically means that to zoom in, the phone uses less of the camera's pixels to take a photo, which degrades image quality.  It's the exact same effect as cropping a photo after it has been taken.

Newer versions of photoshop have perspective crops that can help to straighten sign photos taken in post processing.  Programs like photoshop can also help to add contrast or sharpening to make the buttons "pop".

But... the best thing to do is realize the limitation of your camera, and take photos from a close proximity of the sign, at as much of a straight angle as possible, at a time when the light is such that the buttons are being illuminated.

As powerful as programs such as photoshop are, they don't eliminate the need for good photographic techniques at the time the photo is being taken.

The iPhone does not have a terrible camera, however, it also is not a particularly good camera either.  Better photos require better optics.  If you are finding that you aren't happy with the results, it might be time to shell out a few hundred bucks on a more capable camera.

^ Completely true. 

All that said, as a general rule, you're better off getting into the habit of zooming in first and cropping after, instead of not zooming in.  As said above, with a digital zoom, neither choice makes a difference.  But with an optical zoom, you want the camera to fill as many pixels as possible already zoomed in, because you will lose pixels when cropping.

[jeffandnicole]

Since most of my pics are taking while I'm moving, what I try to use is the rapid picture taking option, where by pressing and holding the shutter button, you can take about 30 or so pictures in rapid succession.  I'll then go thru and see which one is the best, which may mean I need to crop it, enlarge it, or best of all - leave it be.

Another option is to video record the area, then try to take a screenshot where it looks the best.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Another option is to video record the area, then try to take a screenshot where it looks the best.

I definitely wouldn't recommend that approach.  Videos shot at full HD (1080P) are only just under 3 megapixels in resolution.  Even full 4K video is still just around 8 megapixels, well below the resolution that even an iPhone can record as a still image.

[epzik8]

I zoom in when I'm riding in the back. I had to do that through Richmond-Petersburg, Virginia southbound on I-95 last Friday. I finally got shotgun at Skippers when we stopped there.

[vdeane]

I take mine at full optical zoom unless I had to get the camera ready so fast I didn't have time to zoom in (which mainly happens if there's a sign I wasn't expecting).  I don't use digital zoom.  Of course, I have a point and shoot.  I couldn't even imagine attempting to use a phone camera for signs.

[JJBers]

I take mine at full optical zoom unless I had to get the camera ready so fast I didn't have time to zoom in (which mainly happens if there's a sign I wasn't expecting).  I don't use digital zoom.  Of course, I have a point and shoot.  I couldn't even imagine attempting to use a phone camera for signs.

That's basically my approach...

[hbelkins]

Only time I use my phone for for road pictures is if I see something I want to post right away to social media. Otherwise, I use a real camera and I never use the digital zoom, only optical. Optical zoom is one reason a phone will never replace my camera as my primary photography tool.