Another Bad Photo from Rothman

[Rothman]

Old I-87 state-named shield at Dunsbach Rd and Clamsteam Rd in Halfmoon, NY.  I need a new phone.

[Zeffy]

Old I-87 state-named shield at Dunsbach Rd and Clamsteam Rd in Halfmoon, NY.

Try this code instead.  It's the right-facing arrow on the bottom right of the slider, then go to 'BBCode'.

Code Select Expand

[url=https://flic.kr/p/wsmuvp][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/600/19988930073_4cdc7f6d3a_z.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/wsmuvp]08-14-15_1314[1][/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/44779116@N04/]dnrothx[/url], on Flickr[/s]

You found it. Disregard.

Anyway, how many state named shields are there left in New York anyway? I feel like they are getting as rare as finding one in Delaware.

[SignGeek101]

You think that's bad, I have a few pictures that are much worse; text signs that are impossible to read 

[iBallasticwolf2]

You think its hard to take a picture of a road sign with a phone? Try taking a picture in a mall where the natural light windows glare into the camera and have your hands make it hard to keep the phone perfectly still.

[Zeffy]

You think that's bad, I have a few pictures that are much worse; text signs that are impossible to read 

I tried to take pictures at night in Maryland. Most of them turned out like uber shit. Night photos are impossible to get right on an iPhone...

[SignGeek101]

You think that's bad, I have a few pictures that are much worse; text signs that are impossible to read 

I tried to take pictures at night in Maryland. Most of them turned out like uber shit. Night photos are impossible to get right on an iPhone...

Android ain't any better.



I think it may be a distance sign for Elie and Winnipeg MB, but you can't tell the numbers to save your life, or even what font it is.

[iBallasticwolf2]

You think that's bad, I have a few pictures that are much worse; text signs that are impossible to read 

I tried to take pictures at night in Maryland. Most of them turned out like uber shit. Night photos are impossible to get right on an iPhone...

Android ain't any better.



I think it may be a distance sign for Elie and Winnipeg MB, but you can't tell the numbers to save your life, or even what font it is.

I've tried taking night photos on my Android phone before. They turn out just like the picture here. You can't take pictures on Android before the sun is mostly up in my experience.

[Rothman]

Is that really an operating system issue, or is it an issue with the phone's camera itself?

[iBallasticwolf2]

Is that really an operating system issue, or is it an issue with the phone's camera itself?

I would guess it would be the camera
Alot of phone cameras aren't great quality and operate best in good lighting.

[froggie]

Trying to take a night photo from a moving vehicle is a useless gesture anyway, regardless of how good or bad the camera is.  You're moving too fast for a low shutter speed, not enough light getting into the lens for a higher shutter speed, and using a flash often causes reflection off the windshield.

[Thing 342]

Photo quality on Android devices tends to vary from device to device. Devices made by Samsung and LG tend to have better nighttime cameras than other manufacturers. I've taken some decent night photos on my Nexus 6, but the blur is pretty much unavoidable due to the increased exposure time needed for dark shots.

[Alps]

Trying to take a night photo from a moving vehicle is a useless gesture anyway, regardless of how good or bad the camera is.  You're moving too fast for a low shutter speed, not enough light getting into the lens for a higher shutter speed, and using a flash often causes reflection off the windshield.

You can avoid windshield reflection by holding the camera very close to the glass, and at a relatively acute angle. If you're at an angle to both the glass and the sign, you won't get sign whiteout either.

[formulanone]

Phone photos only tend to work best of you're holding them with both hands...which naturally, makes it tricky to shoot, since at least one finger has to confidently hit the screen button without shaking it. This isn't as much of a problem when taking photos outside, where they perform much better. You could take okay shots with a cellphone camera if the object is far ahead and someone else is driving; this wouldn't provide great detail for a small sign in a large frame, but it can be nice for a road photo that encompasses more than just signs.

So...get out of the vehicle. The glare, additional plating of glass, and the fact they're designed for slow shutter speeds, means less-than-desirable results inside. That said, I've found the iPhone does take somewhat better photos than most comparable Android devices (although the Green Robot Brand typically does a lot of things better on many platforms). See mergingtraffic's work for an example of how you can get great sign photos from a cellphone.

[Mergingtraffic]

I take all my pics with an iphone b/c I originaly started taking sign pics as a joke.  I didn't want to spend $ on a real camera, so the iPhone was it for me.  Now I am more serious about it and wish I bought something better.

However, I have found the iPhone works though.  I take all of my pics outside the car and using both hands.

A secret I found for night photos: I use the movie camera with flash and just take screen shots of the movie where the picture is the most clear (meaning I'm not wiggling around).  If I snapped a sign with the camera and flash, the flash would be too bright and ruin the pic.






I've also found the iphone gives me certain details I can't find on other cameras.  The color is good too.


The only time I use a regular camera is for scene shots...but I only recently started doing it b/c I found one stashed away in a drawer.

The downside of getting a better camera is that I'd want to retake all of my pics and I can't b/c it'll take too much time and some signs are really far away from home and some of the signs I took are now gone.
(I'm looking at you NJ TPKE )