looking for basic setup for my shop

[zapdafish]

I'm interested in trying to take pics of my work area as I build stuff and am looking for a basic and cheap setup, GoPro is way more than I want to spend. I would like to mount a camera or two pointed at areas in my shop and connect to them  from my andriod phone to snap a pic of whats going on and download pics to phone or pc. Don't care if it has video or not.  Kinda like a cooking show that can snap pics of ingredients but would show stages of my work, lol.

I have almost no idea where to start or google as I have fallen way behind on technloigy. thnx

 

[nvalinski]

I go the extra cheap way. Just clamp my phone on random shelves around the shop to get some decent videos and whatnot.

 

[zapdafish]

hrmm, been digging around and seems like a baby monitor might fill the bill lol.

 

[Gregor]

Something that is able to take pictures on an interval (basically doing a timelapse) might be useful, so you can concentrate on work (and sift through the pictures later to pick the ones you want, without being frustrated that you forgot to take one).

 

[Dusty.House]

I picked up a Google Pixel 3a in a sale a while back, and just use with Wi-Fi. Then brought a sturdy case so I don't trash it in the shop.

You might be able to get a good deal on one around Black Friday. I'm not sure how much a GoPro costs, so maybe this isn't cheaper

Ben

 

[usernumber1]

if gopro is out of budget , how much do you want to spend then? 

maybe prev gen gopro used or costco or something would fit. they have interval shooting and can be mounted anywhere without thinking too much

diresta built his whole brand with just gopro footage sped up, and they were from 2015 gopro hero+ or 4  -

other options: old webcam + laptop / velcro your phone / used market : google something like 'best blogger camera 2018/17/16/15' and go through the lists what people are selling in your hood and how much you want to spend

baby monitor - only if it's for free

 

[Bob D.]

Get a few Wyze cameras and stick the up. You can record to a SD card or take snapshots or record video direct to your phone. They are only about $20 each and record in 1080p with audio. Now the audio is not the best (in fact it about as bad as it could get and not suitable for YT or any other presentation), but don't get it for that. If you want cheap you got to remember time, cost, or quality, pick any two but you can't have all three. In the case of the Wyze cams quick set up and low cost, so quality will suffer. The cheapest place to buy them is direct, but you can find them in HD, and online stores like the one named for a river for about $25 each.

Edit: Just checked and found a deal from Wyze on Amazon for a 2 pack of cameras for a good price and free shipping with Prime membership. There are plenty of YT videos showing the cameras if you're interested in knowing more. I have nothing to do with Wyze, just a satisfied user. I have 4 of their cameras watching inside the garage and both shops, they are NOT rated for exterior use but work pretty well looking out through a window.

No not Canon 80D or even GoPro quality video but for you asked for inexpensive so I'm just saying this might be an option.

Edit 1-25-21: Another option for a cheap multi-camera system might be a cheap security camera system. You can find these online or at the discount warehouses like BJs, Costco, and others. Lorex makes some of the inexpensive ones but whatever brand you go with look for cameras with the highest quality you can, but as a minimum 1080 or HD video. You'll get a DVR and2 or more cameras. Set them up to record from two vantage points. Some will record audio, but like the Wyze wireless cameras it's nothing to write home about. Use an old cell phone as a recording device. Stick it in your pocket and use a wired lapel mic. If you put it in Airplane mode all the radios and the GPS receiver will disabled which will improve battery life. Most of these security DVRs have ethernet, so you can connect to the DVR over you LAN and download the video to your PC.

Speaking of old smartphones they can also make excellent cameras. There are many holders available for phones that will let you get in close on the action which cost < $10, and you can of course make your own from wood scraps. So gather up all those old cell phones you have in your junk drawer and put them to use. Even if the batteries are near death they should still run off the wall wart.

 

[Packard]

Iphones and IPads have remarkable imaging capability.  With a seamless background and a decent light you can turn out remarkably competent photos using those devices you probably already own.

A piece of white Formica can be forced into an arc that makes a decent seamless background. When not being used, you can allow it to "relax" and return to the flat condition.

You can buy rolls of seamless paper in almost any color you want.  White and 18% gray are probably the most useful.

Window light can make a decent light source.  Or reflect a LED light off of a white panel for a light source. 

I do quite a bit of small part photography to illustrate the components we manufacture at work.  I take those photos on my IPad Pro.  For use over the Internet this is a digital over-kill setup.  Sometimes the image files are too large to load.  So a fancy camera is not the answer.

In any event, if a $400.00 Go Pro, is too much camera, then your phone probably will be just as effective in a stationary situation.  It is not so good for moving around, and I have an adapter that allows me to mount it on a tripod.  So if all you buy is that adaptor, you are into the system for $30.00.

 

[CeeJay]

You could try a Brinno time lapse camera. We used one when we built our house.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Drvista]

I’ve found that recording my setup and workflow helped a lot when figuring out what tools and layout worked best for me. I used a 360 camera from www.insta360.com to capture everything in the shop so I could review and spot areas to improve. It also helped me share the layout with a friend who gave some great suggestions without even being here.

 

[luvmytoolz]

I do a bit of insta and the bane for me is lighting, it's almost impossible to get good quality video lit up well enough indoors. Especially as most phones or cheap cameras make a daylight lit room look like a dungeon.

I've put a number of LED strips in and if I reduce the glare on the product it comes out sorta decent, but still not good enough that I'm really happy with it. Work in progress really.

I'd plan to put in some bright diffused LED strips if you really want to get good media to post.

 

[onocoffee]

I do a bit of insta and the bane for me is lighting, it's almost impossible to get good quality video lit up well enough indoors. Especially as most phones or cheap cameras make a daylight lit room look like a dungeon.

I've put a number of LED strips in and if I reduce the glare on the product it comes out sorta decent, but still not good enough that I'm really happy with it. Work in progress really.

I'd plan to put in some bright diffused LED strips if you really want to get good media to post.

I'm surprised by this because I find that my iPhone 15 Pro Max does a solid job of compensating for varying light levels in the workshop. My gripe is opposite - I'd like better control over the aperture and exposure parameter to get the "look" I'd like. Instead, the iPhone makes it look like video.

What you might be experiencing is glare from exposed LEDs. Try covering your LEDs with some kind of diffusion material. You could go to the camera store and buy rolls of this, or just try different things like paper sheets, thin blankets and the like. If you can control the direction of your LEDs, you could try "bouncing" the light off light colored surfaces for more even tone.

If you really want to get crazy, you can buy studio type lighting - but that's another rabbit hole.

 

[luvmytoolz]

My phone is an Oppo and while it's functional, it's pretty crappy. When we were at the footy a while back I recorded a bit in the stand and it was like filming from the inside of a washing machine, audio was garbage too. My wife's Samsung on the other hand captured brilliant video and crystal clear audio, so I definitely need a decent new phone.

The other issue is I do a lot of things that are highly polished that reflect light back quite badly, so I do have a bunch of diffused lighting including some Scangrip's and light stands, but it doesn't really help that much as you just end up with larger light circles reflecting back in the frame. A camera that takes better pics/video in low light like my wife's phone would be of benefit to me as I find it a bit painful to setup the whole advanced lighting "booth" when I want to take an ad-hoc shot of something.

The GoPro is not too bad, but still leaves a lot to be desired.

1st world problems, I know!

 

[onocoffee]

My phone is an Oppo and while it's functional, it's pretty crappy. When we were at the footy a while back I recorded a bit in the stand and it was like filming from the inside of a washing machine, audio was garbage too. My wife's Samsung on the other hand captured brilliant video and crystal clear audio, so I definitely need a decent new phone.

The other issue is I do a lot of things that are highly polished that reflect light back quite badly, so I do have a bunch of diffused lighting including some Scangrip's and light stands, but it doesn't really help that much as you just end up with larger light circles reflecting back in the frame. A camera that takes better pics/video in low light like my wife's phone would be of benefit to me as I find it a bit painful to setup the whole advanced lighting "booth" when I want to take an ad-hoc shot of something.

The GoPro is not too bad, but still leaves a lot to be desired.

1st world problems, I know!

Relflective surfaces can be a pain. Back when I was a movie technician, the grips and electricians would build a large grid with a silk covering the entire grid and illuminating that with HMIs (this was back in the 90s). Very even light dispersion and because the entirety of the overhead was the illuminated silk, it looked natural (or at least congruent) in the reflections.

If you really wanted to go crazy, you could rig white fabric across the entirety of your workshop and below your lights. That could effectively simulate what I mentioned above.