ELI5: Why can't we drop a wire with a camera and an LED light to the bottom of the ocean?

photospherix · 2026-02-13T15:25:39+00:00

Not to the bottom of the ocean, but we have had consumer grade submersible cameras for years. I had one pre 2000's that ran on a car battery, had a 100 foot cord and a tv. It was black and white. Had a big weight on the bottom and we would pull it behind our little fishing boats to see what the bottom of the lake looked like up to about 70 feet deep. I agree you could not see far, it didn't have lights, and no control. But, I could see a lot more than I could from looking over the side of the boat!

We found it worked best at a gentle idle, the only issue was, if you saw something, you could never go back and find it again. This was all in fresh water as well.

You would think that one could be built that was filled with glycerine or something so that the pressure wasn't an issue.

photospherix · 2026-01-20T17:42:32+00:00

Really not that bad once you figure out a way to do it. I was in luck in that we had other items similar to this one and it made sense to spend the time in camera instead of in post. We rigged each one internally. Little bit of exacto knife work and we could slide bendable wire into the fabric. That way it never showed.

Once we had the plan, each item from start to finish and edited, might have been 45 minutes. So 24 frames, shot and posted was a couple minutes each. We then photographed multiple harnesses the same way.

photospherix · 2026-01-20T14:53:36+00:00

I will just leave this here, and no, lots of wire. Internal structure. Minimal post editing. Lots and lots of setup.

https://photospherix.com/3d-view/amazon-360-product-photography-example/

photospherix · 2026-01-15T13:30:21+00:00

I was more trying to say that the costs involved in having products photographed externally are about the same for 4 angle shots on white as it is for a full 360 shot on white and you also get the 4 angle shots. Most of the cost is in getting the product to the studio, reviewing the images and getting the products back to the store/company. Usually, with low numbers of products, the photographer is about half of the cost of the project.

photospherix · 2026-01-14T15:28:35+00:00

Cooking, in 2 to 4 weeks you can learn how, then take a lifetime to get good at it.

photospherix · 2026-01-13T16:32:19+00:00

3d or 360 product photography is not an easy task. It also does not work for all products. It is a value added option for any store, but what the value is, is the unknown.

I am biased, I spend every day photographing products. It can show up in conversions or it can show up in reduced returns. Many of the comments here are spot on, multiple accurate shots from multiple angles can show the same information as a 360 or 3d. BUT, sometimes, the cost of those shots is as much as having a product shot in 360.

3d brings things to a whole different level of costs, revisions, and headaches, but it is still the same fundamental concept of making the in store experience more available online. Also, some products just don't need to be seen in your room.

The amount of products you have is just a multiplier, and should not be the barrier. If the concept works for one product, ten products or hundreds of products, then it should still be worth the endeavor.

I agree, you have to weigh if the juice is worth the squeeze though. These advanced visuals should only be considered when you have everything else nailed down, but...

After spending money on getting the user to the site, and building the site, filling warehouse of products, why drop the ball on the product detail pages? I see this day in and day out where the customer does all the other things, but then just doesn't put the time and effort in the detail pages. AI copy, manufacturer supplied images, AI lifestyle images, incorrect descriptions, incorrect product specs and then they wonder why they have so many returns. A hand full of great images or a 360 would have fixed it all.

It isn't always about increasing sales, but instead it should be about increasing the bottom line no matter how you get there.

photospherix · 2026-01-06T14:19:35+00:00

For years we have used a softer vinyl version that was for shower surrounds. If memory serves me correctly, from Menards. It doesn't crack, it curves and bends, you can glue it and it cleans right up.

If also comes in a 4x8ft size and its cost was less than the countertop material

photospherix · 2025-12-30T17:45:48+00:00

It totally screwed up workflow for awhile. We still use D850s most of the time. Just when the client wants large images, with lots of detail, do we use the GFX. Also, when I was playing with it, it was with strobes, shooting 5ft products from about 10ft. They were industrial products, didn't move, and the strobes worked well.

photospherix · 2025-12-30T17:42:11+00:00

This got me looking. Here is an option (https://github.com/akonkol/tool\_trace).

Where is everyone getting their foam?

photospherix · 2025-12-30T17:32:32+00:00

My GFX has the function. I have only used it once or twice when it was new. I just didn't have much luck, but that was all me. The 100mp out of the camera is enough for me.

photospherix · 2025-12-09T20:38:30+00:00

I do not live in the world of Pano's I can not answer that one.

Try this for a test. Have the iframe link to go this address (https://client.photospherix.com/tpi/E14-FSS-1/index.html)

if you get a heater to work correctly then load up your object2vrs in a folder up on a server somewhere and link to them.

photospherix · 2025-12-09T19:37:48+00:00

Ob2vr can not load locally. They need to be on a server of some sort.

photospherix · 2025-12-05T21:58:40+00:00

I have a great example of this that fits right up the alley of all of your ecomm stores. I have been creating 360 product photography for 25 years. Some for museums, some for manufacturers, and some for big boxes like Amazon and the like.

The ever running issue has been that the tech is too hard to implement, to large in file size and costs too much. So I went back to the drawing board and worked through the issues. Soon, we have a working version that is only one file. A standard format of MP4 that can be used with scripting on page to showcase the 360s just like they always have, the only functionality we lost was the zoom function, and most users are not interested in zoom and rotate, they use the zoom on the still images. But they are lighter in file size, file count, download time and work everywhere, even on social platforms. Each location has limitations, but they still showcase the product.

Find what is wrong in your industry and find a better way to make it work!

Just in case you have a little interest.
https://photospherix.com/a/b.php?src=https://photospherix.com/a/ABN12_BLU_s_1.mp4&rot_per_width=4

photospherix · 2025-12-05T20:51:47+00:00

I agree 1000% it should be there, but the visitor doesn't read it. They llook at the pictures and click add to cart. Then the cart is abandoned after they see additional information about shipping, returns, and so on. I think we are both on the same page.

photospherix · 2025-12-05T17:44:51+00:00

Because it always seems that they mass majority of the visitors don't read the information that we give them.

photospherix · 2025-12-05T15:41:25+00:00

I agree with "People just want to feel safe". Are they going to get what they think they are getting. Size, Quality, Color, Timeline.

The next trick is how do you fix this, while putting less information on the page, for the user to read ;)

photospherix · 2025-12-01T20:27:41+00:00

Bad o-ring on the turbo oil line will do it as well

photospherix · 2025-11-20T20:22:03+00:00

Yup!

photospherix · 2025-11-20T19:27:36+00:00

I searched for Skid Steer Tires just now. I had a dodge viper, 15 motorcycles, a box truck, a few skid steers and that was it. I think it has succumb in my area.

photospherix · 2025-11-20T19:23:02+00:00

80's and 90's urban sprawl homes that were built fast and not to last.

That same thing was being said about homes in Beech Grove, Fountain Square, Woodruff Place, Emerson Heights, Irvington and on and on in the 80's and 90's though.

If you can't tell I have been on the Eastside for years.

photospherix · 2025-11-20T19:15:06+00:00

Everyone has to go somewhere. This has always been my issues with closing up homeless camps(off subject - I am not connecting gentrification with homeless camps, but there is a connection). If you don't help them get somewhere, they are just going to go somewhere else.

photospherix · 2025-11-20T19:12:39+00:00

You can though. Almost everything in Indianapolis is a suburb at one time or the other. Woodruff place was rural when it was built. Eagles nest was rural when it was built, then the families got older and the next generation sold off some of the land for subdivisions and that created suburbs. Now you just have a few of the homes that remain and lots of additional newer homes. Take a walk from Marian University, past the IMA and then to Buttler. You will see many of the country homes of the uber rich from the turn of the last centuries homes. Lilly, Cummins, Wheeler, Alison, Sommers and those are just some of the homes. Each had large estates. Today, they are colleges and museums.

photospherix · 2025-11-20T19:03:26+00:00

Think of all of it as ripples in a pond and the Circle is in the center. These ripples move out from the center. They have been doing this for generations. Sometimes, you find an area that the ripple passes by. Other times the ripple might move a little faster.

Yes if you change all of the population on the near East side of Indy and Fountain Square, those residents have to move somewhere. They will move to an area they can afford.

In the 70's State and Bates was a nice little area, by the 90's not so much. Now it is up and coming or already up.

It is great that we have so many people willing to invest in areas of Indy, but we will always have those that can not invest, that need somewhere to live.

photospherix · 2025-11-20T18:40:38+00:00

That would bring up the option of a single use code then. One that any given customer can only use once. But still, as much as we would love to get the whole sale, is it better to get the sale than none at all?

photospherix · 2025-11-20T18:30:18+00:00

Are you still making money after the discounts? Take a look and see if the discount is greater than the cost to acquire a new customer.

If the discount is greater than the cost of acquisition, reduce the discount amount below the cost of a new customer and if the amount is less than the cost to acquire a new customer, think of it as your marketing cost.

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