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Author Topic: Multiple Different cameras used in one scan - possible - normal results...?  (Read 948 times)

JohnyJoe

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Hello

Years ago (like around 2015 i guess (?))  I somewhat built my own custom "face scanner" consisting of 11 Cannon "Point and shoot cameras" - compact cheap cameras... I used 2 types - Canon A2500 and Cannon Ixus 132. (5x and 6x = 11 in total). I used it to scan my face. The results were ok i guess, mixing 2 different camera types (although both with the same Mpx - 16 Mpx) (Canon Ixus 132 and Canon A2500) didnt seem to bother Agisoft Photoscan.

Im currently thinking about expanding the number of cameras (probably by 5 at most, but maybe more). My question is- can i use even other different versions of Canon compact cameras? Or do i need to stick only to the 2 types i already have (Ixus 132, A2500)...? Like can i combine even more types than 2? Im eyeing buying used Canon IXUS 160 (which has 20 Mpx sensors NOT 16 as the old cameras i have)... My question is: Can i combine multiple different Cannon Ixus (and Canon A) point and shoot cameras? Even with different MPx (16 vs 20, maybe even with 14...?). Will it bother agisoft program? Will it give me subpar results (in comparison if i used ONLY the exact same type of camera (all Ixus 132 for example)...?

1) Do i have to worry or is it ok to combine different canon compact cameras?

2) Is there a limit to how many types can i combine...? Currently i have 2 types, can i combine even 5 different types for example?

3) Does the MPx difference matter? (16 Mpx VS 20 Mpx (and maybe ill buy even some 14 Mpx)) wont it bother the program...?

Thank you

JohnyJoe

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Nobody knows :-o...?

JMR

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Yes you can.

jedfrechette

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The biggest issue you'll have with mixing different camera models is that the color balance from the different sensors will vary slightly. It may be a challenge to smoothly blend the texture maps without very carefully normalizing the images ahead of time.
Jed

JohnyJoe

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Thanks

So points cloud/mesh speaking, the results from combined cameras would be practically the same quality as if al lthe cameras were the same one type...

jedfrechette

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Correct, I would not expect to see any significant differences with regard to the geometry. For multicamera rigs like this you usually want to end up with a different camera calibration for each physical camera so having them all be the same model doesn't necessarily help that much in that regard.
Jed