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Just saw this pop up in my email. I didn't get in on Foldio 1, but I might get this one. Foldio2, “BIGGER & SMARTER†Foldio is the first pop-up studio for your smartphone. It becomes bigger and smarter. Feel the thrill of taking awesome photos. About this project We believe that it is possible to show that photography is no longer difficult and burdensome for non-professionals, by creating a better environment in which everyone can easily take high-quality pictures with a smartphone Foldio becomes more powerful and easier. You can experience the thrill of taking great photos by yourself with Foldio. REWARDS HOW IT FIRST CAME ABOUT People take pictures with smartphones easily enough, but it’s difficult to get high-quality pictures due to random lighting or the background, especially for photography intended to promote a product. In comparison, a photo studio has backgrounds and lighting which are completely controlled, which results in high-quality pictures. However, much time is needed to get the setting right, and the rental cost is quite hefty. So we started to design a photo studio for use with a smartphone - a simple, easy-to-use portable studio for everyone. Foldio (a portmanteau of "foldable" and "studio") is portable photo studio with a foldable design for smartphones. Foldio allows anybody with a smartphone to easily take studio-quality pictures. This is our ambitious project intended to unfold a whole new level of possibilities in smartphone photography. WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT FOLDIO 2? Foldio 2 is bigger and smarter in order to overcome the limitations of the 1st version of Foldio. Yet, we still focused on maintaining the portability and all-in-one studio style of the original. Bigger Size - More Subjects are welcome We increased the volume by 200% compared to the original Foldio. It allows you to take pictures of a wider variety of subjects. Get in touch with your tremendous creativity. Brighter Atmosphere - Powerful LED Strip with Adapter LED brightness is improved by using dual LED light strips twice as long as the original one. To maximize the LED light strip’s ability, we are going to use an adapter for Foldio 2. The Foldio adapter helps to make the lighting conditions and atmosphere consistent as well as being more practical than using batteries. If you have existing lighting devices also, it’s perfect for taking pictures with Foldio. Simple Magnetic Structure - Set Up the Studio in 10 Seconds We’ve gotten lots of positive feedback about the foldable magnetic structure from 1st-gen Foldio users. So we will apply the same structure to Foldio 2 for convenience and simplicity.

I thought I'd share a review on the FOLDIO Lightbox I picked up on kickstarter. I originally bought this for taking pictures of my chainmaile jewelry to post on etsy, However I find it will work work equally well for most miniatures. The kickstarter price was $45 for everything, Their website has more information on price: http://orangemonkie.com/foldio/ There was 2 different options for this on kickstarter, one came with 1 led strip and 7 different background colors. The background colors were Black, White, Grey, Green, Yellow, Blue, And Pink Option 2 came with 2 LED strips and only 4 backgrounds black, white, grey, and green. The led lights work off of a 9volt battery. Each strip needs its own battery. I'd reccomment rechargeable 9v if you use it a lot to save money. Here are some pics of the FOLDIO and how easy it is to setup and use. The FOLDIO in its carry bag and the backgrounds The 4 colors of the backgrounds. These are similar to the foam sheets you can buy at most craft stores. This will also give me a size reference for making my own custom backgrounds to fit. This is the 9v LED strip. They have adhesive backing on the to mount to the FOLDIO. Mine came with 2 of these. Right so here's how easy this thing is to setup. It has magnets in it to hold it together and to keep it folded. so just unfold it (yu can see the LED strip that is mounted) Slide the background you want under the slots like so: Attach both sides like so: And there you go! For reference, here it is with only 1 led strip And with both led strips. This is the setup I used in my show off thread Here is a couple pics taken using FOLDIO. I used my LG Intuition Cell Phone on portrait mode. There a a couple downsides in my opinion and I'll mention them here. Firstly the FOLDIO was only designed for one LED strip. Mine came with 2 thanks to the suggestions of the backers. However there is no mounting spot for the 2nd LED to mount. I would have liked to see a spot on the bottom added to hold the 2nd strip. My solution will be to find a thin steel L channel to mount the strip to the bottom as there is a set of magnets there that normally hold the foldio closed when folded. Simple, cheap, and would have been nice if it came with. Secondly is the size. While this will work for most single miniatures, Dioramas or even vehicles will not fit well. I would say anything larger than the pathfinder dragon might not fit. The company eluded to the possibility of making a larger version in the future. Overall I feel I got my moneys worth from this. My complaints are not deal breakers at all but only minor inconveinences. Edited to present updated and incorrect information...

When I first started photographing my minis, I built myself a light box out of a cardboard box and tissue paper: I thought this was the best way to take macro photos, but thanks to some advice from professional mini painter Aaron Lovejoy (olliekickflip), I recently ditched the light box, and have gotten much better photos ever since! Here's my new setup: I've since updated the macro photography tutorial on my website, if you want the nitty gritty of how it's done.