Tried scanning a dig site with my phone camera versus a proper photogrammetry rig and wow

So last month on a site in Tucson, I had to document a cluster of pottery shards before moving them. My phone's camera with a free 3D scanning app seemed fine at first. I spent like two hours taking hundreds of photos from every angle. The result was this blurry, lumpy mess where you couldn't even see the incised patterns. The next day, I borrowed the department's proper DSLR setup on a rig with coded targets. Took maybe 30 minutes to shoot, processed it in Agisoft Metashape, and the model was so sharp you could count the individual temper grains in the clay. The difference wasn't just quality, it was usable data versus a digital paperweight. Has anyone else had a 'good enough' tech solution totally fail on a real dig?

2 comments

2 Comments

skylerp315h agoTop Commenter

Phones struggle with texture on uniform surfaces like pottery. The lack of a real lens means it can't pick up fine surface detail in flat light, which is exactly what you need for those incised lines. That's why even a basic DSLR with a prime lens makes such a huge difference.

robin_roberts846h ago

Count the individual temper grains" is wild. I would have thought a modern phone could at least get the basic shape right.