Reply With QuoteHaha. Nice post. Got some example shots to share?
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1. Put on one of your larger watches
2. Pick up your phone
3. Take a regular wristshot
4. Hold your phone as far from your wrist as you can manage and take another
5. Stand just a yard or two from a mirror, hold up your forearm and take photo of it in the reflection
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There's a decent chance that the first picture will be the kind of thing that, if posted on the forum, would have people fretting about how it's too big for you
The second photo will probably look more reasonable, but still the watch will be dominating the shot
The third photo will look nothing like either of them, the lugs clearly within the width of your wrist etc, the strap or bracelet nicely framing the dial. This is how your watch looks to everyone else
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6. And relax
Haha. Nice post. Got some example shots to share?
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Thought it would be more fun to make everyone try it for themselves 😃
I wear a wide range of sizes and did this with a representative sample. To my surprise, in the mirror shots, the smaller ones looked closer to Too Small than the larger ones looked to Too Big. (Though when I think about it, I suppose that's because I'm not used to that perspective.)
This is because phone cameras are wide angle - 28mm or so in traditional focal length.
The closer you are to a subject with a wide lens, the more is distorted compared to what's behind it - in this case the watch is inflated in size compared to the wrist. This is why we don't use wide angle lenses for portraits of people.
If you take a photo with a proper macro lens it often has a focal length of around 100mm. This is more like a typical portrait lens (but set up for a much closer focusing disctance) and removed the distorting effect of the wide angle field of view.
Source: I'm a full time photographer
Last edited by RustyRoses; 4th November 2017 at 11:08.
Yep, it's all about perspective.
I came across this guide the other day:
https://www.realmenrealstyle.com/watch-size/
I thought that I was the only one so OCD that I look in the mirror to see what my watch looks like to a non watch obsessive.
I'm just a very naughty boy.
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I may have forgot one or two, apppologies.
You can also ask friend to photograph the watch and you while you are wearing it. It's not just the wrist-watch proportion that you see, it shows how the watch looks in proportion to you as a whole. It is easier to judge if something is under the radar or screams of your wrist.
My friends already think that I'm obsessed with watches, if I asked them to do that they'd get me certified.Originally Posted by caye031
I'm just a very naughty boy.
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I may have forgot one or two, apppologies.
I couldn't care how it looks to others. If it looks too big for me from my own perspective then it is too big.
Interesting Rusty. Is there an app or app option that compensates for the wide lens distortion when taking a picture of a watch?
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True, that's what GTGs are forMy friends already think that I'm obsessed with watches, if I asked them to do that they'd get me certified.
This.
No, because it's view is like a cone - if you're close and the cone is wide, it sees the dial, but not much of the case sides, distorting the perspective. No app can add the missing sides.
If you take the photo from further away, the cone is longer and narrower, so it captures more of the sides of the watch and makes it seem more "normal".
You then have to crop the photo down , so you loose detail/resolution but you also lose some of the distortion.
Using a mirror is just a handy way to double the length of the field of view cone.
What you can do is buy one of these clip on lenses for your phone that increases the focal length, that way your cone becomes closer to a cylinder while retaining the resolution.
Cheers. The distance shot then cropping sounds practical. Esp given the hi res shots of most cameras.
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For a 'Friday thread' snap I just zoom my iphone in about halfway and hold the phone further away. Poorer resolution but better perspective.
I recently saw a shot of two steel Skydwellers sitting side by side, taken on a phone. One was in the middle of the shot, the other to the side, slightly nearer the camera. They looked like different watches.
The OP makes a good point, but it's also true that you have to like the way it looks to you when checking the time, and that's also how it will look to others when they are close to you. So the ideal size looks good at all distances, and this can be achieved.
But it's true that something that looks pretty substantial from close up may wear better then you'd imagine, and phone snaps are incredibly misleading.
Ta, I'll try this too. Cheap experimentation. :-)
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When I did this myself I was just 75cm from the mirror. If someone is within 1½ metres of you, they'll have plenty of other things on their mind other than your wristwatch.
Traditional close up wrist shot of a 45 mm watch on my 6.25 wrist.
Dinner plate right?
Same watch, with a photo taken via a mirror, still a lot closer than people would normally see it on your wrist, it would appear smaller if viewed from a few feet away.
36 mm watch taken with same technique and is in reality smaller than I would want to wear.
Mitch
Great examples. Emphasizes the difficulty in achieving a definitive perspective.
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Your eye has a focal length too. It's nowhere near as wide as your phone camera. It's about 50mm focal, around 1/4 of the "area" of a 28mm focal length lens such as your phone's camera.
So if you take a photo on your phone, from normal viewing distance (put you camera where your eyes literally are and lean back to see the screen), then crop down to the centre quarter of the photo (25% off the left, top, right and bottom of the image) you should have a photo that's accurate to how you'd personally see it.
But remember, your eyes have a central focal point. Your peripheral vision adds to the "perception" of the scene without having much detail. A photo, however, is able to be focused on by your eyes looking at it, at different points, changing your perception of the scene.
Try looking at your watch on your wrist at normal distance, and focus on the watch as a whole - you should find you're really flitting around the dial looking at little points on it one after another.
Add to this that when you look at an image on a screen, it could be made bigger, or smaller, depending on the screen size and the position, and this also messes with your "perception" of an object and it's scale.
This all adds up to why things in person and things in photos, almost always are perceived differently, and why the job of a photographer is much harder than most people give them credit for :)
Last edited by RustyRoses; 4th November 2017 at 13:57.
So this explains why the SD43 looks so poor in most of the wrist shots.
I had written it off but now Ill head out and add my name to the waiting list.
As it happens I've already done this experiment in the past and here are the results :
(Bracelet not properly done up as I was in a shop, and obviously blurry on the right due to the enlargement)
Yes, that's the same Datejust 41 in both pictures. This proves the point that wide angle, close phone pictures are misleading, and that even with the naked eye, what seems large close up may seem quite different from further away.
Nonetheless, this doesn't make it possible to wear an oversized watch on a slim wrist - I'd still argue that something that looks good at all distances is what you want.
I think many of us suffer from 'size anxiety' of one sort or another, which can take the form of worrying that our watches are too big, or too small. It is helpful to see how a watch looks on someone else. When a friend came round wearing a 36mm vintage Datejust, I was surprised that it looked much more substantial and noticeable that I'd expected from my own. Then again, I suppose I would notice it.
Last edited by Itsguy; 4th November 2017 at 14:15.
When people say "Oh, everything's online now, I don't understand why there are still shops?" - this is why.
Going and trying on a Watch / Outfit / Car is a totally different, and necessary experience if you want a fully educated purchase. If you don't, no problem, buy it, try it out, return it if you don't like it, but when it comes to things like watches, I don't really have the cash for a whimsical decision.
An interesting subject.
Watches on my wrist seldom seem the same when I simply look at them and then look at a picture taken on my mobile telephone - unless its a longshot and zoomed in, in which case the view is more comparable
Here is the PRS40 that arrived today (thanks Dave!) - 53.1mm LTL on my 6.75" wrist
Usual wrist shot
Cropped long shot
To my naked eye even when looking at it close up it appears more like the image in the long shot.
Last edited by Velorum; 4th November 2017 at 15:43.
Ian, the 40 always looks big on me due to the one piece case.
I very rarely wear mine on a NATO because of it, but looks much better(less bulk) on a RAF pattern.
Cheers.
I agree, its much better on an RAF pattern NATO or of course a Eulit Perlon.
I have it on a 20mm Panama at the moment whilst waiting for a 22mm Palma to arrive from Holborn's.
The 2mm difference isnt that noticeable which surprised me.
ha... so true
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Exactly. You're the only one who will really be looking at it and almost certainly the only one who will care.
Unless you socialize with other members..... ;-)
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Still couldn't care what their opinion might be though :)
I like to know how the watch looks on me... Do I care what somebody else think about it it's entirely different matter. I don't.
I wonder why we have threads where people post pictures of their watches for others to see if nobody cares what anyone else thinks!
My thoughts exactly. Some may be protesting too much.... ;-)
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The 22mm Perlon works a treat - here is mine from earlier today.I agree, its much better on an RAF pattern NATO or of course a Eulit Perlon.
I have it on a 20mm Panama at the moment whilst waiting for a 22mm Palma to arrive from Holborn's.
The 2mm difference isnt that noticeable which surprised me.
Looks great on the perlon, the only thing you’ve to be careful the watch doesn’t slip off the strap due to the thickness as mine nearly did!
Yes, its because the strap passes straight through with no bends, it will sip very easily off the non buckle end!
I know just never give it a thought first time in taking it off as I always wear Nato’s!
Luckily it fell onto the bed 👍
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