Announcement: Review of the Nimbus Cloud Dome for smartphone photography

[sam]

While in a restaurant at JCK 2014 show in Las Vegas, Shane and I ran into Cindy Lichfield of the Cloud Dome company. I asked her if she had any new products and out came the Nimbus, a mini Cloud Dome designed for smartphone photography.

The light in the restaurant was restaurant was very dim but I couldn’t resist giving the Nimbus a try. Shane volunteered his beautiful diamond pave watch by Alexandre. I placed the watch in the Nimbus dome, attached my iPhone 5S to the top with the built in bungee cords, and snapped a few shots. Despite extremely dim light and nothing for a background other than the tabletop, the iPhone produced beautiful glare-free shots with soft shadows and very even illumination. Needless to say I bought one on the spot!

The next day I experimented with more shots on my workbench at the show. The light was much brighter and the photos are absolutely excellent and suitable for print or web.

The Nimbus retails for $79, and Cindy is offering a special 15% discount for engravers. When you place your order use coupon code Engrave15. Thank you Cindy!!

CLICK HERE for the Nimbus Cloud Dome for smartphones.

~Sam





Restaurant shot of Alexandre watch


Photographed on my workbench at the show.

 

[mrthe]

Amazing! is incredible that Iphone can take photos like this with the right setup! thank you for share!

 

[don hicks]

Looks like there is one more reason why I might have to join the 21st century and get a cell phone.
Cheers
Don

 

[mrthe]

If the new Iphone 6 camera will better than the 5 one maybe we will don't need regular cameras too hehehe

 

[thughes]

That's amazing!
Todd

 

[rayf24]

Just my 2 pence worth but $79 come on don't want to sound a kill joy but try a large white ice cream container hole saw in bottom 1 to 1.5 " works a treat I did it today after reading sam,s post and the best part is you get to choose the flavour first and eat it.
Only reason I have not posted pics is that I haven't worked out how to do it from phone.b
Sam hope I haven't put gasoline on your post
Ray

 

[Sandy]

Hi Sam,
Just ordered the Nimbus. That is slick. It should work great with my new Samsung S5 phone. U Da Man Sam!
Sandy

 

[sam]

Ray: Nothing at all wrong with do-it-yourself solutions. There's also nothing wrong with supporting the lady that gave us the idea. The Nimbus has a nice platform on the top with bungee cords that secure the phone. It also comes with a nice black drawstring pouch.

 

[rayf24]

Sorry sam it was the $79 that stuck in my throat the funny thing was I use ice cream containers a lot in my workplace for holding parts when repairing the lawnmowers I read you post while having lunch and just happened to have one sitting on the table in office light went on and ha presto gabbed the hole saw seemed to work well with similar results .
Ray

 

[sam]

As a courtesy to Cindy I don't want to divert this thread into alternative solutions.

 

[rayf24]

That wasn't my intention Sam fell free to remove my comments if required .
Ray

 

[KCSteve]

I have to say that while it looks easy to make something similar the Nimbus looks vey well made - durable and quite professional looking. Without even having a chance to fiddle with it in person I'm betting there are a whole lot of little problems that have already been solved for us in that simple looking setup.

Now if I only had $64 (what with the 15% discount)

 

[davidshe]

Sam - I also have one of these and I took some pics last year that turned out clean but seemed a bit flat. Yours look better so I suppose I did not use enough bright light around it? Cindy also sells a kit that includes a base that I think is for lighting from underneath. Any thoughts on that? She sure is a nice and helpful person.

Thanks,
David

 

[sam]

Sam - I also have one of these and I took some pics last year that turned out clean but seemed a bit flat. Yours look better so I suppose I did not use enough bright light around it? Cindy also sells a kit that includes a base that I think is for lighting from underneath. Any thoughts on that? She sure is a nice and helpful person.

Thanks,
David

Hi David. I've not used the other parts in the kit. You can always do a levels adjustment in Photoshop to boost contrast, and of course use some side lights to get different results. It's a great little dome and really handy for quick shots and it doesn't take up much room.

 

[BKJ]

Just ordered mine today. I have a hard time taking photos and am hoping that this will help. Thanks for posting and the 15% discount code.

 

[matthew.townsley]

Thanks for the review and the kind offer of a discount.
Looks great!

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Looks great and so the "snaps" you made Sam.
Sure more than good enough for posting pictures on the web or here in the Café. Just a bit of Cropping and PS editing and you have a pro photo.
Thanks for the review.

arnaud