Having a strong engineering background and sound understanding of photography, Poland-based photography technology company Orbitvu has developed novel studio solutions and equipped hundreds of photo studios for nearly 20 years. Having witnessed the evolvement of photography moving into a digital era and how e-commerce is changing the way people buy and experience products online, the company upgraded their first jewellery photography device suitable for traditional studio environment Orbitvu Mini 360 to a small self-contained unit - Alphashot Micro. Born in 2014, Alphashot Micro is more user-friendly and faster to capture pictures in high and professional quality.
Orbitvu exhibited at the March HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show in 2016 for the first time. In the ‘T-GOLD + METS’ Pavilion, co-organised by Fiera di Vicenza (FdV) and Hong Kong Jewellery & Jade Manufacturers Association (HKJJA), its booth was filled with crowds who were attracted by this flagship product.
“We consider jewellery photography as one of the most important markets. There are a large number of companies offering unique products which need high quality images,” said Tomasz Bochenek, CEO of Orbitvu. “The growth of e-commerce is also helping us by driving higher demand for product imaging than ever before...We know that we could positively influence the way product images are captured and presented online.”
The company’s R&D team, who develops new hardware accessories and software features constantly, makes it possible for Alphashot Micro to equip with the world’s first movable lighting system which moves with camera in the range of 300 degrees, and the world’s only solution that gives full control of image contrast: six independently-controlled LED panels, three types of tables, exchangeable white and black backgrounds and walls, allowing users to obtain any effect. For diamond or precious stone shooting, the device also has a special varifocal spot lamp which enhances stone reflections and illuminates the exact place to shoot.
In addition to those cutting-edge traits of hardware, this versatile tool’s key element is the integrated software for mass image creation with no need of using other photo editing software. Tomasz Bochenek told Hong Kong Jewellery: “With Alphashot Micro, it is possible to capture not only product images, but also 360-degree presentation and videos, and combine everything into an interactive product tour. The process is much faster than the traditional way: image capture, background removal, post-processing and export are done in a single step.”
According to Bochenek, unlike fashion photography where images need to show actual products, in the case of jewellery, they must deal with macro photography: low depth of field, reflections, three to four times magnification of the product with all its imperfections not seen with naked eyes.
Those desired targets have led to a number of software improvements for this device including automatic background removal from the image, ‘Super Focus’ technology for automatic extended depth of field, and ‘Gem Beautifier’ technology for gemstone colour enhancing.
With the purpose of better applying technology updates and serving users, Orbitvu offers new customers one-year software upgardes for free. After that, a software maintenance plan which gives users access to the company’s technical support and the latest software will be available. Even though Alphashot Micro is way more user-friendly than traditional photography, it still requires basic understanding of photography for the users. In order to narrow the usage gap, the company also provides customers product training sessions and supportive tutorials.
“Our ultimate goal is to provide a one-touch solution where you place your product inside, press a button and instantly get a fantastic image regardless of what your product is. This may not be possible in the near future, or even during our lifetime, but we will never stop trying,” said Tomasz Bochenek.
At present, the main market of Alphashot Micro is in Europe. To build their global presence, Bochenek revealed that they are planning to attend the most notable jewellery trade shows in the world in order to contact customers directly to promote the device and understand consumer needs better.
“We are extremely happy with the number of visitors in our booth and the financial benefits it brought. The most impressive is the size of the event, which gives us a positive view of the market potential,” Bochenek commented on the company’s exhibition at March Hong Kong show. “We want to perfect our products, and enter into other market areas to make our products available worldwide.”
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