Bad pics are very common, practically the norm these days... except on fine watch sites like Timezone, Military Watch Resource , etc... those guys really take their pics extremely seriously! And it is really difficult to judge items based on cell phone pics, vs using even a halfway decent point shoot digital, like my Lumix, or a DSLR with a good lens (not the "kit" lens).
To a photographer like myself, I just turn the page. I can't deal with bad pics, they turn me off on the product.
Lighting also, very important, flash or any artificial lighting is terrible, window light is usually best, on an overcast day. Sidelighting is best for detail, like id marks, stampings, etc, it shows much more relief than flat lighting.
Angles can make or break pics as well. In a recent thread about an Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen, it was pointed out that the angles were so odd (the badge was in the person's hand, awful lighting, weird angles) that you couldn't make out any detail, or barely enough to make a determination.
Helmets are very susceptible to looking distorted as you get too close, much better to back up and zoom in, that gets you out to a focal length that eliminates distortion 50mm or longer.
Also another realization of the age we live in, is that many people view pics on their cell phones, and at that point, I'm not even sure that it's worth the trouble to shoot with a decent camera....
It's sort of like listening to an MP3 of Mahler's Symphony No: 4 on some tiny iPod docking station vs listening to vinyl through a real old fashioned stereo, with a McIntosh tube amplifier and some nice Klipsch corner horns
I personally could never make a determination on the decal from the pics provided, there isn't enough detail, the resolution is not there. I'm not an expert, but with the pics provided, even "as hard as the original poster is trying", it was never worth it for me to spend any time figuring it out, except I think the pics make it look bad.
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