Modern X-ray data collection is substantially the same as von Laue's experiment though various kinds of electronic detectors are used rather than photographic film. Below is a diffraction pattern recorded on a Rigaku/MSC Mercury CCD detector:

An X-ray photo, like the one above, contains two important pieces of information about the crystal structure: the shape and size of the unit cell and the distribution of electron density throughout the unit cell (that the photo above shows diffraction spots very close together in one direction indicates that there is one long unit cell axis; the varying amounts of electron densities in the unit cell result in varying intensities of the diffraction spots).