Alternative to traditional cameras for coins

spy88 · May 25, 2004 5:36AM

Hey all---

What with all the questions concerning lighting and best camera for coins, thought I would put up this link to a pretty unique idea for coin pictures. Some of you may already have seen/heard of it.

This is a specialty item so not good for vacations, but for large inventories of coins and computer support, it sounds like a nice set up.

"The Coin-Scope is not limited to the numismatic and coin professional, however. Seasoned technical professionals can make use of The Coin-Scope's powerful, yet surprisingly affordable abilities. With one-button image capture and video production, the possibilities become endless. The Coin-Scope can be used for botany, biology, forensics, electronics, stamp collecting, watch repair, you name it! One of the biggest uses of the coin-scope is to put pictures of coins for sale on Ebay. The Coin-Scope takes superior pictures, and superior pictures help sell coins."

Coin Scope

cosmicdebris · May 25, 2004 6:06AM

I am not impressed. The images are not crisp enough. To get the entire package with stand costs $599.00. I'll stick with my $500.00 Olympus C5050 and the $15.00 tripod I tore apart to make my copy stand.

<<Q: What is the resolution of The Coin-Scope images?
A: The resolution is 640 X 480 pixels at 72 dpi in 16.8 million colors (24 bit). While this isn't as high a quality as a flatbed scanner, its instantaneous, and a perfect resolution for internet or Ebay coin sales. Coin-Scope will save you lots of time!
>>

Barry · May 25, 2004 6:19AM

For that money I'd rather have a camera that I can use for other things, too.

Kriek · May 25, 2004 6:25AM

Nice idea, but not worth the price tag IMO.

dpoole · May 25, 2004 6:32AM

It'd be nice to have the lighting problem taken care of, but it looks like you have to get the $599 package to get the stand (which looks proprieary, and necessary to get a steady shot) and lenses other than the 50x, to get just a simple shot of a coin. Also, it looks like that simply shot does not have the built-in lighting that the 50x lense has. If that's true, what's the advantage of the set-up for images less than 50x?

The stand, the 1-10x lense and the Basic kit come to $487. Doesn't look like you get all that much else for the $599.

airplanenut · May 25, 2004 7:10AM

<< <i>It'd be nice to have the lighting problem taken care of >>

...but this light can't be controlled like with a desk lamp...

dpoole · May 25, 2004 7:38AM

But...but...Airplanenut. Suppose you didn't HAVE to adjust the light, and the light was perfect for every shot!!

northcoin · May 26, 2004 6:58AM

Cosmicdebris - could you describe how you modified an oridinary tripod into a copy stand? I have found a tripod that has a screw in piece at both the top and bottom of the vertical shaft so I can mount my camera under the tripod. The problem is though that the camera still does not point down. I suppose there might be some kind of bracket somewhere that could be mouted between the screw on the tripod and the receptor on the base of the camera which itself could allow the camera to tilt and then face directly down?

Placid · May 26, 2004 7:07AM

Here is my tripod.

northcoin · May 26, 2004 9:37AM

That is exactly what I envisioned. It looks like you have some type of bracket between the screw end of the tripod and the receptor on the base of the camera. Is that a part that can be purchased somewhere or did you fabricate it yourself, and if so, how?

Alternatively it looks like it might be the top piece moved to the bottom? I'm not sure my top piece will bend that way though.

Placid · May 26, 2004 9:58AM

Its just how the tripod was when I bought it. The swivel head was already on it. All I did was remove the center pole and stick it up through the bottom.
I think I paid $19 for it a long time ago.

Here it is at a different angle.

Alternative to traditional cameras for coins

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