New lighting and camera settings. What do you think? Warning many images!

Oney · December 26, 2005 7:26AM

I have been trying to get a single lighting setup and camera setting to depict lustre, frost and mirror for my Morgan dollar collection. I have labeled them so you can see the grade and characteristics. What are your thoughts?

1. PCGS 1878-S MS64PL

2. PCGS 1881-CC MS65

3. PCGS 1883-CC MS65PL

4. PCGS 1883-CC MS66

5. PCGS 1884-CC MS64PL

6. PCGS 1885-CC MS64

7. PCGS 1891-CC MS64

8. PCGS 1900-O MS66

TorinoCobra71 · December 26, 2005 7:54AM

Photos look good!

TorinoCobra71

mgoodm3 · December 26, 2005 8:02AM

I really like the 83cc

nwcs · December 26, 2005 8:37AM

The exposures look pretty good but they don't look sharp. What kind of lens do you use?

Oney · December 26, 2005 8:43AM

60mm Quantary Macro. I think I might be too close and it can only focus on the profile. Thoughts?

nwcs · December 26, 2005 9:08AM

Ahh, I bet that's it. You may be a bit too close. I found that at 60mm I'm better off being about a foot away. You might try changing your aperture to like f/6 or higher. I also found that sometimes the plastic can fool the focus sensor and that manual focus (as painful as that can be...) is the way to go for coins more times than not.

mgoodm3 · December 26, 2005 9:16AM

I never use autofocus.

nwcs · December 26, 2005 9:25AM

<< <i>I never use autofocus. >>

Yeah, and using a copystand or just about any contrivance makes the whole affair look like a rube goldberg experiment.

MikeInFL · December 26, 2005 9:31AM

All but #4 are out of focus. Try increasing the f stop (smaller aperature) for additional depth of field -- try f/11+.

Othrwise, the photos look very nice -- good exposure and lighting...Mike

Oney · December 26, 2005 9:43AM

How is this one in comparison? Manual focus. Aperture f/32. Image optimaization is set to Detail. RAW image.

Before / After

nwcs · December 26, 2005 9:45AM

Much better! f/32 is a bit on the high side. I wouldn't expect you needing more than f/12 really. It could still be sharper, though. One thing, if you use Photoshop CS2 you can reduce the image size and sharpen at the same time (bicubic sharper). Otherwise run a smart sharpen or unsharp mask to help.

Oney · December 26, 2005 9:50AM

I ran an unsharpen mask. This is better I think. I will try a lower aperture.

MikeInFL · December 26, 2005 9:55AM

MUCH better.

Oney · December 26, 2005 9:59AM

This is the nicest so far. I think I have the setting to use now.

nwcs · December 26, 2005 10:00AM

Yes, definitely the best one!

Oney · December 26, 2005 10:07AM

No software ehancement on this one. By the way, I use PaintShop Pro 9.0.

kryptonitecomics · December 26, 2005 10:15AM

Alright nwcs..........you gonna have to share all that photo talk with the rest of us photo challenged folks.....I pulled my camera out of the box and have been using it that way with autofocus .......don't know a thing about f12 or f32 or f69....well you get my drift???

I have a Nikon Cool pics 5400 and I use the macro and a bower 49mm Macro +10 lens screwed over the top of the normal lens.......now how about throwing some photo lingo my way.....

MikeInFL · December 26, 2005 10:18AM

Eureka!

Oney · December 26, 2005 10:19AM

A couple more photos with the new settings......

nwcs · December 26, 2005 10:21AM

<< <i>Alright nwcs..........you gonna have to share all that photo talk with the rest of us photo challenged folks.....I pulled my camera out of the box and have been using it that way with autofocus .......don't know a thing about f12 or f32 or f69....well you get my drift???

I have a Nikon Cool pics 5400 and I use the macro and a bower 49mm Macro +10 lens screwed over the top of the normal lens.......now how about throwing some photo lingo my way.....

>>

Well, I'm mostly referring to taking pictures in aperture priority mode (A mode). I like being able to adjust that way an have the shutter speed be dealt with for me. Aperture controls your depth of field. The greater the depth of field, the more will be in focus and the longer the shutter will need to stay open. Same in reverse. A large aperture (low f number) means the most light will come in which means a shorter shutter time but smaller depth of field will be in focus. With a macro lens, the depth of field is very small for large apertures so you need to open it up more. For my lenses, I've found f/6 and higher to be fine. But if I upgrade the lens the odds are I'll need to do adjust.

Autofocus works most of the time for most things but there are some limitations to it. With slabs, it tends to focus on the slab surface and not on the coin itself, lending itself to a slightly blurry image (can be very slight with a large f number). Manual focus makes sure you hit the coin instead.

MikeInFL · December 26, 2005 10:27AM

<< <i>With a macro lens, the depth of field is very small for large apertures so you need to open it up more. >>

Great advice, all of it. However, you made a little typo in your post:

With a macro lens, the depth of field is very small for large apertures so you need to stop it down more.

Personally, I use manual focus and manual exposure. I generally use an aperature between F/11 and F/16.

Have fun...Mike

nwcs · December 26, 2005 10:30AM

You're right. I got ahead of myself.

mgoodm3 · December 26, 2005 10:36AM

I also like to run in A mode. i will generally set the aperture in the f6 range. I like the faster shutter speeds it gives. The drawback is that the coin needs to be dead-on level and the camera needs to be similarly positioned. you're getting some nice pictures.

kryptonitecomics · December 26, 2005 10:55AM

I love the advice.......do I have an A mode......and where the heck would I find it....lol

Scratch that...I found it and just experimented with it still using auto focus......just have to see how they came out

New lighting and camera settings. What do you think? Warning many images!

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