Wrote me an article on coin photography.

mgoodm3 · February 7, 2006 6:21AM

I wrote this article for Longacre's Ledger, and if just by chance if you don't get that journal, I have posted a link to it. It puts into words and pictures most of what I believe about taking coin pics. It's 1.8 Mbytes and in MSWord format.

It was my first scholarly writing.

chabot510 · February 7, 2006 6:22AM

i read it yesterday. good read!

Longacre · February 7, 2006 6:39AM

Great article. I learned a lot. Thanks.

Barry · February 7, 2006 6:40AM

Excellent article!

mgoodm3 · February 7, 2006 6:50AM

Hey, if you have any questions, need for clarification, I'm looking for topics for a followup.

Heywood · February 7, 2006 7:02AM

Thanks for posting.
Your article gave me some ideas to go back through my camera manual, and experiment.

I am still trying to figure out why I can't get the right combinations of settings with my Sony DCP-10

5 MP, with Macro capability.
I use a small tripod
I set camera about 8-10 in above, on a black base and use about 2x zoom. (If I get too close or zoom too much, I loose focus)
I also use the Timer setting to reduce movement, and potentail reflections.
I have tried Sunlight, 'Martyvison" reveal bulbs, compact flourecent.

Camera is Gray and Silver, I'll have to try to hit some areas with a sharpie.

I might try some aquarium bulbs next.

LeeG · February 7, 2006 7:40AM

I'm going to check it out, thanks!

EagleEye · February 7, 2006 8:34AM

Excellent article. I'm glad you chose the Longacre's Ledger. Thanks.

ModernDollarNut · February 7, 2006 8:44AM

Excellent summary of important basics which form a cohesive whole in your piece. Marvelous work. Well written, Thank You!!!!!

I was especially delighted to learn your observations of the benefits of SLR cameras. My superb but already old Nikon 880 cool pix doesn't have manual focus (that I can find, LOL) and the antiquated tiny low-def viewing screen is a pain. I wind up with most pics focused lovingly on the surface of the holder but raw coin pics are great. Guess an SLR is in the cards.

For follow-up, perhaps run a more detailed piece on small-point sources of light like most halogens, vrs medium sources (incandesent bulbs and Ott lamps) vrs large diffuse sources. I've had some decent results with a narrow-spread spot light about 5 feet from the coin with the camera just off the beam. Not unrelated, some use out-of-doors sunlight with excellent results (thse are not New Englanders, by golly).

Thanks again! Rob

ss350camaro · February 7, 2006 8:49AM

Too Cool Mark! Thank You for sharing your knowledge.

I'm going to read thru it later this evening and see what i can do to improve my coin photo skills

MORGANHUNTER2 · February 7, 2006 9:00AM

that was a nice article to read.

downloaded it for future reference and testing.

BlindedByEgo · February 7, 2006 9:16AM

Very well done!

bennybravo · February 7, 2006 9:18AM

Nice Read.

tjkillian · February 7, 2006 9:28AM

Very cool, thank you very, very much. I will study it intently. I would LOVE to be able to duplicate your quality.

Tom

pontiacinf · February 7, 2006 9:30AM

thanks for sharing your secrets mark, I hope you have more to follow

ram1946 · February 7, 2006 9:32AM

Thank you very much. Easy to follow and a wealth of quality information. It certainly will help me in getting better images.

MikeInFL · February 7, 2006 9:35AM

Great article Mark....Mike

cohodk · February 7, 2006 11:39AM

Excellant article. A must read for anyone interested in coin photography., and just in time for that toned Lincoln contest

mrearlygold · February 7, 2006 11:50AM

50cents · February 7, 2006 11:55AM

Great article. thanks, mgoodm3

Lakesammman · February 7, 2006 12:36PM

Enjoyed seeing it in the Longacres Ledger. Thanks for writing it.

solid · February 7, 2006 12:39PM

Looks really good! I've downloaded it for reading. Thanks for sharing, Mark!

Ken

oldcameoproofsguy · February 7, 2006 12:43PM

That is a very good article! There were many helpful hints. I'll have to try your slab preparation techniques the next time I shoot my coins.
Thanks!

Coinhusker1 · February 7, 2006 2:15PM

Great article. Nicely pulls everything together than I have tried to do piecemeal from the various posts on this forum.

This would be a great article for the Numismatist magazine.

Mark should e-mail a copy to Heritage as well (heck they might even pay for it)!

Fletcher · February 7, 2006 2:24PM

here is my first attempt using your method:

mgoodm3 · February 7, 2006 2:28PM

Nice pic. I'd do two lights on a high-contrast coin such as that. Will get more even lighting of the frost.

Thanks all.

Trime · February 7, 2006 6:00PM

Nice article; straight forward and easy to understand. I saved it also. Thank you.

Gemini · February 7, 2006 7:47PM

Nice work saved in favorites.

IrishMike · February 7, 2006 8:45PM

Mark, terrific article and the best I have read on the subject. I have also learned the art of patience in this whole process. I use am Olympus 5050 zoom and never thought I would have the patience to learn all the features on macro photography. When I have a half hour I get the camera out and the parts of the manual that are on point and read and mess around with the camera. It has a my mode setting that you can actually preset many of the options to reduce time when shooting and in my case to avoid forgetting something in the settings.

I can't emphasis enough to spend the money on a sturdy tripod. I picked one up at staples for about twenty bucks and it expands out to two feet. As you mentioned sometimes you need some distance. As important to me as the camera and stand is photoshop elements. 4.0 is out now and I see you can buy the box version at amazon for about $85 and oem for $45. I have 2.0 which cost me $25 on ebay. I have spent hours just messing around with all of its option, patience again. I see now that there is a 362 page paperback out on 4.0 which when I buy it I will purchase the book too.

I like the Ott lights because you can hand hold them to adjust for glare and lighting, problem is at my age they shake a little.

Thanks again for your article.

Preussen · February 7, 2006 9:47PM

Very Helpful

. Thanks! - Preussen

carl · February 7, 2006 11:31PM

Great article. My printer and computer are pretty old so it took a long time to open the article and just about used up a printer cartridge to print it out. Good reference document.

Trinketts · February 12, 2006 7:33AM

Great article!! Here's my newest pic after buying a new lamp today...

fc · February 12, 2006 8:59AM

MSword? that alone turned me off from reading it. try PDF next time.
but i will download open office to read it in the future, so thanks
for the effort.

ldhair · February 12, 2006 10:03AM

I downloaded it and read it.
Next day the Ledger came in the mail and read it again.
Don't matter what it's in it's just a great read.

cosmicdebris · February 12, 2006 10:43AM

Excellent article Mark thanks for sharing it with us.

Wrote me an article on coin photography.

Comments

Leave a Comment