Question for the Photography pros... Half Dimes

Trinketts · July 10, 2006 8:35AM

What do you find is the best distance and background for these... I can't seem to get a good shot of the coin where it doesnt look over exposed or blurred to me.

Trinketts · July 10, 2006 9:44AM

Bueler? Anybody?

Russ · July 10, 2006 9:46AM

White coins? Toned coins? Dark coins?. Generally speaking, if you're having over-exposure problems, using a white background should solve it.

Russ, NCNE

nwcs · July 10, 2006 9:57AM

For me, spot metering does the best when I have issues with the slab reflecting too much light (or vice-versa). Since I use an SLR with a dedicated macro lens, I would shoot these at 1:1 from about 6-7 inches from the lens front with center weight or spot metering (105mm lens). A tripod or fast shutter speed is mandatory as well as good focus. I usually keep the aperture around f/8 or a little larger since depth of field isn't all that useful on a coin picture beyond a few mm. Manual focus is also a good way to really get sharper pictures.

Trinketts · July 10, 2006 9:59AM

This is a raw MS piece with alot of luster and mostly untoned... Tried both white and black background...The white background did look better but still seemed blurry to me...

Russ · July 10, 2006 10:01AM

<< <i>For me, spot metering does the best >>

I only use spot metering for cameo proofs in NGC holders. Spot increases the focus of the light on the coin and brings out the devices better. Without it, NGC graded cameos don't show the contrast correctly. On other stuff it tends to over-expose a bit with my camera.

Russ, NCNE

Barndog · July 10, 2006 10:06AM

Cladiator takes some decent photos of half dimes, he might be a good one to advise also.

dizzyfoxx · July 10, 2006 10:11AM

<Question for the Photography pros... Half Dimes>

I think MrD does an outstanding job...

Cladiator · July 10, 2006 12:52PM

For any half dime that isn't white I use a textured black background and that seems to meld well with my particular camera. It doesn't work too well with a white one though. For white half dimes I use a solid grey background and get pretty good results. I use my camera on it's super macro mode and the coin is usually less than an inch from the lens of the camera.

I'll I can tell you is just keep trying different methods. One of them will work but finding that one can be very frustrating.

MikeInFL · July 10, 2006 2:52PM

<< <i>What do you find is the best distance and background for these... I can't seem to get a good shot of the coin where it doesnt look over exposed or blurred to me. >>

I'm no pro, but if I might....

You seem to have two problems -- overexposure and lack of focus.

On overexposure... The best type of metering for coins is center weighted metering. That takes the background out of the equation and let you meter the actual object of your photo -- the coin. Barring center weighted metering, spot metering can also be used. Matrix metering or automatic metering are more problematic and less predictable (you have to take into account slab color or background color) and would be my last choice of metering choice. For you, the answer is simple, if you are overexposing, simply dial in some negative exposure compensation. This should quickly fix the problem. A good tip -- if you're not quite sure what the correct exposure for a given coin is, take a series of shots with different shutter speeds (keeping the aperature constant) to vary the exposure. That way one of them will likely be right. Your camera may even support this feature -- it is called bracketing.

On focus -- it could be a few things. First, you could be too close (or too far) to get your camera to focus correctly. The next likely suspect is camera shake -- is your tripod / copy stand, etc. steady? Do you use a remote trigger release, shutter delay, or other function designed to minimize vibrations in your camera? Another possibility is the camera is focusing on scratches on the holder.

You ask about focus distance -- this ultimately depends on the lens / camera that you are using. In general you want to be as far away as you can and still get a large enough image of a coin. For half dimes, as opposed to other (larger) coins, you will want to be a bit closer than you would generally need to be for a large coin in order for the photograph to be the same size. If you have a zoom macro lens, you might not have to do anything other than zoom in.

Hope this helps...Mike

Question for the Photography pros... Half Dimes

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