Do you tilt your coins when you image them?
coinsarefun
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I have heard it’s a no no but I feel it represents the coin/token better sometimes as it captures
Detail and even color sometimes. Not a big tilt, I use a piece of paper folded once.
Usually I take a pic tilted and flat and see which represents the coin better.
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Soooooo, are you a coin tilter 
show us some raw images
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These are raw images
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CoinsAreFun Pictorials Album
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
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Comments
When shooting raw PL or toned yes but only slightly with an index card or two underneath.
Too great of a tilt and the image sharpness will be soft on one side as it's becoming out of focus.
Almost always
How is it a no-no?
There's a thing called depth of field and hyperfocal distance
Tilting coins allows light to create slight shadows behind subtle raised details especially in weak or worn features. So there! Peace Roy
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Yeah depth of field... Never herd of the word hyperfocal before.
Do you tilt slabs too or just raw?
Focus between the two points you want in focus
Absolutely, but dealing with glare can become problematic whicht can be taken care of by adjusting the height and angle of the lights.
Also by tilting the camera mounting head on the stand to the same degree as the slab angle.
Yes, I do this often.
Sometimes, very rarely.
99% of the time I leave flat.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
Coin on the same plane as camera and move the lights around
over-exposing a coin can lead to a fantasy look to some and i'm in that camp on a case-by-case. tons of trueviews are done this way. in numismotographer's defense, it is tough to get a middle-ground on a lot of coins. either don't over-expose and it may not show desirable details as stef pointed out and too much and we're chasing the rabbit. basically over-exposing can simply wash-out a coin's look, even when done professionally.
so i stay on-point, great images caf and coin.
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WTF are you talking about, Overexposure has nothing to do with tilting???
I dont.
Hello all; I have found that tilting the coin is unnecessary under an axial lighting setup. Below is an example , entirely unedited. BTW, the camera is just an ipad.
Whit
I haven't been .... but I think I'm going to give it a try.
Stop down.
Yes, but very slightly. All my coins are toned, and I think it renders a truer image of the coin.
Dave
I don't understand this axial setup using a cardboard tube.
I thought axial lighting was sideways light directed through a tilted pane of glass, and then shooting the picture through the tilted glass, or something like that.
I haven't taken many pics for quite a while now. I use to tilt a lot but I then I started using a diffuser to get rid of glare. Helped a lot.
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I lean mine against my coffee cup coaster, sometimes the coffee cup is in it. I just took this a moment ago
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I have a special platform I made that swivels different angles. These were shot on my swivel platform. It is actually a woman’s mirror from Walmart $10.00 special, for make up I unbolted and converted to a swivel base.
I added these two side by side same coins!
You are correct. This is axial lighting.
Lance.
No, I don't tilt coins. No need.
When a coin is tilted in a slab and cannot be rapped back into place I will use a shim to get it square to the camera. Annoying but sometimes necessary.
Lance.
Ikeigwin what is the exact type of sheet clear glass to use? Would a picture frame glass work? I tried that once had a hard time getting results. I was thinking a special type of glass maybe. TYIA
Absolutely! If I'm selling a coin to someone, they're gonna see pictures that are overexposed (shows flaws, does nothing for luster and color etc), tilted in natural light and one of my bulbs. I try to mix it up a little so they have a better idea what it's gonna look like when they get it. I'd feel pretty bad giving one set of photos and it looks nothing like it in hand.
There are just some shots that look like they're revealing the coin but they're actually just glamour shots and it's bad busines imo. I want someone to know the surfaces are clean and detailed even if the shot generally sucks. They're not gonna find an old staple gouge under a particularly dark area, for example, in certain types of pictures.
I'm not saying it's bad business if you don't do exactly what I do (far from it), but glamour shots are just not for me. More returns and wasted time and the coin they bought only looks good to friends online for Internet points, but sucks to observe now and again.
Picture just taken.
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And my very Technical set up.
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Ken
A better side by side showing the different angles
That is correct (as shown by Ikeigwin above). The tube ensures that the coin is being lit exclusively from above. Here is a site that discusses this:
https://www.diyphotography.net/use-mirrors-get-perfect-axial-lighting-macro-subjects/
I forgot to add that if I need to tilt, I made this some years back.
https://youtu.be/BVfHfmdJVsg
My Original Song Written to my late wife-"Plus other original music by me"
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8A11CC8CC6093D80
https://n1m.com/bobbysmith1
I'll do what it takes. Sometimes that means a slight tilt.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
OK, I got it. The tube goes under the glass to block the sideways light. Thanks much for the link info.
I don't know. I've used the same in my experiments. Picture frame glass. I've never gotten great results.
FWIW, Phil has told me he has never used axial lighting.
Lance.
Thank you Ike!
"...TILT..."
I never found it to be very useful, so it's not a technique I consider using.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Yes, most of the time. Now if I can only figure out the "white" balance...LOL.
was the no-no reason because of possible lack of focus at sides of the coin like someone mentioned in one of the first few posts or because of brightness issues?
i was aiming at over-exposure/brightness/glare etc issues but that may not have been what you were thinking.
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I thank everyone for your comments. As I said at the beginning of this thread, I do tilt once in a while when needed but
very slightly.
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
Quite often called the 'Ebay tilt', as the picture results in a more lusterous and colorful coin while hiding the surface imperfections.
Great for selling.
Not so good for buying.