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Iphone Coin Photography - Because the best camera is the one you have on you.
scubafuel
Posts: 1,763 ✭✭✭✭✭
Who has mastered this art? Post your best coin pics taken only with the iphone, and share your techniques if you'd like.
I'm sure my phone is capable of taking better coin pictures, but this is what I've been able to manage so far. Iphone 11, incandescent desk lamp.
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That's a pretty good image.
What is the easiest way to make sure the photo does not give away your location when taken? It is my understanding photos show where you are. Is that true?
Successful BST with BustDMs , Pnies20, lkeigwin, pursuitofliberty, Bullsitter, felinfoel, SPalladino (CBH's - 35 Die Marriage's)
$5 Type Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/type-sets/half-eagle-type-set-circulation-strikes-1795-1929/album/344192
CBH Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/everyman-collections/everyman-half-dollars/everyman-capped-bust-half-dollars-1807-1839/album/345572
Is there a photo app that allows you to crop a pic to the shape of the coin?
MY GOLD TYPE SET https://pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/complete-type-sets/gold-type-set-12-piece-circulation-strikes-1839-1933/publishedset/321940
I wish I could find a diffuse consistent source of light .... picking up color with the iphone is a challenge as well
Commems and Early Type
I'm still trying to master the art. Lighting is where it's at for me right now.
JPG and similar photo files contain a data structure called EXIF,
which includes info like the date/time the photo was taken, type of camera, type of lens, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exif
Some cameras include the GPS coordinates in the EXIF.
This is called Geotagging.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotagging
Often the EXIF data is set to zero if you upload a photo to a website.
But it would be more secure to find your camera's "Settings", which should allow you to suppress storage of the
GPS coordinates.
https://www.imore.com/how-disable-geotagging-camera-app-iphone-and-ipad
https://www.ubergizmo.com/how-to/turn-off-geotagging-android/#:~:text=Disable Geotagging in Android&text=On most Android phones, you,of “Geo tags” options.
Otherwise you could use photo editing software to change data in the EXIF.
@yosclimber Thanks.
I will look into the settings on the phone.
Successful BST with BustDMs , Pnies20, lkeigwin, pursuitofliberty, Bullsitter, felinfoel, SPalladino (CBH's - 35 Die Marriage's)
$5 Type Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/type-sets/half-eagle-type-set-circulation-strikes-1795-1929/album/344192
CBH Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/everyman-collections/everyman-half-dollars/everyman-capped-bust-half-dollars-1807-1839/album/345572
iPhone 11 Pro
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
when it comes to numismotography, that is always where it ends up.
being able to move the lights around is key imo. you can move the slab and coin all the live long day but you must get those lighting angles down. once i truly understood that, a whole other world of coin photograpahy opened up. currently i'm not trying that much but i know that is the answer.
here is a quick image but i'll dig for something better later from my lowely iphone 6s.
I do not have an iphone... My Android is my camera.... and I get what I get at my desk, no special lights or accessories. I will say though, that I truly admire the excellent pictures others post. Cheers, RickO
I have an android so this may not be available for iphone but i use ToolWiz Photos it is the best phone photo app I have found.
Charles III Album
Charles III Portrait Set
Charles IV Album
Charles IV Portrait Set
thx for the recco - ive used photo editor [incredibly generic name, but you can find it under the app dev : devmacguyver in the play store; android] for years and its incredible - always looking for new apps tho
Seriously impressive shots! I have an iPhone and could never get good pictures like those above. I suppose with external lights, a stand, and self timer you could get pretty good pictures.
@Downtown1974
STEP 1
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Charles III Album
Charles III Portrait Set
Charles IV Album
Charles IV Portrait Set
great for cropping coin photos using the 'crop free' utility
Doesn't take high tech, lots of dollars to get adequate results. For the quick shots, I use a $200 13 year old Kodak point and shoot with my magnifier as lighting.
Same camera, 3 Ikea Navlinge LED lamps:
"Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think." - Albert Einstein
maybe a longshot, but has anyone tried polynomial texture mapping / reflectance transformation imaging on coins? im p confident this might be thee way to display and review coins remotely; on digital platforms
basically a multi-angle light dome and then, through algorithmic interpolation, you can calculate all possible light angles on a surface
I haven't given it a shot yet, but going to get some tests run over winter months and will share any results I get here
edited to add: if there are any electrical engineers here whod like to partner w me on these tests, lmk - ive got the software side of this down, but sure could use some help building an efficient LED light dome
i-phone 11
Just my samples, light above kitchen sink, to right as you can see.
Cool to read the different techniques involved.
Very Cool...
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Hey RickO, I too have an android. Very excellent phone for pics. If I'm not using my scope, it's the android.
here are some of my shots.
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8 Reales Madness Collection
@JoeyCoins ... Great pictures Joey.....better than my attempts, for sure.... I am sure if I worked at it, I can improve...Cheers, RickO
What's an iPhone?
Proof Buffalo Registry Set
Capped Bust Quarters Registry Set
Proof Walking Liberty Halves Registry Set
One of the most underrated tools in numismatics. Your iPhone.
Nearly every photo and video of coins on my Instagram account is done with my iPhone.
I use a very high-end digital camera, macro lens, and photoshop.
I would never use an iPhone for coin photography.
I used my iPhone 11 to take these pics. Was standing in bathroom and holding slab in my hand.
I remember Braddick taking some pretty amazing colorful commemorative half pics with an iPhone5
taken with my Iphone 7
but it always a hit or miss
somedays I get a nice picture and somedays I don't
the real kick is that when I get a nice pic, I can't remember what my settings were.
it could be due to the wine intake but I will never admit to that lol
Kennedys are my quest...
Very nice! Can you brush your teeth at the same time?
I would recognize that 1940 Rev38 Jefferson Proof anywhere!
Most of my listings slab photos are done with my Google Pixel and they generally look fine, easy to take & crop, no other editing. I do still take the closeups with a cheap Canon DSLR
I thought it meant he was whizzing
Seriously tho, I used an iPhone 7 until recently upgraded to v12. The cams are so good now that I totally dismantled my DLSR setup and have a new high tech setup.
Genuine US Mint shipping box-tripod, USB hub and some Ikea LED lights. I'm still working on better diffusing as there is some glare with silver proof-likes.
I don't usually need the circular crops as squares are sufficient for my purposes. Is Pro Editing Android or iOS? Could not find it. I usually post-process in Apple's "Preview" freebie on laptop.
very nice.
i've had a nikon d90 and with a nice 105mm sigma macro lens, it would dust any iphone out there based on my results for both.
BUT for the convenience and cost/diversity of these modern camera phones, they nearly balance the scales plus carrying around a d90 in my pocket proved too challenging.
I posted this, but accidentally deleted it, so I’m trying again.
I just started trying to take acceptable coin pics with my iPhone 6s a couple of weeks ago. I’m not there yet, but here’s as far as I got. This is with using a jar as a tripod to keep the phone level and with using a 3 second timer so I don’t shake the phone when I push the button. I used either a reveal light bulb in a desk lamp or a small ott light. I like the phone pic of the phone coin the best so far 🌞
Mr_Spud
Cell phone cameras are state of the art. Virtually no one is buying stand alone cameras any longer. Olympus is out of the camera business Nikon is hanging on by a thread. Wedding photographers, the front battle line of big cameras.....are going to cell phones. Yup. They’re That good.
MrsSpud bought me a new iPhone 12 Pro for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. Only it was backordered and just came in today. Here’s my first attempts with this one. I used indirect lighting from a small Ottlight. I tilted the light down so it wasn’t even shining on the coins because the pictures came out all glare-y when I had the light shining directly on the coins. I think it has something to do with its ability to take low light pictures. I read on line that it uses some kinda low light technology or something like that. That might be a good thing because it won’t cause glare on a slab, but I haven’t experimented on any toned coins yet.
Mr_Spud
Thread resurrection...has anyone tried coin photography with the iPhone 13 pro? I'm not quite ready for a new phone but getting close and my debate to spring for the pro is whether or not it might be good enough to replace my DSLR set up.
That camera is OLD and I'm beginning to wonder just how much longer Canon is going to give the software up dates.
Plus next time I get a new laptop (also getting old) it is unlikely to have the USB port built in for transferring photos. I'm guessing phone, laptop, and camera are all going to last about another year...phone maybe on the short side, camera on the long side, so if the 13 pro isn't quite there for replacing the camera I can still milk my current (and the laptop) along a little bit longer, or at least when it's replaced I can go with a lesser model.
Shoot I could probably upgrade laptops and utilize this one for just photos and make it last a bit longer too. But I digress.
I've had the 13 pro for a little while and dabbled a bit with a few photos but didn't put in enough effort yet to come to any real conclusions. I'm getting a newp Lib 20 in the mail today and I'm gonna figure it out. The camera does this weird thing where if you're taking a photo of a large object, its super crisp and focused, but sometimes when I try with the coins they cant seem to get into focus if the lens is too close, or they go into focus for like 1 second. Ill play around a bit when I get the coin and ill post my findings.
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Interesting post.
Hope to get some insight from the answers given.
I still use an IPhone 7 but it seems to be hit or miss as to the picture quality I get.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
The iPhone replacing whole camera systems sound like deflation too me
Today's new arrival taken with an IPhone 7.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
@DeplorableDan said “The camera does this weird thing where if you're taking a photo of a large object, its super crisp and focused, but sometimes when I try with the coins they cant seem to get into focus if the lens is too close, or they go into focus for like 1 second.”
I was having a similar problem with small slabbed coins with my 12pro. I think the autofocus sees the slab instead of the coin. The worst are NGC slabs with their white inserts and also bad with coins with prongs where the camera tries to focus on the insert or prongs. Scratches in the slab do it too. Some forum members suggested trying manual focus. I found Camera+2 app worked pretty good for manual focusing, and also using a small platform scissor jack to fine tune the distance between the coin and the camera lens. Also using oil to make scratches invisible, also gets rid of slab glare even when not scratched. Here’s what I mean by a platform scissor jack.
It’s still not perfect, but it’s pretty good. Here’s a few examples using the above techniques
Mr_Spud
@Mr_Spud, thanks for the information on the scissor jack.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
FYI- sometimes I put the slab on the jack with a cut out square of gray paper under it to prevent reflections, sometimes I put the phone on the jack. Both work. You do the manual focusing first in the camera app first, then fine tune with the jack by turning the screw and it works the same as a microscope focusing adjustment where the platform the microscope slide is on moves up and down rather than the lens moving up and down.
By the way - With an add on macro lens it actually works just like a microscope. I now do that mostly at work to image softgel capsule defects using my iPhone instead of a real microscope, but works on coins too for extreme closeups like these
Mr_Spud
Shot today with Iphone 12 .
It’s all about the lighting and position.