Do you have basic Lighting recommendations for photographing coins ?

Aspie_Rocco

I was curious what some of you use as a more Basic lighting set up when photographing coins. I am looking for a bulb recommendations and conditions.
I was told Daylight bulbs previously (what type/brand/wattage? )

I have terrible lighting at my place and typically use the my phone, the sun, sunlight diffused through a window, or the tiny warm incandescent on my microscope.

vplite99

Indirect sunlight has worked OK for me with my iPhone.

airplanenut

I shoot in a completely blacked out room with two daylight halogen floods. Particularly important is ensuring your white balance is properly custom made for the bulbs you use.

pursuitofliberty

PAR30 Halogen, Narrow Spot, 60 to 75W, +/- 1090 Lumens

skier07

@pursuitofliberty said:
PAR30 Halogen, Narrow Spot, 60 to 75W, +/- 1090 Lumens

Do you have a picture of your lighting set up?

lkeigwin

PAR30 halogen floods. Two.
Lance.

pursuitofliberty

As Lance's picture shows and he states ... two of those bulbs ... my setup is similar (but not as sophisticated) as his.

10 and 2 o'clock orientation with bulbs is an excellent starting point

Mr_Spud

If you are just using your phone to take pictures, these type of lights work pretty good at lighting up the coin evenly. Because they are small and infinitely adjustable you can get them real close to the camera lens and then move them around and at different angles until the coin is lit up just how you want. I usually unscrew the cover and remove the diffuser to get luster to show up.



Here’s a couple of pictures taken with those lights using my iPhone

messydesk

Two movable gooseneck lamps with LED bulbs. Calibrate white balance to the bulbs. Block out as much other light as possible. This is what I do. Always.

ctf_error_coins

Old School .......

crazyhounddog

These are the daylight bulbs I use. Generally I only use two lights positioned at 3:00 & 9:00 although I can move them if necessary. They are 100 watts and cover my subject matter VERY well.
Anyways, I hope you can find lights that work for you.
Good luck my coin brother.

nwcoast

@ErrorsOnCoins said:
Old School .......

Wow! That brings back some memories!
Norman studio strobes were our workhorses for many years in the studio/lab. Great power house units.
I still have some smaller portable Norman 202 units in the corner but don’t use them often these days.
Super cool!

rokky

@Mr_Spud said:
If you are just using your phone to take pictures, these type of lights work pretty good at lighting up the coin evenly. Because they are small and infinitely adjustable you can get them real close to the camera lens and then move them around and at different angles until the coin is lit up just how you want. I usually unscrew the cover and remove the diffuser to get luster to show up.

Those are beautiful pics. Thank you so much for sharing your setup. Quite impressive for an iPhone.