Coin Photography v2.0

lkenefic

The last Christmas present to myself just got here... the copy stand... so I at least now have everything put together and set up. This has been a long journey for me...

My ver1.0 setup was literally a shop light with a secondary fluorescent light and a handheld digital point and shoot camera... think Canon Powershot 12Mp on "macro". On occasion, I could get the white balance figured out but it was wildly inconsistent and the great majority of my pictures were useless...

...enter v2.0... Canon T2i with 100mm dedicated macro lens and an Albinor copy stand with two Emart 45W white photographic lights. I put some white paper around the light fixtures since the bulbs protrude past the fixture and I didnt want to be temporarily blinded.

I'll be playing around with this set up and hopefully have some images this evening...

LanceNewmanOCC

beautiful setup!!!

i appreciate creativity and deviating from the norm a bit (being a big of a nonconformist) but i have to say this setup is pretty much the quintessential format that has the highest likelihood of success. (i mean position of the lights/camera etc, not necessarily just the specific equip)

that being said, i did tend to have my lights about 2x that high or so but i didn't have them fixed, i just held them in my hand because of the amount of coins i was imaging and the diversity. while a bit of a pain, it sure helped speed up the process of hitting the sweet spot for each coin.

also, i had the whole stand turned 180 degrees so i could see through the viewfinder. (i NOW painfully, wonder why i didn't raise the whole copy stand more so i didn't have to bend over. duh

i never got around to tethering though and i did try but it just did never come together.

it seems to be those type of hooded lights also significantly help get a nice amount of distributed light to the items being imaged compared to non-hooded lights.

messydesk

Have fun with your new setup! Looking forward to seeing your results.

spyglassdesign

Looking forward to seeing the results! Not too far off from my setup. Download the Canon desktop software if you have a pc that you can connect to the camera, you can use it to control focus and shoot remotely.

Pedzola

Getting blinded by the lights is part of the fun.

Jimnight

Nice setup!

ricko

Wow.... I foresee some great pictures in the future. Nice setup indeed. Cheers, RickO

lkenefic

I'm definitely going to go back and try the custom setting for white balance... I called it quits after a while. I couldn't get manual focus to image the blank sheet of paper correctly and all of the test images for import looked "green". I reverted back to Auto White Balance and at least got some baseline pics... first "shots"...

edited to add: photos have been cropped, but not otherwise edited...

I included this Lincoln Cent pulled from an old album because I wanted to see if the fingerprints showed up... they do!

messydesk

I would call everything too dark. White balance isn't that bad. Increase the exposure a bit and see what you get.

Not sure what you're using for post-processing, but if you post-process in high bit depth and your histograms don't show clipping, you will be able to fix a lot of exposure issues then, too, but if something is generally too dark, fix than when you shoot the picture.

spyglassdesign

@lkenefic looking good! Keep working on the lighting aspect and you should be able to make them pop even more!

LanceNewmanOCC

VERY close. a couple tweaks and you'll be in business.

if your lights are that close (cfls) and the images are that dark, also check your aperture setting.

i would say do a reset but you are too close to FTW to do that.

good size on them at around 1mb each at 1700x1700. pretty good man.

you MAY want to swap the cfls out for regular bulbs just for argument sake to see how much of a difference they make. there are also some decent (surprisingly) led bulbs that fit in those sockets but i'm not trying to spend your money.

IIRC, my d90 nikon had some external brightness settings as well as some digital menu ones. that is one of the main reasons why once i got mine dialed in, i left it the heck alone. there are thousands upon thousands of different variations of settings and if you go a tinkering, you very well could get lost in the menu catacombs. oof

Cascadecoins

Great setup, and sharp images. Nice work.
Increase the exposure time to get more luminance on the images.
Use mirror lock-up, and the two second self timer shutter setting to avoid mirror shaking the camera when the camera fires.
Keep your ISO at 100, and F-stop under 11, and adjust the shutter speed accordingly. You can get great shots with that lens/camera setup. Here's some good info on the lens.

lkenefic

Thanks for the feedback everyone. My first session was shot totally on Auto. I'm going to use the manual settings now that I'm getting a bit more familiar with the setup and where all the buttons are... and finding them before the camera shuts off! I'm still getting used to operating in front of the camera instead of behind it! It's an adjustment!

The_Dinosaur_Man

Do you have a tether cable or remote for the camera? Once I started using a USB tether with Lightroom, my results improved immensely. For some shots, particularly on higher relief pieces, I'll use a longer shutter speed to increase the depth of field but the camera needs to be immobile for such shots to work.

LanceNewmanOCC

@The_Dinosaur_Man said:
Do you have a tether cable or remote for the camera? Once I started using a USB tether with Lightroom, my results improved immensely. For some shots, particularly on higher relief pieces, I'll use a longer shutter speed to increase the depth of field but the camera needs to be immobile for such shots to work.

oh man. the day i started using a shutter release remote, the clouds parted and the sun was a shinin'!

i have some ideas about tethering i never did when i had my d90 that should i ever do some dslr work again, i look forward to trying. (for my back and comfort sake) i used some great bulbs but they did get really hot for longer sessions.

hfjacinto

I just use a DSLR and a Macro lens on a tripod, I use no lights.

Here is my process if any one is interested.

http://goccf.com/t/406383

hfjacinto

Here are copper coins.

Gold:

in2Coins

Pics are dark so you might need to adjust your “exposure compensation” accordingly.

leothelyon

Here's some work I've done with photography of late. The last being my latest but don't kow if I like it.

Leo

jesbroken

Great idea for the lengthy bulbs. I have the same bulbs and they extend out past the lamp shades and I did not think of this quick repair. Thanks. Nice stand. Where did you get it and how high will it extend, if you don't mind?
Jim

lkenefic

@jesbroken said:
Great idea for the lengthy bulbs. I have the same bulbs and they extend out past the lamp shades and I did not think of this quick repair. Thanks. Nice stand. Where did you get it and how high will it extend, if you don't mind?
Jim

Thanks... one of my more experienced photography friends did this years ago, so I cant claim originality.

The copy stand is an Albinor stand from Amazon. It extends to 28 inches high. I signed up for Prime over the holidays and got free shipping... I believe this unit was $229... I found cheaper used on ebay, but shipping costs made them prohibitively expensive. Hope this helps...

LanceNewmanOCC

@lkenefic said:

s... one of my more experienced photography friends did this years ago, so I cant claim originality.

The copy stand is an Albinor stand from Amazon. It extends to 28 inches high. I signed up for Prime over the holidays and got free shipping... I believe this unit was $229... I found cheaper used on ebay, but shipping costs made them prohibitively expensive. Hope this helps...

if you don't mind sometime, tell me what are the dimensions of the base. the piece of wood. length/width. t.i.a.

jesbroken

Good question, Lance, looks like 18x20 but could be 24.
Jim

LanceNewmanOCC

@jesbroken said:
Good question, Lance, looks like 18x20 but could be 24.
Jim

i'm just wondering if it will fit cubic-rate. while the max dimensions are 18x18x18 before the cost goes up a lot or having to swtich to ups/fedex, a thin board like that can go diagonally and be larger than 18 and so long as all of that stuff is under 20 pounds, i can ship it for $8-15 bucks. just depends on zip code. i shipped an 18x18 15 pound box a state over for under $8. blew me away.

jesbroken

Oh, I see your point now.
Jim

lkenefic

From the website...

Description
The Albinar C082L Copy Stand with lights consists of a 19”x15.75” large baseboard, a tripod mount Head with Quick Release Plate for your camera, and 2 Lights with adjustable brackets. This is great for product photography of small to medium items such as coins stamps, etc. Maximum Copy Size is 40X48 cmPerfect for macro shots with digital compact cameras & DSLR or for copying artwork.Includes: Baseboard Column with Adjustable Camera Base Tripod Mount Head with Quick Release Plate 2 Lamps (w/o Bulbs) 2 Adjustable Light BracketsSpecifications:Baseboard (WxHxD): 40 x 2 x 48 cm (15.75 x 0.75 x 19 in.) Column height: 71 cm (27.95 in.) Max. Load: 1.8 kg (4 lbs.)Model: C082LMax Copy Size: 40x48 cmBaseboard Color: White

BStrauss3

For the record, parts for this DIY version run about $255 at 80/20 plus under $100 for the remaining bits. If you wanted to make it 36" tall instead of 24", add $36.

https://petapixel.com/2022/06/11/how-to-build-a-diy-t-rex-stand-for-macro-photography/

I haven't built it, but I keep thinking about it. I'm also thinking of upsizing the rails from 1545 to 3060.

lkenefic

OK... I'm playing around with manual settings... here's 1/125; F5.6; ISO: AUTO

The white balance seems ok... the color on the copper seems accurate... but the silver seems a little over-exposed??

Thoughts, opinions, comments, and constructive criticisms welcomed... Thanks, Leo

BryceM

I have the exact same copy stand, I think. I set mine up a bit differently, but it's the same idea. Try to get the lights as close to the lens as possible (high-angle lighting). I use halogens and they tend to get hot. I've had them close enough to the camera body at times to worry about frying it. So far, so good, but I did melt a slab gasket once. Oops.

A tethered connection and direct power source for the camera really make it easy. The software allows for shutter lock, white balance, focus preview, and the ability to tweak just about every camera setting. Once you try it, you'll never go back.

Here's the last few coins I've photographed:

You should be able to show luster like this:

and sharpness / detail like this:

Settings for the Peace dollar photos are:

f/6.3, 1/2500 sec, ISO-400. The halogens are bright and I'm a huge fan of quick exposures.