Coin photographers...
cameonut2011
Posts: 10,169 ✭✭✭✭✭
Any professional shots of the new CACG slabs yet? What are your thoughts? To me it appears optically superior, but alas, I am not a numismatic photographer. I am curious as to your experiences thus far.
@robec @TomB @messydesk @blu62vette @lkeigwin @airplanenut
(Sorry if I missed anyone... I'm blanking at the moment and am sure there are others)
UPDATE: My thread is not meant to exclude others. By all means, everyone is free share to share their experiences.
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They are extremely clear! This may be part of the reason that CACG has decided to photograph coins through the holders. Photographing coins through these holders is just as easy as the others, in my opinion.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
While the members you named are all extremely qualified, I don’t understand why you’d limit your question about the holders’ optical quality to them. What about all of the other posters who might have seen (or will see) the holders in hand?
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I was mainly trying to pick the brains of those that I knew offered professional photography experiences. I would be happy to hear anyone's experiences. I am curious if the coins will photograph as well as I think they will.
I have yet to see a CACG holder in hand, however I have heard stories that they have superb optical clarity.
I worry a bit about the reflectivity of the outer gasket, since it extends so far, but we'll see how that pans out. It should be ok.
Coin Photographer.
I haven't shot anything in the holder, but I have a bunch of the samples. The lens over the coin is larger in diameter than on the PCGS holders. No real difference in imaging the coins. They could make one change that would improve the design from a photography standpoint, and I've passed this on.
Also, the slab is thicker, with the coin further from the plastic. This should change the characteristics of reflections between the slab and coin on proofs.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
These are brand new and not scratched yet. Let's see how they hold up over time.
I've never seen one in hand, so I can't opine. A few thoughts anyway...
1- None should be scratched up yet, so we'll see what happens when they circulate a bit
2- For "simple" coins like a lustrous Morgan dollar, any slab is easy to shoot through if it's not beat to hell (and if it is, the only drawback is some loss of clarity as a result). The real drawback with slabs is when lighting has to come from an angle that causes glare to sit over the coin (think a toned proof Indian). I can imagine clearer/nicer plastic resulting in an overall better image, but I don't think you'd be able to completely get rid of glare in such a case. Now, if the coins can be angled in the holder (which is no longer possible with PCGS and NGC slabs using prongs) that could certainly help with such coins.
I got a sample slab at the ANA show. Let me grab a couple pics for you.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Not sure how it got scratched so badly, it wasn't with anything particularly hard in my backpack. But oh well.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Better pics of the scratch itself. Guess this would be a decent test run to see if these polish out well since it's not TOO deep.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
OUCH! I guess that puts a wrench in the "scratch resistant" theories.
Coin Photographer.
Mine has no scratches, but I imagine these will scratch as much as any of the other slabs. The question will be how easy/hard will it be to clean them. Hopefully easier than NGC slabs.
The prongs don’t seem to cover as much of the coin as prongs from other slabs.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
Thats upsetting. I had thought that they were supposed to be pretty scratch resistant, and it appears that's not the case. Do keep us informed on the polishing process, that's even more important if it can be remedied easily unlike the slabs ATS.
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They are very clear and I have had the scratching issue also.