Need Help with Photos-Question

jom

Hello

I just took the following photos of a 60-D Dime. I need some info. On the left is the photo that was taken with a Reveal Bulb and on the right it was taken with just sunlight coming through the window. You'll notice that the one on the left has a slight "reddish" tone to the overall picture. Why is this? I though Reveal Bulbs gave a light that was slightly blueish cast? It must be something that the camera is doing. Anyone know what that might be?

I'm using a Nikon 950 in MACRO mode. The material behind the slab is black velvet. Also, there is sunlight coming in on the left photo also but the lamp is directed and near the coin.

Thanks

jom

WWW

Try changing the direction of the light source. Incidentally, quite a few artificial light sources contain
a high percentage of red in the emitted color spectrum. I use a Nikon CoolPix 5000 and I prefer
to use natural lighting from a north facing window and at early or late times of the day.

Spinynorman

I don't what the spectrum of light that the Reveal bulbs emit is, but I get the same results using them and have to do a slight gamma correction with my software to get the color closer.

jom

Interesting. I thought that the Reveal bulbs had a lower color temp...hence "blueish".

Gamma correction is an idea but is there anything I can do with the camera itself??

Shylock...help!

jom

jom

Also, when you say "gamma correction" do you mean "color balance"?

Thanks

jom

Lakesammman

You might need to do manual white balance - check your instruction manual. I do it on a grey backfround for PCGS and the white part of the slab for NGC. This results in a more true color. I never adjust the color balance or gamma afterwards - I just keep trying different combinations of lighting and angles until the photo is a true representation of the coin.

Which photo of the 2 is a truer representation of the real thing??

shylock

Jom -- I've had the same experience with reveal bulbs. For the majority of coins I prefer full spectrum Ott-Lites, but they're too strong for proofs and some RB & BN coins. In those cases I've seen the reveal bulbs do a much better job, even if with some minor tinting.

jom

I think it need to take the shot from the other side. I'd see the toning better...for this particular coin at least.

Lake: I think it is the Reveal bulb shot. But the light is more intense so you can see the coin better. The Reveal shot certainly shows the luster better and from my previous experience the color shows up far better than any pics I've done with a halogen or incandecent light.

Shy: What is an "Ott" light? Did we talk about this before on that thread last summer? Isn't that the light you bought that was supposed to go with your camera and didn't work too well?

jom

EDIT: Another question for Shylock: Do you think your methods of shooting copper would help me with my gold coins? They do have "similar" coin....at least more similar than, say, copper to silver or nickel.

RotatedRainbows

I use Ott lights and find they give out the truest cleanest light of any bulbs except for the 250 watt photo flood bulbs I have used the past 10 years for other photography projects (only problem with 250 watt is they get VERY hot in about 2-3 minutes). I have heard others talk about the reveal bulbs so I bought a four pack of 100 watt (about $2.95) and when I tried to use them along with my Ott lights you could see they put out a pink hue compared to the Ott lights. So in my experience the reveal bulbs do not have as clean of light as the Ott lights which do not add color or hue when used, the following pictures were taken with Ott lights and are very very close to what the coins look like in real life.

shylock

Jom -- no, you're thinking of that macro light ring Nikon makes. What a fiasco! It was an attachable ring that screws on to the lens with little lights in it. The images looked like a UFO was landing on the slab! I've wasted more than my fair share of money searching for true color (also tried the "cloud dome" and a tubular Eco-Light system that sounds like a vacuum cleaner when you turn it on). Ott-Lites are simple portable lights originally designed for sewing hobbyists since they make matching colors more precise. Wish I'd found them hundreds of dollars ago, and yes I think they'd do very well with gold.

On the other hand they're not suited for proofs and some RB/BN coins. Lakesammmon, with the help of Russ, has taken great images of his RB varieties with a reveal bulb setup. The bottom line is you could probably create a few different lighting setups depending on the nature of the coin, one light doesn't fit all. For me the Ott-Lites cover more bases than any of the others.

nwcs

>The bottom line is you could probably create a few different lighting setups depending on the nature of the coin, one light doesn't fit all. For me the Ott-Lites cover more bases than any of the others.


And the more I play around with this, the more I see how true this is. No one setup will take all pics. And each setup has its share of problems and solutions. One thing I do recommend, though, is having controlled lighting. Just like coin grading, when you have a controlled setup, you can experiment more and repeat successes.

jom

Great info people! And mucho thanko!

Can "Ott" lights be found at any neighborhood store such as Home Depot or whatever???

jom

shylock

My local Staples sells a light with the identical design made by Tensor called a spectrum light for $20, one third what I paid for the Ott brand. I'm curious about them -- either a great buy or a lesser quality knockoff. Smells like the latter. Amosadvantage.com has the Ott brand, but CosmicDebris and others have linked better prices at other online venues.

CoinAddict

Jom- I was able to get my OTT light at Office Depot.

jom

CoinAddict: You said you can get "Ott" brand at Office Depot. Was it the actual brand or a "copy cat" like what Shylock was talking about?

Thanks

jom