Coin Shows and Coin Imaging....

MrEureka

Wouldn't it make sense for someone to set up at a show for the sole purpose of photographing and/or scanning coins on site? I could see charging $3 to $5 per scan and $25 for a quality photograph. I could see a one man operation taking in a few grand per show. If there was enough demand, you could hire more photographers and the business could get pretty interesting.

cosmicdebris

You wanna back me

kieferscoins

I'd even have you scan sample slabs for me. Wouldn't that be a joy?

Cameron Kiefer

JrGMan2004

I'm sure Jeremy could bring his camera set up and make a killing... he's got awesome photography skills, and already has the business started...

CopperDude

Might work. Sound a little high to me. Good luck

MrEureka

You wanna back me?

Bill - What do you need a backer for? You have the equipment. All you need is a bunch of flyers and a table at a coin show. But if you want to give me a piece of your action in exchange for space at my table, we can definitely talk!

FC57Coins

Andy:

Funny you should mention this. I've recently decided to start such a venture and will be starting to set up at the Atlanta show at first, but then hope to expand to regional shows. My hope is to be able to provide just the service you're talking about for both dealers and collectors who would like to have their coins imaged for Ebay, registry sets, or whatever - Small world ain't it? My first show will be this weekend - let's see how it flies

Frank

airplanenut

I'd love to, but here are the problems I'd have:

1- LCD monitors (at least for me) are harder to use than regular monitors--laptops only have LCD unless I really wanted to haul in equipment

2- Time... to crop/set up a full shot can take a little while if you want it just right

3- Light. I shoot in total darkness, except my lights. At a coin show, there's no dark place to shoot.

Jeremy

kieferscoins

<< <i>But if you want to give me a piece of your action in exchange for space at my table, we can definitely talk! >>



Lets talk about setting up a sample slab table at the shows.

Cameron Kiefer

MrEureka

Light. I shoot in total darkness, except my lights. At a coin show, there's no dark place to shoot.

Why not set up a tent around the camera? Bill Noyes does that and gets great results.

MrEureka

Lets talk about setting up a sample slab table at the shows.

Let's not and say we did.

Actually, let's not even say we did.

airplanenut

<< <i>Why not set up a tent around the camera? Bill Noyes does that and gets great results. >>

I move the lamps too much--sometimes they are 2 inches from the coin... sometimes a foot and a half... plus, I need to be able to move them in all directions, and still have access to my camera and not burn myself...

JrGMan2004

Equipment problem is easy... get one of the new Form Factor computer cases. Easiest to find example is the Frag Box from Falcon Northwest... but of course, you can find em elsewhere, and that aren't gaming platforms... you could even get a computer nut to build you one from parts... there's a wholesaler in Tampa that has the FormFactor barebones...

CarlWohlforth

I think that is an interesting idea. The first folks who do it should do OK at the start. However there seems to be few barriers to entry so if Frank really does well other folks will follow suit and prices charged would come down.

Frank: I wish you the very best, please let us know how it goes. Or PM me if you don't want to encourage everybody else

MrEureka

Frank - Great minds think alike! Unfortunately, the same can be said of warped minds.

cosmicdebris

There would be table fees, travel and lodging expenses to add in too. Plus for high quality just right shots and prints it is not as easy as it looks and takes time.

If someone wants to send me their coins to photograph that would be another story. No overhead then

They would get great shots like this one:




Disclaimer: Of course they would have to be slabbed first.

JrGMan2004

Very true Bill... but, if you split the table with a smaller dealer, and shared a hotel room with him, you'd decrease your expenses, and it's quite possible that the smaller guy could get a lot of business if you're business was popular and drew a lot of people to your table... plus you'd need to get one of those huge signs that people can see from across the floor... but instead of saying Buying Coins, you could say "Photographing Coins" I think it's a cool idea though... and there are certainly ways to reduce your costs, especially if it was a purely digital thing... floppys and/or CD-Rs aren't that expensive... and the person wanted a hardcopy photo, you could offer to print it from home and send it out, or they could just bring it to a photoshop and have them print it out...

FC57Coins

<< <i>Unfortunately, the same can be said of warped minds >>



Either way I'm in good company - n'est pas?

FC57Coins

Carl:

I have been tinkering taking shots at shows and actually I've gotten it where they look very respectable. I'll let everyone know what kind of progress I make with this venture, as I'm thinking I'm not going to corner the market.






PS - Just stay out of the Southeastern US and the Greater Antilles.

boz

There was a guy at the Michigan show in Dearborn last November set up to do exactly that. Starting at $13 a photo. Got his card. Hope he shows up this year.

ColonialCoinUnion

<< <i>Wouldn't it make sense for someone to set up at a show for the sole purpose of photographing and/or scanning coins on site? I could see charging $3 to $5 per scan and $25 for a quality photograph. I could see a one man operation taking in a few grand per show. If there was enough demand, you could hire more photographers and the business could get pretty interesting. >>



I think this is pretty darn good idea, and this pains me becuase I really wanted to write some kind of smart ass answer in this space.

MrEureka

I really wanted to write some kind of smart ass answer in this space.

Be patient. I expect to provide you with many, many such opportunities over the years.

Conder101

For abot three years now a firm called J&S Optics has been setting up at shows selling microscopes and imaging systems. He also offers to take pictures of coins as well. I have used his services on a couple of occasions but I'm not real happy with the images. Too much distortion and the colors haven't come out well. (The only reason I used him was in order to get images of some very rare slabs that I couldn't afford to buy.) Stiil from looking at his equipment I think he could have done a much better job with a little more practice. I think there would be a market for such a service and I think it coud be fairly easily done.

291fifth

Coin dealers, and collectors, are notoriously cheap when it comes to spending money on anything but coins. I doubt if this would have much chance of success. It might be a novelty the first time it was set up at a show but the novelty would quickly disappear as time went on.

Even if coins were sent to you you would still have a considerable expense...insurance for the coins while they were in your posession.

cosmicdebris

You could always pay to fly me out to you