Learning imaging and grading (WLH)

bennyb

Hi,

First, I want to see if the photos post!
If so, comments on how to improve the photo. I know I need better lighting and then better DOF.
I'm still learning my EOS 10D.

Finally, I'm very weak on grading WLH. Is this MS? What parts should I be concentrating on. The head? The right hand?
I've learned so much from posts like "Guess the Grade"

Did it work?

airplanenut

Uncirculated? Looks it.

Areas to focus on: breast, hand/skirt, eagle's breast. Problem is, those areas, especially the hand, are commonly weak.

That said, your coin looks very clean, and probably MS65+, depending on the luster.

Jeremy

spy88

Benny, my only advice would be to try and stay away from tilting the coin so much. As you can see, you lose focus on both sides of focal distance (left---too close, right---too far).

And I think you did it this way to get the luster to reflect from your light source. That's not necessary if you place your light source above the coin but away from you.

Think of it this way: A big "IV". You are the "I", the camera is at the top left of the V, your light source is at the top right of the V, and the coin is at the juncture at the bottom of the V. Only need 5-8* of angle. Works for me! (Not the same coin).

oldcameoproofsguy

Hmmmm,

What lens are you shooting with on your 10D?

bennyb

I had the 50 mm 1.8 mk II with a 20mm Kenko extension tube.
No tripod (that's where I need to start).
Still trying to figure out processing RAW images and working with PS CS.

Goober

Hmmm 10D....I like, I like it alot. Great camera.

oldcameoproofsguy

I've been using the Canon 100mm 2.8 macro for coins. It would work very nicely with the 10D!

Oh yeah a tripod is a very good thing as well.

mgoodm3

The SLR's have very low dep[th of field in macro zones. If the coin is not straight-on, you've got to go up in f-stop quite a lot to keep everything in focus. i would light the WLH more from the left to show the face and get the light as high of an angle to the camera as you can get.

bennyb

Thanks for the advice.

I will play around on the weekend, maybe looking at shooting with ISO 800 or even higher so I can go to as high of an f stop as possible. That should help the focusing.

Any tripod recommendations for macro?

Ben

oldcameoproofsguy

One thing about shooting at an ISO of 800 is that there will be considerable "noise" in the image. The true advantage of the CMOS technology is that you can shoot at an ISO of 100 and have little to no graininess in your image. DOF probably isn't as important as the clarity of the image. There is all kinds of conflicting information at where the clearest image will be generated from, but in my research, several sources agree that a middle fstop around 8 is the best choice. I've been starting to shoot coin photos at middle fstops and the images do seem a little clearer.

mgoodm3 is correct about DOF problems with macro photography. Keeping a coin image totally sharp is difficult and takes a lot of practice. It is tough to get 100% of the coin's surface sharp without any soft spots.

As far as tripods, the Bogen with a pivital head is super solid, but kind of pricey. IMO, any solid tripod with a pivital head will work.

mgoodm3

I use a copystand for coin pics, made for this kind of application, just make sure you get one that's sturdy enough for your camera.