POLL: How would you rate these images of an 1884 PCGS MS63 Morgan?

K6AZ

I've spent a lot of time and effort learning how to use the Nikon D70 SLR camera. I thought my images were pretty good, but someone spent an inordinate amount of time the other day trashing my images. I'm not looking for another flame feast, but just honest, constructive opinions. You don't have to post, you can just vote. If you think my images suck, you can just vote "1". On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate these images? 1 being the worst, 10 being the best.

ibzman350

Nice pic, I gave you a 9.

I'm reserving the 10 for mgoodm3.



Herb

ajia

Eric,

I'm not voting, but your images look great!
IMO always have.

I'd like to ask those that 'trash' Eric's (& others) images what they know about color management?
What settings do you have on your monitor? What is D50, or D65? What lighting conditions (temp) do you have around you monitor?
Do you have an eye1 or other spectrophotometer to calibrate your viewing area? My guess would be 'NO'

Eric, don't sweat what others think too much, either they can set their monitors up good enough to see a very nice image, or they don't know the first thing about setting up their monitors & your images will always look crappie

dwsblue

Very nice pictures

mgoodm3

The only thing I can find is some very subtle unsharpness on the face and cheek. The marks on the cheek are just a bit fuzzy compared to the image below. All-in-all a pretty minor problem.

MORGANHUNTER2

Eric I popped ya a 10- you have done some awesome imaging on here.
Sometimes I see the oics in an overly large size, but that is how you have it loaded- some shots do look better than others- I think it boils down to how you have your lighting set up- some glaring once in awhile- but overall the pics rate a 10.
Now if you can downsize them to fit on my new 19" monitor that sets up color filtration easily- then I can view the whole image from 20 feet away. Instead of 30...

stman

I noticed you are getting great depth of the fields lately. I gave you a 9 because I need to
reserve the 10 for my "scanned" images.

uofa1285

Fantatis pics...I voted a 9, as in PCGS MS-69 Morgan(s)!

K6AZ

<< <i>I noticed you are getting great depth of the fields lately. I gave you a 9 because I need to
reserve the 10 for my "scanned" images. >>



That was my most recent improvement. I made some adjustments the other day for it. On the Morgans, it was most noticeable in regards to "LIBERTY" in the headband.

anablep

9!

Great closeups.

ajia

I also love the hue that you capture.

Others may say they capture the way the coin looks, but they must be talking about the detail because the mid-tones & shadows look green to me!

As far as focus goes, the images may look a tad soft, but what are we comparing to? If one wants to compare to other images from someone else, well I just downloaded your images Eric (don't sue me for copyrights) & brought the images into Photoshop, applied a little unsharp masking & POP....instant sharpness!

I think the thing to remember is does the image truthfully resemble the coin, if so, that's all that matters, IMO.

Still think those are great shots.

BIGDAVE

I give you a 10 ...So that is what a morgan looks like

RotatedRainbows

Much sharper and better focussed then your previous photos that you posted.

Oney

I gave you a 9 K6AZ.........care to tell me the secret settings for the D70 that you used to get such great results?

relayer

I rated it a 9 - nice picture

Trooper

K6
The pictures are great, one day I hope to even rate a 5 on your scale.....
Tom

cosmicdebris

I gave it a 9. The only problem I have with the first image is that the 3 stars before"E" and the "E" plus "NUM" and one star after the "NUM" get lost and are not as sharp as the rest of the image. I have this same problem on some of my images.

RYK

I gave it a 3 just to be a jerk.

Actually, I thought the other thread was ridiculous.

I really gave it an 8. It is almost perfect (9) in quality, but it was a Morgan, so I had to downgrade it.

K6AZ

<< <i>I gave you a 9 K6AZ.........care to tell me the secret settings for the D70 that you used to get such great results? >>



Brian, I have mine mounted in this copy stand:



You really need a heavy duty stand like this for the D70 for two reasons, one the D70 is a heavy camera, and two, you have mechanical movement (the mirror) when the shutter is released. If you notice the quartz copy lights on this stand, they are at too low of an angle for coins, so I use two Sylvania 75w Daylight bulbs. I have them positioned like this (I admit I'm an awful drawer):



I shoot in the manual mode, controlling both the aperature and shutter speed. These settings will vary greatly depending on the lens you use and your lighting. On this image, I used the Sigma 105mm macro lens. Here are my settings:

Metering - Matrix
ISO - 200
White Balance - Metered Preset
Aperature - F7.1
Shutter speed - 1/250

K6AZ

<< <i>I gave it a 9. The only problem I have with the first image is that the 3 stars before"E" and the "E" plus "NUM" and one star after the "NUM" get lost and are not as sharp as the rest of the image. I have this same problem on some of my images. >>



Thanks Bill. One of the issues I am still working on is the lighting. Right now I am getting by with some swing arm lamps supported by string, they just do not support the PAR 30 bulbs. I ordered two of these that are specifically made for PAR bulbs:

24" goosenecks

The area you mention is a "cold" spot, while there are two areas that are "hot spots", on the forhead and to the right of the date. Once I get these goosenecks, I should be able to fine tune the lighting.

razorface1027

As far as I'm concerned, your images are always excellent.



Tom

XpipedreamR

I can't believe three jokers gave them a "1." The pictures are obviously top-notch. I gave them a 9...I would like to see a teensy bit sharper image.

MAD4MORGANS

I gave you a 9 because I didn't see the rainbow on them

I also notice the nicest piece of furniture in your room is reserved for your coins....

mgoodm3

This shows what Eric is describing as better coin light. Lights up against the camera.

JrGMan2004

Definately better than your old images... your old images looked wrong... they didn't show the luster and frostyness of the fields, but the fields usually looked black... this picture is a MUCH better looking picture...

GAT

My, things are getting complicated from the old box Kodak days. Back then, you just pressed the button and took the film to the drug store.

JRocco

Hi Eric, I just voted 10. I know some will say that nothing is perfect, but dammmm, those images are pretty darn close. Any improvement would only be tweaking, You have it down right now.

K6AZ

Thanks JRocco. I could do a little better, but I can't get my quartz lights at the angle mgoodm3 shows in the image above, and I actually need the quartz lights at the angle they are now for my non-coin work. I have those 24" flexible lights on the way, and that should cure the slight problem I have with the hot/cold spots.

K6AZ

Thanks for all the replies and votes. I was pretty confident my images lately have been good.

I voted 8, as pointed out there are still some minor issues with the lighting and focusing which I am working on.

Here is the coin as it came out of the camera at full size. The only thing I did was crop it.

1884 Morgan Full Size

Coinhusker1

Those are kick-ass images K6, your best efforts to date. Much more "lifelike" images of the Morgan Dollar.

I gave you a 9.8, which rounds to 10 in your poll!