My first try with the Nikon 5400

beartracks42

First, the groundwork; I used mgoodm3's camera settings(I think). Boy this thing has a lot of buttons, knobs and other things.
The only thing I did to these pics is to lighten them a bit. They were dark and I probably need more light. I used two lights with 75 watt GE reveal bulbs.

This 1888-O is a NGC 64 that I bought from K6AZ. I hope he will comment on how these pics compare to his.





The 1779-S is a PCGS MS65 that just crossed from an ANACS 65.





I also want to give credit to jonesey's post on posting pictures with your topics/replies, as I would never have made it without his tutorial.

Please comment away...I need all the help I can get.

midwestcoin13

nice but needs to be a bit clearer.

kryptonitecomics

Where are the threads with the tips....can you link them? I also have a 5400...just got it and I have been struggling with imaging.

From what I can see the only thing your pictures are lacking is clarity. They seem to be out of focus.....I don't seem to have a problem with focus, but capturing the toning just right has proved futile for me

I think your images do a good job of allowing us to see what the coins look like in hand.....they don't look like drawings etc

airplanenut

I heard you bought a cool blue morgan! Try that one!

Nice start!

VTCoins

Where can I find the mgoodm3 comments on the Nikon 5400? I just did a search, but was unable to locate it.

Thanks!

ss350camaro

here's a copy and paste from one of Marks posts on the Nikon 5400:

"I wrote this a while back for someone else with a 5400:

1. For shooting coins I use Aperture priority mode "A" on the big dial. The aperture is set on the small dial. The camera sets the shutter speed. I tend to use higher aperture numbers (shows what the aperture is in the lower right of the screen as F7.6 for example) to get a good depth of focus. If you are taking pictures at an angle you want enough depth to the focus to get the closest and farthest parts of the coin in focus. If you are trying to get color out of Morgans and shooting at an angle, I would stick to an aperture of 7 or more.

2. I allow for manually setting the focus area (by the round "joystick button) on the lower right of the camera. Get this by hitting "menu" button, go down to and click "show all menus". Keep hitting down button on joystick until you get to page 2 and click on "focus options", then hit "AF area mode", Then click "manual". Now when you're taking pictures it will show 5 brackets on the screen, the red one is where it is focusing. You can move that red area around with the joystick button. (I often use the outside one to get the coin out from under the camera a bit more). If shooting at an angle I focus about 2/3 to 3/4 up the coin ( i think it tends to focus on the slab which is in front of the coin and cheating up will put the focus plane at about the center of the coin that way).

3. I meter the exposure off the place where it is focusing off of. Hit "menu" , click "metering", then click "spot autofocus area".

4. Macro focus. Hit "AF" button. White mountain will show up first, hit it again and you get a flower. Flower is macro mode. You want to keep that flower green. If it's white you have too much zoom on the lens. It only allows good macro focus with a tiny amount of zoom. Hit the "AF" button again And it will keep the macro mode but add the auto timer feature to the exposure (sounds like you found that already). But you gotta keep the flower green or macro won't work properly.

5. White Balance. Turn the big knob to WB. Hit right arrow on joystick on "White bal preset" The camera will do a little jig. click down to "measure" and hit the center button on the joystick. Do this with a piece of white paper below the camera with the lights on the you intend to take the pictures with. You should get and accurate white balance as long as you don't change things too much."

ss350camaro

Here are some links to previous threads for "Nikon 5400" on the forums.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

mgoodm3

I was going to look up my previous comments on the 5400, but don't have to now.

beartracks42

I used the one that ss350camaro listed, I think. This darned thing is a challenge for an old guy who never took pictures anyway.


Shane, If you search under Nikon 5400, I think you will find more than you can absorb.

beartracks42

If any of you youngsters are of a mind, you might let out some info on how you get the pics to all be the same size and explain jpg compression. I have Photoshop Elements 2.0, and I have yet to find the info that tells me the above.

Thanks in advance.


P.S. Remember, your Moms told you it was good to be nice to old folks.

K6AZ

Gary, I don't recall that one. If you can PM the cert. number, I can look it up.

stev32k

The exposures look good, but like others have said they look a little blurry from camera shake. If you are hand holding the camera your shutter speed should be a minimum of 1/160 to avoid shake when taking macro shots. If the camera is on a copy stand you need more light to speed up the shutter, or you may be getting vibration from equipment close by - like air conditioners, fans, etc.

mgoodm3

To resize the image in Elements.

Goto: Image/resize/imagesize in the menu. Decide what size you want the picture and that's done.

You seem to be able to crop it already.

jpg is a variable compression of the image size. When you save a jpg it gives you a 1-10 setting on the image quality. 1 is worst and will be most compressed, 10 is almost no compression. I generally use the 7. Good compression that's pretty much invisible.

To get into the 50k limit you can generally get away with 400 X 400 saved at a 7 compression.

beartracks42

Eric,

My mistake, I bought this coin from Scott Byergo. Sorry, I have bought a few from you and errored on this one.


Steve32,

Good observation. Although I am using a copy stand, I did not use the 10 sec. timer, so there could be a bit of shake there. You are most likely correct that I need more light, also.

Mark,

Thanks so much for helping out a newby in the photography world.

stev32k

<<Although I am using a copy stand, I did not use the 10 sec. timer, so there could be a bit of shake there>>

Ha haw- that's the problem. If the camera is on a copy stand you always need to use either a remote shutter release or a timer delay. You can't press the shutter release with your finger without causing some amount of shake.