How to take perfect pictures?

bigtime36

I see alot of you have great pictures of your coins that are zoomed in and focused so well, how do you get them that way with out it being fuzzy?

Thank,
James

66RB

make sure your camera has a macro mode, for starters.

Next, practice, practice, practice.


I've been photo'ing my coins for about three years now and I'm not happy with what I'm able to produce. Most of the time, that is.

mgoodm3

also, 3 or 4k worth of equipment helps.

Russ

There is no such thing as a perfect picture.

Russ, NCNE

BlindedByEgo

Or coin.

mozeppa

or photographer.

Julio

There is no such thing as a perfect picture.

Does perfect exist? I ask this philosophicaly. It's got me thinking. I'm assuming ms70 is perfect, but are all ms70's perfect, or none. Bottom line: does perfect exist or just a mere illusion? Me thinks perfect can not be proved without a large leap of faith. jws

ANACONDA

The fellow at PCGS who takes photos for money took an image of a Lincoln that was absolutely perfect and without flaw. An image was posted of it to this forum.

oldcameoproofsguy

The secret to great photography is to simply take a lot of pictures.

notwilight

I think you were wanting actual pointers rather than generalizations about the daunting task. I haven't gotten mine set up yet but here is what I'm planning to do:

1. Camera must be supported on a tripod or better yet, a copy stand (anybody got a cheap copy stand for sale?).
2. Use the self timer to avoid vibration since most digital cameras won't take a bulb release.
3. Use external lighting, preferably two high intensity lamps at 90 degrees. No flash of course.
4. You don't need to be as close as you might think with a high resolution digital camera. Use the zoom. Being farther back flattens the field.
5. No experiment and practice. Lighting distances will probably be a good thing to play with.

--jerry (master of the strawman)

MikeInFL

How to take (as) perfect (as possible) pictures in three easy steps:

1) Raw coins (a huge advantage)
2) Good equipment (DSLR, dedicated macro lens, copy stand/tripod, remote/delayed shutter release, and several types of lighting)
3) Lots of practice (the most important, and can overcome, at least partially, the first two steps)

To address your second question -- concerning zooming and focusing -- it sounds to me like either your camera isn't set up correctly (not in or doesn't support macro mode), not steady (not using a tripod or copy stand), or simply isn't capable of good coin photos. If you share what type of camera you have, and what settings you are using, it will be much easier to give you more specific advice.

Hope this helps...Mike

LindeDad

And a lot of practice. None of use got it right the first time. And a lot of use are still trying to get it right.

B&H Photo has a reasonably priced copy stand with lights.
One of my better purchases.

Link is to one of many they have.

Digital Pursuits

Leiana

Know the focal length of your lens.

-Amanda

bigtime36

All im useing is a SONY Cyber-shot 5.0 mega pixels not sure of my setting and i also use Photoshop whitch im ok at useing. let me know what you think.

derryb

I use a $250 digital, a tripod and a close-up screw on filter (it's much cheaper than the macro lens). I find natural lighting outdoors works best (picnic table on the patio). I shoot about 6" from the coin. I use photobucket.com as my server.

BlindedByEgo

<< <i>The fellow at PCGS who takes photos for money took an image of a Lincoln that was absolutely perfect and without flaw. An image was posted of it to this forum. >>

Leiana

Cool, I use a Sony Cyber Shot!

There is a little button with a flower on it, if you press that you are in macro mode. It is right by the flash button (you will want to turn off the flash) and the timer button (you will want to turn on the timer). Put your camera in M mode with the little wheel by the shutter. Then go into the M settings by pressing menu. Setting the whitebalence for the type of ambient lighting you have is CRITICAL.

Then, press the little round button in the middle of the 'arrow' buttons. This will allow you to set the shutter speed and aperture. Set the aperture to the highest number, probably 5.6. The shutter speed will depend on how much light you have, just adjust until the image looks good in the window. Then press the little round button again to set the camera.

You will want a small tripod. The macro focus is optimal at about four inches from the coin you are imaging. Make sure you have the timer on.

Press the shutter lightly and you should hear a little 'beep beep' noise and the metering squares should turn green. You are in focus!

Press down the shutter all the way and step back and wait for the timer to go off.

That should work.

-Amanda

PS- DO NOT ZOOM! It will throw off the macro focusing. Just get the coin within four inches of the lens. This is how I take all my pictures, and I really like it.

bigtime36

WOW, great info Amanda... i will mess around with that and see what i get out of it. I dont have a tripod but will rig something.

Thanks,
James

derryb

All you need for a tripod is a small compact one. Your are going to be no more than a foot from the coin. Make sure the tripod head tightens up and does not have any play (movement) in it. Mine was less than $20 and is very compact and portable. Copy stands are hard to find these days, even Ritz Camera quit carring them.

Leiana

I made my own copy stand like setup with my tripod, a cardboard box and a couple books.

-Amanda

Murphy

Nikon 990 shot down the tube of a cheap microscope. The color is dead-on, but the table that the coin lies on is tilted just enough to cause blurriness atop the coin. A tilt of the table will fix that. There's many little problems like this that we run into when first attemptimg to photograph coins. Most are problems that concern the correct usage of the camera components and adjustment of the lighting. With experimentation should come the perfection of your own personal technique.

Pentimento

When not at a copystand I like to use something like the Manfrotto Super Clamp. Treads for the bottom of the camera and a nice clamp so you can use anything to position the camera; living room floor lamp, chair set up on the table, etc.

Also, with compact digital cams I think there is a tendency to overzoom. Use the macro setting and let those extra megapixels do the work for you in photoshop-- you are usually going to downsample the image before posting anyway.