Share your pic methods

Griv

I would love to know a little bit more about how some of the member here are able to take such awesome photographs. What kind of camera and lens do you use and what do you do for lighting? I have a pretty good camera but I have yet to snap a pic like some the ones I've seen here.

blu62vette

macro lens, copy stand, and whole variety of lights and yet to get it right on some coins. Mainly been using compact flourescent bulbs that are daylight, 6400k I believe.

Swampboy

I use an old brownie and my pics suck.

CharlotteDude

I've a Cannon Digital Rebel SLR, which is a pimp camera, but my lighting strategy is still in the dark ages... 75 watt bulb in a shaded lamp.

C'dude

Griv

What about the lens? I use a EOS D20 with a macro add on lens to a 58mm lens but it's still not cutting the mustard. Should I add another lens? What about lighting? I read on one thread about blue backgrounds and I have no clue how they acheive this. Any help?

mgoodm3

Camera: Nikon D200 with a Nikon 85mm PC micro lens.
Lighting: Halogen, Ott, LED all depends upon the coin I an shooting and what I want to acheive.

Camera, lens and a sturdy copystand make a huge difference in pics. I can use regular lightbulbs and get good pics.

mgoodm3

A nice dedicated macro lens (105mm is a good focal length) make a big difference.

fc

a new canon powershot with proper lighting blows away my
old ricoh.

i do not even bother with a stand anymore, the powershot takes
care of slight jitters.

cameras have really improved now days. lighting is the real key.

blu62vette

I agree lighting is the key. Most of the time my ligting is good but on proof and proof like reflective surfaces I still struggle. I have my lights high and have diffused them but still get some weirdnes on the coins.

Shooting raw on my D70 has helped also. Gives me many more options after the shoot. I also have a camera control program so I see the shot on my computer to know if I was in the ballpark.

robkool

Konica Minolta... Dimage X1 w/zoom lens. 8 megapix digital camera...
Desk lamp w/60watt energy saving bulb...
Black or light paded surface...
Save all my images & pics on photobucket...

I just play around with the lighting & zoom lens, until I get that nice kool shot...

See how that works...

Griv

<< <i>Camera: Nikon D200 with a Nikon 85mm PC micro lens.
Lighting: Halogen, Ott, LED all depends upon the coin I an shooting and what I want to acheive.

Camera, lens and a sturdy copystand make a huge difference in pics. I can use regular lightbulbs and get good pics. >>



Can you elaborate a little on how you make your lighting choices? Did you take the pic in your sig?

LindeDad

Probably the most important thing is a copy stand and a shutter release to reduce any viberation.

Next is use as high of F stop and as low of ASA setting as posible, this increases your dept of field and gets the focus on the coin and not just the slab.

Lighting and white balance depend on where, when, and what you are shooting. Background light and clothing worn can effet the white balnce so check and set each time.

A cloudy day, or sunny, or indoor lighting, and or spots or floods can all effect sttings so bracket shots and adjust settings for the best. And last but not least deffernt types of coins work best with different lights. I have had good luck sometimes with natural light, but I also like Ott lighs for copper and most silver, and revel floods work for some better, but all require a change of settings for white ballance.

And probably the most inportant is practice, practice, and more practice. At least with digitals we are not having to buy twenty rolls of film at a time, like I did whan I got my first SLR camera.


Added info for those that have not done so yet read the linked article in mgoodm3 sig. line it is good info on lighting and other tricks.

coinkid855

My technique is a bit unsophisticated. I simply take the coin i want to photograph into the kitchen and place it on the stove top (with it off =P) under the fluorescent light fixture. I shoot by hand with my Sony Cybershot with 15X zoom and a macro setting. I think the results are pretty dang good=P

Griv

You are kidding? Damn! Maybe you need to change occupations! That's some good shootin.

coinman420

coinkid, those are good pix for freehand. what white balance setting are you using with florescent lighting?

coinkid855

Automatic. lmao

Oh, and thanks a lot guys. The only problem I have with shooting in my kitchen is the shadow I cast on the coin....

mgoodm3

CLick the link below in my sig and there is a lot written there. I will have a real live book out on the subject in Feb/Mar.

Lighting doesn't have to be expensive. I choose lighting based upon the coin. My goal is to get optimum contrast on every pic - not too high, not too low. Coins have an inherent contrast to them. Some coins have a high contrast to them (say clad coins, Walkers, brilliant proofs, some have an inherent low contrast to them (worn dark copper). To get optimum contrast out of a high contrast coin you need to tone the contrast of the coin down by using loser contrast lighting (usually means more lights). WIth low contrast coins you need fewer lights to bring out what contrast they have.

Lighting of the coin typically improves with the lighting at a higher angle to the coin. This is one of the keys to good lighting in my opinion. There are exceptions. Get the lights in as close to the camera as possible to maximize angle. Getting the camera farther away from the coin also helps improve the available angle. Using more zoom (point and shoot) or a longer focal length macro lens also helps this property.

The lights themselves also have an inherent contrast level. Point source lights are harsher (higher-contrast) than linear (LIke fluorescents, OTTs). For most lighting I use a couple halogen lamps (a couple normal lightbulbs, bare bulbs, no hood, will work just fine). If I want softer light, I will either use more halogens or maybe use an Ott light or two. You can also soften lighting with diffusion. I use LEDs for supercloseup work where their small size and lack of heat are useful.

speety

I have a canon rebel with a 65mm macro lense and a sturddddy copy stand. When i remember, i'm going to order a shutter release. These are my latest pics from earlier today.

(Slabs are a littlt scratched but the pics are ok...)

notwilight

Lighting is the key and it doesn't so much matter what type of light you use as it does the distribution/intensity of the light. Custom white balance makes up for about any light from matchflames to halogen. But often you want diffuse and that can be difficult. Of course you have to have a copy stand/tripod to use longer exposures with ambinent lighting. I guess the exception to the first sentence would be if you don't have custom white balance you need to try to buy lights that work well with one of the white balance settings on your camera. --jerry

coinkid855

mgoodm3, NICE Pictures!

Griv

<< <i>I have a canon rebel with a 65mm macro lense and a sturddddy copy stand. When i remember, i'm going to order a shutter release. These are my latest pics from earlier today.

(Slabs are a littlt scratched but the pics are ok...)

>>



Sweet!

pinealbany

1) Camera; Nikon D80.
2) Lens; Nikon Nikkor 200mm AF/MF.
3) Copy Stand.
4) Ott lights/Daylight Bulbs/Bencher 300watts.
5) Lots of practice & patience.

speety

pinealbany, nice pics. I love those half eagles in high grades, that reverse may be my favorite design of any coin!

coinpictures

1. Copy stand.
2. Two Ott Lites (and I really should get a 3rd Gooseneck Ott to make the lighting more even).
3. Manual focus rather than auto.
4. Camera with a good Super Macro mode (assuming you don't have the bux for an SLR and dedicated macro lens). I'm pleased enough with shots like the one below, that for now I don't see the need to upgrade to an SLR. YMMV.

I've been able to get the process dialed in with respect to lighting position and camera settings to the point that there's no need for multiple shots on most coins. I took one shot of each side to get the picture below. The biggest change was adding the second Ott Lite. Makes a WORLD of difference!

Texast

I use a Fuji FinePix 9100S in macro mode on a tripod with a manual shutter release, photo booth with blue background, 2 Lamps with 60-Watt GE Reveal Bulbs along with a 20-Watt Halogen photo lamp (this helps to enhance frosting on proofs). I have a small 9" DVD player that I use as my viewfinder with a video input that connects directly to the video output on the camera. I keep the ISO low - usually 100, this helps to give depth. I use Incandescent for white balance selection. I will position the lights in different areas depending on the type of coin; of course Proofs seem to be the most challenging. I shoot at 9MP this gives me room to work in Photoshop to show close-up detail. It takes a while with any camera; you just have to try different things.

BECOKA

Canon 30D, 150mm Sigma Macro Lens, a child chair for the coin, two $10 light stands and a tripod. The biggest trick is to do a mirror lock. This significantly reduces vibration from the mirror flipping up when the picture is taken, especially on a tri-pod. Not as much of an issue with a copy stand.

Oh and this coin is in the slab.

53BKid

BEKOKA: I was transfixed looking at your eagle. Great coin, and thanks for the insight.

One question, how do you establish the black backgound?

BECOKA

<< <i>BEKOKA: I was transfixed looking at your eagle. Great coin, and thanks for the insight.

One question, how do you establish the black backgound? >>



Thanks, this is one of the few fully copper toned eagles I have seen. I grabbed it as soon as I saw it at a coin show recently.

In your photo editor you have to create a new image, fill the background black and then copy and paste the image you want over it. In this case two images (front and back)

Some Photo Editor examples:

GIMP (Free but steep learning curve)
Paint Shop Pro
Photoshop Elements.
Etc....

ModernCrapNut

Canon Powershot S5-IS
Macro setting, custom white balance, ASA 80, F4.0
Sturdy copy stand, 2 13w flourencent daylight bulbs in clamp on hooded lamps.

Photos cropped and matted with Photoshop Elements 5.0

Bruceswar

Canon 30D 3 OTT lights Tripod....

Fairlaneman

Old Sony, no copy stand and a couple of lights. Some tweaking in photo shop to get the color close.



Ken

robec

Canon Digital Rebel, 2 Ott lights, 100mm Macro, copy stand

coinkid855

Robec, EXCELLENT pictures!!

Guys, here's some pictures of my setup.







Oh, look at the clock guys. Make a wish! lol

IrishMike

5 mega pixel Olympus that has a super macro feature. 3 Ott lights which are easily positioned for each shot. Tripod cost $20 and takes up less room than a copystand. All next to the puter.

percyb

<< <i>What about the lens? I use a EOS D20 with a macro add on lens to a 58mm lens but it's still not cutting the mustard. Should I add another lens? What about lighting? I read on one thread about blue backgrounds and I have no clue how they acheive this. Any help? >>



Use the manual settings. Keep adjusting the light and exposure--f stops. Another macro lens shouldn't make a difference.

percyb

<< <i>I agree lighting is the key. Most of the time my ligting is good but on proof and proof like reflective surfaces I still struggle. I have my lights high and have diffused them but still get some weirdnes on the coins.

Shooting raw on my D70 has helped also. Gives me many more options after the shoot. I also have a camera control program so I see the shot on my computer to know if I was in the ballpark. >>



A filter should help diffuse the glare.