The difference a real macro lens makes

coinpictures

Been posting over on the lightside about a new Sigma 150mm macro lens I bought.

It's like rediscovering coin photography; it's put the fun back in it for me. Also, the ability to pull back and shoot from a distance and not fight the lighting or the angles makes things so much easier.

I'm having an absolute blast.

Dark raw copper thread

Various and sundry thread (includes darkside material)

Aethelred

Great series of photos. I envy your skill.

goossen

excellent pictures!

Hussulo

I agree. Fantastic images!

zeebob

GREAT photos!

ormandh

What are you using for you light source? Nice photos by the way. -Dan

coinpictures

<< <i>What are you using for you light source? Nice photos by the way. -Dan >>



I posted this in the raw copper thread:

My setup is pretty ghetto, all things considered. Picture below.

The copy stand I bought from from a coworker about 8 years ago for $50. It's beefy and dates from the 1950s-1970s (not sure when it was made). Definitely *NOT* portable.

The two light fixtures are Wal-Mart clip-on lamps that were $9.95 each. The goosenecks allow me to position and angle the lights as I need. For those copper shots I angled the bulbs slightly away from the coins, so that there was plenty of light, but the glare was cut.

The bulbs (also pictured below) are 35-watt 5500K fluorescent bulbs, light output equivalent to a traditional 150-watt bulb. I know that Mark recommends halogen bulbs for the truest color rendering, but the heat that those things put out scares the bejesus out of me. This is a viable alternative (in my opinion). If you're looking for more light output, the 5500K bulbs are also available in a 50-watt version (equivalent to a 200-watt bulb).

The 5500K fluorescents are pretty tough to find; the 2700K (poor for coin photos) and 6500K (Daylight, have not tried these) are more common.

As you can see, there's a lot of ambient light, so I only do my shooting at night.