New Camera ... Canon Rebel XSi ... See Pics

VTCoins

A customer just traded his Canon Rebel XSi for one of our gold coins.

I spent about ten minutes figuring out how to take a pic, and the results are good. Can't wait to really learn how to use it!

Below are pics with the new camera and with my old camera.

New Canon Rebel XSi


Pic with my old Nikon CoolPix 5400

pheh

Terrific camera. I love mine - and they are relatively cheap. I do recommend a lens upgrade from the default. I'm currently using a discontinued version of the Canon Macro EF 100mm.

If you haven't tried it yet (and the discs came with camera) I really recommend checking EOS Utility and hooking the camera up to your computer. You can see a live preview image on your screen, and adjust focus and most other settings.

A recent result:

VTCoins

<< <i>Terrific camera. I love mine - and they are relatively cheap. I do recommend a lens upgrade from the default. I'm currently using a discontinued version of the Canon Macro EF 100mm.

If you haven't tried it yet (and the discs came with camera) I really recommend checking EOS Utility and hooking the camera up to your computer. You can see a live preview image on your screen, and adjust focus and most other settings.
>>



The camera I have came with a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (whatever that means) lens. If I ever get the time, I will definitely hook up the camera directly to my computer. I'll need to buy a longer cable because my photo set up is about ten feet from my computer.

BECOKA

Most modern DSLR's in general are all great cameras. The XSi is no exception.

The biggest challenge now is lighting, focus and depth of field. Make sure to focus on the field of the coin to bring out the luster, if your F stop is set around 8-10 the devices should still be in focus when the image is captured.

Barndog

congratulations! Does this mean we can expect even more of the coins listed on your website will be imaged?

adamlaneus

<< <i>The camera I have came with a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (whatever that means) lens. >>



What it means:

The EF-S part refers to the fact that the lens is designed for a smaller "S" sized sensor. Full-sized canon lenses are typically called just "EF". Full-sized digital sensors are Very Expensive. Stay with the small sensor cameras for coin photos unless you like spending money or have other uses for the camera.

18-55mm is the focal length range. This is a typical range for a typical all-purpose zoom lens on a small-sensor Rebel camera.
Lower numbers give you a wider field of view. You can get more in the frame but objects look small.
Higher numbers, the telephoto range, lets you make distant objects larger. For coin photos, you want a larger number for the focal length.

f/3.5-5.6 is the aperture number for this lens when it's 'wide open'. You should be setting your camera to f/8 for maximum resolution.

"IS" is image stabilization. It's great for hand-held shots or snapshots. But when you are on a tripod or camera stand, you are actually better off disabling this feature.


On the day that you feel your current lens is limiting you, consider the:

100mm f/2.8 Macro. Either the Sigma or the Canon. Canon made a "mark I" which is no longer for sale. They currently make a "mark II" and an "IS" version. Get the one without IS if you are just shooting coins from a stand or tripod.

If money is REALLY burning a hole in your pocket, there are even better lenses such as the Sigma 150mm Macro or the Canon 180mm Macro.

BECOKA

<< <i>

<< <i>The camera I have came with a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (whatever that means) lens. >>



What it means:

The EF-S part refers to the fact that the lens is designed for a smaller "S" sized sensor. Full-sized canon lenses are typically called just "EF". Full-sized digital sensors are Very Expensive. Stay with the small sensor cameras for coin photos unless you like spending money or have other uses for the camera.

18-55mm is the focal length range. This is a typical range for a typical all-purpose zoom lens on a small-sensor Rebel camera.
Lower numbers give you a wider field of view. You can get more in the frame but objects look small.
Higher numbers, the telephoto range, lets you make distant objects larger. For coin photos, you want a larger number for the focal length.

f/3.5-5.6 is the aperture number for this lens when it's 'wide open'. You should be setting your camera to f/8 for maximum resolution.

"IS" is image stabilization. It's great for hand-held shots or snapshots. But when you are on a tripod or camera stand, you are actually better off disabling this feature.


On the day that you feel your current lens is limiting you, consider the:

100mm f/2.8 Macro. Either the Sigma or the Canon. Canon made a "mark I" which is no longer for sale. They currently make a "mark II" and an "IS" version. Get the one without IS if you are just shooting coins from a stand or tripod.

If money is REALLY burning a hole in your pocket, there are even better lenses such as the Sigma 150mm Macro or the Canon 180mm Macro. >>



On that note, I have tried many lenses including all of the above and I have not found a better lens than the Sigma 150mm for the money. The Canon 100mm is a close second but for most coins it is just not quite far enough away to get great lighting.

speety

I have the XSi with a 90mm Sigma lens (iirc) and absolutely love it!

Have you learned how to use the screen on the back? You can zoom way in to make sure the coin is perfectly in focus (and SQUARE) to the camera.

speety

Here's one of my favorite pics with the camera... Missing Tail feathers on an 1832 O-120a bust half.

ponderit

Mark, that is just plain COOL (the pic AND especially the coin)

VTCoins

Thanks for the comments and info from everyone.

I have Mark Goodman's coin photography book, so I am looking forward to posting better pics of my coins.