Some crappy photos for you to evaluate - tried a few more - slabs this time

tydye

I have tried on numerous occasions to take better pics but I just cant seem to make it happen. What do I need to do here? I do not have a fancy camera just a Nikon coolpics. Any simple suggestions without getting too technical would be appreciated.

cheezhed

Those actually aren't bad.

The most important things to do are:

Plenty of light i.e. fast shutter speed
Keep lens plane parallel to coin
Camera on stand or tripod with remote or timed shutter release for no camera shake

darktone

They look good to me. How do they look compared to the coin in person?

joecopper

I think that those pics are quite credible. I do mostly copper and use an Ott Light at 45deg with the camera on a fixed mount.

tydye

I am missing color and luster on the half. I am using 2 daylight bulbs at 45s to the coin. Large cent came out decent but it seems to lose some of the details

CoinJunkie

I've seen a lot worse! It appears that the first photo was taken with the coin tilted a hair relative to the plane of the lens, as the
bottom is the only area that is (slightly) out of focus.

mozin

Nice Pictures, better than my scans.

tbarreca

<< <i>Keep lens plane parallel to coin. >>



As others have said, your pics are pretty darn good, and it's likely that you're not giving yourself enough credit.

As I understand it, however, the quoted piece of advice is correct to a degree. Keeping the lens parallel to the surface of the coin is a way to ensure that you'll capture the details to the highest possible extent. But to try to capture, for example, the toning or color of the coin, you should also try shooting at an angle.

Good luck, but don't stress. You're doing fine!

SeaEagleCoins

wish I could take "crappy" pics like that

BaseballAbs

I sweat at it hard and my pictures don't turn out that good...............my bust quarter set Check out my pics ..a couple arn't mine. They also are as different as veggies in the garden.

pheh

Yup not bad pics at all.

I think its important to remember, a little bit of post processing can go a long way:

kaz

It looked like the lower part of the images was slightly out of focus to me. check to be sure the camera isn't sagging a bit on the mount. If it is, you can put a prop under the coin to correct. Otherwise, I think your images look really good!

tydye

Thanks for the help and encouragement. Here is a try at some that I really find difficult. Uncs and Slabs. I tilted the last 2 a bit to try (unsuccessfully though) to show color






Here is some circs that were a little easier

Raybo

<< <i> >>






This is the perfect example of what most are talking about.

You need to keep your camera perpendicular to the coin (is that the right phrasing?)

coin22lover

I can't offer complete advice, but I can tell you that I have a Canon Powershot and have found my groove using the 2 megapixel, indoor, manual, macro settings under 100-150 watts of light and a steady hand.. Two 100 watt light sources would probably be better. While my photos are far from professional, I believe they're as good as they can ever be using an ordinary point and shoot cam.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>I have tried on numerous occasions to take better pics but I just cant seem to make it happen. >>


Brother, I share thy pain.

However, you seem capable of taking an adequate photo. Those aren't too bad.

lordmarcovan

PS- I truly love that "dirty" 1890-CC half eagle.

pakasmom

Only you know how well the pics actually represent those beautiful coins. But I bet that part of your dissatisfaction comes from being a perfectionist.

I'd like to buy things from a perfectionist... let's start with that '64 Galaxy!

messydesk

How far is the camera from the coin? A short working distance interferes with getting the best lighting in some cases. This will give you underlit spots on the coin like what I see in the lower right of the half and the large cent. Inexpensive digicams tend to focus closely only at the shortest focal length, which will force you rather close to the subject and force you to light the coin from a lower angle than would be best, which will make life difficult with uncirculated coins. Unless your current camera can accept accessory lenses and there is a "close-up lens" available for it, you're kind of stuck in this department.

There are things you can do with your current pictures. Compare them with the coin "in hand" and correct the color. They look a little lifeless. Bump up the saturation on the gold coin a little bit and then adjust the color balance to match the coin (looks too pink in the picture). Do the same with the large cent. Add a little bit of sharpening, but not too much. Like adding hot sauce to a dish to make it spicier, you want to add enough to give it a little edge, but not so much that I can tell what brand of hot sauce you used and can't taste the rest of the food anymore.