Bought a New Nikon D40 - Pics attached

Cocoinut

A few weeks ago, Target had a closeout on the Nikon D40. I'd read about the camera on this forum and was impressed by the photos others had posted. Here are some of my first efforts to photograph coins in a variety of metals. My setup uses 2 Ott lights. I need to practice a lot more with the D40, but it's capable of producing some great pics. It'll take a lot of work to update all of my registry pics, and I can't say I'm looking forward to that, but the results will be worth it. If anyone has any comments or hints on using the D40, I'd like to hear from them.











Jim

richardshipp

I think the pics look great.

OneCent

Congrats on the new camera, and fine pics!

What type of Macro lens are you using?

SilverEagles92

The overall details is great, but I think they could be a tad sharper.

tydye

Your pictures came out great. I just purchased a new camera myself and am trying to improve my picture taking skills

speety

Are you using a macro lens?

zeebob

Nice photos. Really like the surfaces on the ASE!

What lens are you using?

Raybo

You need a copy stand or tripod with a level, you need to get your lens "square" with the coin.

OTOH your images are not to shabby, i'm guessing that you are using the kit lens?

Hyperion

holy crap I have to suck it up and buy that camera!

SamByrd

what type of lighting are you using? Great pictures.

coinkid855

Nice pictures, but they do seem to be just a bit out of focus.



-Paul

Bottomsup

I can't help with specifics of the camera but your pics look very good and I'm sure you'll get better as you get used to it.
Well done

Bottomsup

Cocoinut

Thanks for the comments. I'm using the 18-55mm lens that came with the camera, and use the manual focus mode. I tried the 55-200mm lens, but couldn't focus until the camera was so far away from the coin that it was just a small portion of the total picture. The 18-55 is definitely the better of the 2 lenses for coins. I need to experiment more with lighting, and it would probably help to use the timer to avoid camera movement. Having the camera square with the coin is more difficult than it seems it should be. No part of my setup is in a fixed position, so I have to reposition the camera and the background each time I take photos. I need to use a copy stand to avoid having pics where the coins appear to have a slightly oval shape.

Jim

speety

Try to pick up a macro lens, preferrably 90mm focal length or longer. Many times on ebay or on the BST you can get them fairly cheaply. Neither of the lenses that come with the camera are too good for coins, but of the two, the 18-55 is definately better.

Keep shooting

JungleFever

Thanks for posting. I have not had time to try cameras in person. But.......if your pics look that good, w/o using a timer no less, and using the 'kit' lens, I'm sold.

Very nice pics.

soty27

I've always been a strong advocate for the nikon D40 "stock camera" as a great coin camera. It will take far better pictures stock straight out of the box with the stock lens than any point and shoot camera. I used the nikon d40 with the stock lens and got great pictures. I currently use the nikon d40 with the sigma 150 macro lens and it is fantastic. A couple of quick pointers for you-- pick up a cheap tripod, copy stands are expensive and a tripod will do the same thing. You can pick yourself up a remote for the camera for right under 20 dollars and it will stop the hand shake that you will get when shooting with your fingers.

Here are a few shots I took with my nikon D40 / sigma 150 macro lens:

LindeDad

The remote shutter release cost less than ten dollars and is a must for coins.
Copy stands are less than a hunderd dollars and are worth it.
A older manul Nikon Nikor 105mm lens goes for about three hundred and it is worth it.
I got all on eBay.

Got my D40 at the BX.

morgandollar1878

Those look like a pretty good first run.

frnklnlvr

Your pics look very good for your first try! I also use a D40 and have been happy with it. I still haven't bought a macro lens yet but the stock lens does pretty good IMO.

mgoodm3

White balance looks a litle green. Use the "preset" setting to set it to a gray card or white sheet of paper.

lordmarcovan

kaz

I bought a used, manual Micro-Nikkor for about $100. It works fine. I think your 'out of the box' photos are very nice, though.

Connecticoin

Nice pics. Maybe I will buy myself an SLR for Christmas!

messydesk

Make sure you use only one type of light at a time. This means pulling the shades during the day. What others have said about sharpness, a macro lens and camera support is sound. I took the pictures in my registry link (below) with a D80 and a manual focus 105mm Micro-Nikkor on a copy stand.

ricko

Remarkable first effort... that camera may finally pursuade me to take photographs and post them. I will look into this... Cheers, RickO