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Imaged 1st 6 coins from OBW
rmpsrpms
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I bought an OBW roll of 1957-D Cents a few years back and am starting to image them. Here are the first six...Ray
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peacockcoins
<< <i>Great pics. Only one criticism, they kind of lack luster... unless they're that way in real life. >>
Old saying in the photo business: "bring us a better face and we'll bring you a better picture."
Very, Very nice photos. What camera are you using?
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AB
<< <i>Old saying in the photo business: "bring us a better face and we'll bring you a better picture." >>
My grandfather was a professional portrait photographer and he'd always say something like this to us about his complaining customers.
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
<< <i>Great pics. Only one criticism, they kind of lack luster... unless they're that way in real life. >>
Thanks! There are many tradeoffs in representing a coin with a single photo, and the direction you lean depends on the qualities of the coin and the qualities you want to emphasize or de-emphasize. I've lit these to emphasize color and surface detail, showing a bit of luster but not emphasizing it. I could change the lights around to show more luster, at the expense of something else, but this seems to be the best compromise lighting arrangement I've come up with. Lighting which emphasizes luster usually de-emphasizes color and surface details and makes it harder to grade.
<< <i>Very, Very nice photos. What camera are you using? >>
A Nikon D7000. I don't think the camera makes all that much difference to the end result, though camera features are important. I find that being able to frame the shot, critically focus, set exposure and control the shutter with the image live on my PC screen is extremely useful. Most of the newer DSLRs will do this.
http://macrocoins.com
-Paul
<< <i>Great pics. Only one criticism, they kind of lack luster... unless they're that way in real life. >>
That's the classic challenge with coin photos.
Try and bring out the color and you lose luster. Try and bring out the luster and you lose color.
I think rmprspms' photo are superb, FWIW.
...SUPERB!!!!!!!!!!
They're all nice, but overall I like # 2 best
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- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
<< <i>Is the first one broadstruck? >>
I don't think so, it still has the right diameter. I think the reverse die is just very worn near the rim.
<< <i>They're all nice, but overall I like # 2 best >>
Yeah, the reverse especially on #2 is really nice
<< <i>fantastic pictures!!! nice toned lincolns. can i ask the type of lighting and the positioning? >>
Thanks! I used two Jansjo LED lights with some custom diffusers I built. With the diffusers the shift is more toward color and texture and away from luster. Reducing diffusion gives more luster, but eventually the LEDs get too pinpoint so some amount of diffusion is needed to avoid the so-called "sparklies" that happen with pinpoint light sources.
Positioning is 10:30 and 1:30, 100mm above the coin, with the lights at as high an angle as I can get them without causing direct reflection and glare, approx 80-deg from horizontal.
I have developed a lighting calibration technique that gives me an extremely consistent method of reproducing the lighting arrangement above. I'll describe it if anyone is interested...Ray
http://macrocoins.com
<< <i>Those are some of the best images I have ever seen. Perfect in every way, plus each is consistent. Nicely done!!!
Wow, thank you very much. Very high praise indeed since your images are quite excellent.
It's taken me a while to get the lighting where I like it but with comments like yours I think I'm there. Ultimately it's all about lighting. A wide range of quality in cameras, lenses, copy stands, etc can produce very nice images as long as you get the first priorities of lighting and focus right.
http://macrocoins.com
<< <i>Thanks! I used two Jansjo LED lights with some custom diffusers I built. With the diffusers the shift is more toward color and texture and away from luster. Reducing diffusion gives more luster, but eventually the LEDs get too pinpoint so some amount of diffusion is needed to avoid the so-called "sparklies" that happen with pinpoint light sources.
Positioning is 10:30 and 1:30, 100mm above the coin, with the lights at as high an angle as I can get them without causing direct reflection and glare, approx 80-deg from horizontal.
I have developed a lighting calibration technique that gives me an extremely consistent method of reproducing the lighting arrangement above. I'll describe it if anyone is interested...Ray >>
Yes, please describe the calibration technique. I'm sure a lot of us would appreciate it!
<< <i>Yes, please describe the calibration technique. I'm sure a lot of us would appreciate it!
OK, here goes...
Background: For a while, I've been using a mirror to calibrate the flatness of my setups. I put a mirror where the coin goes and then adjust the camera until I see the image of the center of the lens looking back at me. Then I know the coin will be flat versus the sensor. This allows me to keep the lens aperture open as much as possible to maximize sharpness while still having good focus across the coin.
The New Method: With the mirror there, I can set my lights to shine in the exact same direction every time and can even take a picture of the lights for future reference. The image in the mirror gives me two dimensions of the calibration. The 3rd dimension is the height of the lights above the coin. I set my lights to the calibrated height, then adjust their positions to give the same reflections on the mirror I see in the calibration picture, giving me a fully reproducible lighting setup.
I now have a mirror permanently mounted on my copy stand for flatness calibration and lighting calibration.
Here's what one of my lighting calibration photos looks like:
http://macrocoins.com
I love opening obw lincoln rolls and it's nice to see I'm not alone.
I love the coins and the images and also appreciate the tutorial.
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Great pictures!!
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<< <i>
The New Method: With the mirror there, I can set my lights to shine in the exact same direction every time and can even take a picture of the lights for future reference. The image in the mirror gives me two dimensions of the calibration. The 3rd dimension is the height of the lights above the coin. I set my lights to the calibrated height, then adjust their positions to give the same reflections on the mirror I see in the calibration picture, giving me a fully reproducible lighting setup.
>>
Fascinating idea! Thanks for sharing -- I've always used a level on the camera and the slab but will experiment a bit with your technique. Thanks again....Mike
-Paul