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How would you grade this Photo Settup
Sheldon scale please. This is actually my uncle's settup. I plan on having the same settup by summertime. He uses a Nikkon with an 85mm Macro.



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-Paul
state? Looks kind of Mickey Mouse to me with a light stand about ready to get
knocked to the floor. Not too stable and how do you eat breakfast with that
camera on the table??
bob
Edit: AG4
Loose the red, go to black or white.
Move that clothes hamper and put the lights on the table and point them straight down towards the coin.
Coin appears a tad yellowish on my screen (adjust white balance?)
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
<< <i>Krypto, could you give me an example of lighting/photo settup that would bring out the luster/tone? That is a big time problem that I am having right now. Nevermind the messy room guys, I have OCD and my house is dress right dress. This is my uncle's establishment. >>
Use lights, nothing else. No paper, cloth, socks or anything else messing with the lights.
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Good Luck!
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<< <i>
<< <i>Krypto, could you give me an example of lighting/photo settup that would bring out the luster/tone? That is a big time problem that I am having right now. Nevermind the messy room guys, I have OCD and my house is dress right dress. This is my uncle's establishment. >>
Use lights, nothing else. No paper, cloth, socks or anything else messing with the lights. >>
Exactly....if your lights are far enough away then you won't have slab glare but you will have luster.
<< <i> or maybe Mark Goodman's book (I have not read it but others swear by it)...either way, it is not easy >>
Shame on you!! It is quite possibly the greatest literary work of the new millenium.
I can't see the pics of the setup at work, but I would lose the tent. The 85 micro should have plenty to working distance to allow decent direct lighting.
Camera (25%): Nikon DSLR, I assume, based on your statement that he's using an 85mm macro lens. Good that it can accept almost Nikon lens made since the late 70s. I can't determine whether or not you have the capability to do tethered shooting, mirror lock-up, or "exposure delay." I'll assume you don't have tethering, because I don't see evidence of it being used. I'll also assume you don't have mirror lock-up, but you do have exposure delay, which waits a couple hundred msec after the mirror flips up before the shutter. I'm also assuming 12 MP, which is plenty for this category. Flippable screen is nice, but tethering would be better. Remote control for camera is a good idea in the absence of tethering. Score: 63
Lens (30%): 85mm is a little on the short end for smaller coins. You may find yourself having some lighting challenges. However, if this is the 85mm PC-Nikkor (tilt/shift lens), you can have the coin off-center and light it more easily. This would blow the budget of a non-budget amateur setup, however, so would be an odd choice. I'll assume you don't have this lens. Score: 50
Support (15%): Manfrotto makes good tripods, and the setup looks stable. The problem I see is that it looks like a real pain in the neck to change the camera-to-coin distance, which you will want to do to maximize the size of the coin within the image. A tripod also makes it easier to be out of plane with the coin compared with a copy stand, which I'd prefer in the non-budget amateur setup category. Score: 40
Lighting (30%): Two lamps are good. Bulbs look like CFL, so they won't make it too hot to work. Supports are rigid, however, so you can't position them as precisely as if they were flexible. The light tent forces you into very diffuse lighting, which you quite often don't want. The color balance of the light will be bad with the red present. If you want a colored background with your coin, do it in post-processing. The light tent is also in the way of you being able to mess with the camera itself to make adjustments to the exposure, tilt the camera in plane, manually focus. Score: 15. (This is a bit of a net grade. 35, but in the presence of the red, net 15).
Overall grade: 40. Lose the red and it goes up to 45.
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Lose the tent, the red background. Go with white.
Position lights high above the coin for the smallest angle, light to coin to camera.
Read Mark's book. Shoot thousands of raw pictures. Become proficient with your editor. Spend countless hours with a critical eye.
That's all it takes, really.
Lance.
<< <i>I'm glad to see that you all take your photography so seriously. Pictures are such a huge part of the business. Once I get my outfit, I'm going to create a shutterbug catologue/magazine of my entire collection. >>
I for one am sorry that you did not get the response you wanted but "Yes" in some cases it is a big part of the business and you happened to get responses for some of the best at the game at this time.
Edit to add some salt. How would that tent work with this.