New camera, pic craaaazy

Pokermandude

Tinkering around with my first SLR camera, a Rebel T3 with the stock 18-55mm lens. Will be picking up a proper macro lens from a friend who no longer needs that particular one. I can't wait, since about 1/3 of my shots with my current set up being out of focus due to being a shorter distance than the minimum focal distance of my current lens.

Thoughts and tips much appreciated!

What a difference a slight angle makes



I found the proof coins quite easy to shoot

JCMhouston

Very nice, what type of lighting set up are you using. I have a terrible time with proofs.

YQQ

get yourself an old enlarger ( 2nd hand stores, sally Ann etc...) mount your camera on it facing down and use a true macro lens.
I use regular light bulbs mounted on a flex neck ( Ikea) to adjust the light as needed.
and I use axial lighting most the time to eliminate shadows as good as possible.

Pokermandude

Two goose neck lamps with 60w incandescent bulbs. They're positioned fairly high up above the coin, above the camera even. Each positioned at about 45 degrees off the vertical.

I had some minor issues with reflections off my semi-glossy camera body. But slightly tilting the angle of the coin, or covering the camera with my other hand got rid of most or even all the reflections.

Andres

Beautifull 1 dollar Detroit de Davis Strait coin, clear picture of the shape of a 16th century merchant ship, banana shaped with a small upper deck.
taxes and import duties were calculated from the size of the upperdeck in those days, that all changed in the beginning of the 18th century , and from then on ships were build straight with
wider upperdecks.

YQQ

Poker dude,
I use a Canon and a Tamron macro lens 90mm
just a day ago i purchased a polarizing filter and will experiment with it to eliminate some glare.
one of the tricks also is to know HOW to set the proper White Balance for the type of lighting and background used.
are you using the Canon to PC software?
If not, you might set it up. It is super..
shutter release and all settings done with the mouse.
SW comes with the camera. if not, down load it for free.

Pokermandude

I think the used lens I'll be buying has a polarizing lens with it. I haven't tried that Cannon software, but it does indeed sound pretty great!

I've also ordered a small light tent off ebay (around $18 shipped) that should also be a great help in diffusing light.

Hyperion

I highly recommend Mgoodman's photog book. I use a 90mm tamron macro as well and a camera stand I picked up from a creative arts studio that was going out of business on craigslist (best 2 state drive I ever made to pick it up)


Cameras like this allow you to enjoy your coins 100 times what you could experience with a loupe.




there should be published "color temps" for the lights you're using and you should be able to find a matching setting on your camera. either that, or you can shoot in RAW format and allow your photo processing software to take care of things.

YQQ

PM Dude,
You will most likely find that the light tent is sort of cumbersome and becomes useless after time
if you use an axial setup, easy to make yourself, there is NO direct light on the object. I originally also tried the tent thing and it ended up in the landfill.
I now simply use 2 different light sources ( not together). One incandescent and one soft LCD . Although the regular lamp is my main source.
I also do a lot of images in simple Daylight.
here are images of my setup
The Canon SW is called:
EOS Utility
any questions, PM or email me. I have other stuff you might find interesting

Pokermandude

Thanks, that looks like a nice little setup there! I managed to get the EOS utility installed, but haven't set up my photo table near my computer yet.

Pretty huge improvement by using manual focus on this new macro lens. The autofocus just doesn't quite want to work right, especially on hard plastic slabs. Here's some new pics, no photoshop edits yet (not that I know how yet!)

YQQ

PM dude, they look great..
what Macro lens is it?
note the 200% setting on the software... tricky to use.. but details... wow.
and u are right. forget auto focus. just not suitable here.
what about your light tent?
I also have another SW which works with raw. it is a canon SW...easy to use. maybe Photoshop has it also???
I use ACDC 14 for $ 29 and it does more than I ever need If you are interested.. PM or email

Pokermandude

Thanks

It's a Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC Macro.

Light tent is en route. I'm still just using two 60w desk lamps in various positions. I've had the best results with tilting the coin or slab a bit to the left or right to pick up a little more light. Right now my lens is pretty close to the coin, blocking some of the light and making a shadow. I've compensated for that a bit by positioning the coin at the top of the viewfinder screen, rather than dead centre.