heritage images

LanceNewmanOCC

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does anyone here know why recently heritage's images of a lot of proof coins look like pieces of charcol in holders?

i only ask because i've seen so many. i can easily fix the images for my own personal viewing but i doubt i'm the only one looking.

vibr0nic

I don't know why. Practically everyone seems to agree the proof imaging has been dark and awful lately - almost hyper contrasted in a photo editor. It's been like this for several auctions now.

Broadstruck

That looks like a scan not a photo?

agentjim007

I got my Azz reamed by the fine forum members here for bringing this up a few days ago. I was told they take 20,000 photos, they can't all be perfect. I should contact them privately, blah, blah, blah. My thoughts were they are the professionals and make a lot of money. Hire more help. I don't think you see photos this bad anywhere but Heritage and eBay.

blu62vette

oof.

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>I got my Azz reamed by the fine forum members here for bringing this up a few days ago. I was told they take 20,000 photos, they can't all be perfect. I should contact them privately, blah, blah, blah. My thoughts were they are the professionals and make a lot of money. Hire more help. I don't think you see photos this bad anywhere but Heritage and eBay. >>



i actually should have made it a 2 part question.

1. why are they so dark in full slab shots recently for most proofs i've seen
2. why aren't there the normal close-up(large full coin) images that are overexposed

1. serves no purpose unless they show the normal in-hand view
2. while over-exposed, at least it shows the intricate details of the surfaces

i have always thought that the 2 sets of images gave a good balance of what a person could expect to receive, especially once one trained one's eyes to recognize what they are seeing and properly analyze the info.

it seems to me after taking over 40k images, around 8k a year, that their job is actually easier than a lot of people's when it comes to imaging the items and uploading them.

i say that because it looks like they just upload the full images straight out of the camera which takes editing out of the equation which is just another step that adds time to the whole process. even if they are doing some editing, it is for sure still quicker than say the people on ebay that upload images that are spot on the minimum requirement of 500pix. i've done all kinds of editing and making an image 500 pix exactly takes as much time as say 1000x1000 or 1500x1500, although i really think it is easier to do them larger than smaller because a method i use for the full coin shots there is only edge cropping and no size editing which is really fast and gives the listings very large images.

here is an example of an image i spend very little time on, sure it adds up if you do 1000 a day but if that were my job, doing a quality job with little to no stress and putting out a fantastic product is quite feasible and i'm not knocking anyone having trouble with it, exactly the opposite. i'm reinforcing that it can be done and done very well, with minimum effort and their equip and training is far superior to my own fumbling teach myself method and equip.

here is an example of just an average image i put out that no special effort is required to achieve - im uploading a fresh image here in a bit, i actually modified this one for vamworld and i said i would upload a standard, unedited image. - ok, here 1 - 2 are the obv/rev images with full dimensions and i did round crop them because the green background was distracting but doing 1000+ a day for a job like this would be a piece of cake and that is me doing everything. if someone else was trained to do the cropping, i'd say a few thousand images a day would be doable, high-res high-quality images. imo

edited to add: this is a very simple and easy fix even with the basic program windows photo gallery, sure the image isn't perfect but it is better than the uploaded version and there is only so much that be done quickly when the original file/image doesn't have the required pixel information

my initial inquiry was an honest one and the rest is simply sharing my experience in the hope it somehow can make a positive difference.
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LanceNewmanOCC

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i would like to add, that if one has a big screen, say 40" or bigger, i also think that tethering may offer a nice alternative to save time and one's back not having to bend over a copy stand all day and may actually expediate/expedite the process even further if the tethered images showed as HD.
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LanceNewmanOCC

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ok, 3k x 3k seems to be about my max resolution for squared/round images.

this is the minimum that should be available from auction firms online because it doesn't require a master degreed or highly trained person to achieve this quality. if you consider it quality that is.

v-o-i-là - warning, a fairly slow loading image. 3mb+

i am getting some residual fuzziness at max resolution which may be due to no hitting the prime focal plane (darn auto-focus maybe), or the iso, or too much light etc. for sure it isn't vibrations because mirror-lock was on which does help clarity but slows down the process and isn't necessary but it was left on that mode from doing microscopic objective work.
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CoinZip

You better be careful,


you may get a job offer from them.......

Wabbit2313

I didn't read all that typing you went on to type, but the first image you posted looks ridiculous, and if that was my coin, I would call them up and say take it out of the auction. STAT!

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>I didn't read all that typing you went on to type, >>


i figure most don't. i usually just type all that to get it out of my system
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LanceNewmanOCC

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and i would like to say that heritage archive images are my favorite for auction archives and their active current images and great. just a few rough ones thrown in.

as much as i've gotten from their site i am compelled to state it as such.
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joebb21

The most likely answer is that the coin looks like charcoal in hand...

jhdfla

<< <i>The most likely answer is that the coin looks like charcoal in hand... >>




^
This.

Broadstruck

I brightened it as I was curious to see what it might look like... As Wabbit2313 mentioned if this was my coin represented at auction in this manner I would also withdraw the lot.

Ed62

Maybe because that is what the coin actually looks like.

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>I brightened it as I was curious to see what it might look like... As Wabbit2313 mentioned if this was my coin represented at auction in this manner I would also withdraw the lot. >>




i did tinkered briefly with the image shown in this link from my earlier post -

<< <i>be done quickly when the original file/image doesn't have the required pixel information >>



i didn't add brightness though, i highlights, shadows and contrast on a sliding scale. adding brightness and using highlights, shadows and contrast has a different effect on images. doesn't appear to be much difference between our examples in this case though.

but i think the point i was getting at earlier was that even when an image is dark and/or off-color, usually it is a quick and easy fix.

i have been working on reading the balance of image details via the histogram. i'm not putting much effort behind this and in this case it is slow going because of my lack thereof. it is ok though, as long as i can keep shooting good images, the rest will come.
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LanceNewmanOCC

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i figured it out. it is an automated machine that takes the images and automatically uploads the images with no quality control?

gack
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BryceM

Inconvenience for potential bidders.

Disaster for the consignor.