What is the best way to photograph your coin?

cshap

I'm on a limited budget , disabled Vet , but I would like to take descent pictures when i have coins to share. Suggestions ?

chumley

I find it best to stay out of the way and let someone else do the pics.....I am not disabled but a clueless lefty

dpoole

Do a search on this site for photography. There've been lots of threads about photo techniques with coins here in the past.

Also: a great book about all things coin photography related is Numismatic Photography 2nd ed. by Mark Goodman (Zyrus Press).

Insider2

Depends on what you wish to show. Florescent light for authentication, Incandescent from two sides of the "stage."
Practice tipping and rotating the coin into different positions to best show what you want folks to see. With computer programs you can jazz the image up.

TommyType

As a poor photographer of coins, I'm uniquely qualified to answer this!

I think the one tip I have is that the camera doesn't seem to be nearly as important as the lighting. Even cheap cameras today take pretty good photos....but the lighting makes all the difference in capturing what you want in a close-up COIN photograph.

I just recently bought the book listed above. ($25 or so on Amazon). It really is good, and is as close as you can come to a "step-by-step" guide.

Broadstruck

I think going used for a DSLR set up camera. lens, copy stand, & lighting you might need a minimum $500 entry budget.

jesbroken

From a very average photographer I would offer this advice:
1) buy Mark Goodman's book(ebay $18.98 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Numismatic-Photography-2nd-edition-by-Mark-
Goodman/253153926805?epid=72546877&hash=item3af1265e95:g:fH0AAOSw5ZBWOBOm)
2) get a camera stand or make one(can now buy cheaply on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/Copying-Stand-For-Camera-
DSLR-Photography-Bracket-Tripod-Product-Shoot/222273298521?hash=item33c0856059:g:NogAAOSw-CpX9q5v)
3) use 2 incandescent lights for illumination, very inexpensive
4) learn about white balance(most important)
Trust me you will be amazed at the difference and with very little expense(not counting the camera-be sure it has a macro
lens-for small items).
Then ask someone like the many on this forum that are truly photographic specialists for real advice way beyond my knowledge.
Best of luck and from one vet to another, I thank you for your service.
Jim

BobSav

The one bit of advice I can give is to not to be intimidated by what you hear and read on the internet.
Get a camera or start with what you have and try it... just go and do it. Set aside a small area where you can set up your stuff and leave it set up, that way when you have a few spare moments you can shoot a few pics.
The great thing about the digital age is you see you results instantly and can make changes and try it again at no cost for film
and developing. You'll be surprised at what you can accomplish with modest equipment.
JMHO
Bob

AUandAG

Does the disabled Vet have something to do with photography? Are you visually impaired? Physically so that using a camera is problematic? More info needed on this end.

bob
PS: I use a point and shoot Nikon and love it.

cshap

Thank you all for your advice . I have some great places to start now. Bob the Vet reference with more in line with what I could sent but yes I'm somewhat limited in only have vision in one eye. Thanks again

AUandAG

Welcome, by the way. Now that I can understand your photog issues let me advise a Canon camera that comes with the tethering to a monitor. That way you see on the computer screen exactly what your pic will look like before you hit the shutter button. Nikon does this as well but I believe the Canon DSLR's come with all you need and no extra purchases necessary. Now go shopping!
good luck,
bob

BobSav

One more thing I forgot to mention. As you progress with your photography you will find yourself with many many files be they jpg's, tiff's or whatever, make sure you " BACK THEM UP " to some kind of separate storage device .
Dont ask me why I know that this is important
Bob

TwoSides2aCoin

All the You Suck awards I ever got were for my lack of skill in photography.

golden

Let Todd do it.

lkeigwin

Start small. Buy a cheap tabletop stand for your camera (a mini tripod), rig something to hold the slab (or raw coin), flood it with light from a gooseneck lamp with a normal incandescent lamp, and shoot away.

Next, acquire a simple photography editor. Something that allows you to adjust white balance, exposure and the like. Many are free.

When you get good at this buy a macro lens. 100mm would be a great start. But even 50mm will inspire you.

Then make a wish list. A copy stand. Enhanced lighting (start with halogen or incandescence). And a real editor to deal with "raw" images.

Figure a couple of years to experiment and learn. You'll be amazing.
Lance.

BackroadJunkie

What are you trying to accomplish?

If you only want to share decent, detailed images of coins, a cheap, used point and shoot with macro capability will do. (You can pick up a used Canon G9 or G10 for about $100, a Canon G12 will cost more but will also double as a very good general camera.)

I used a G12 for years, and shot over 10K images with it, and the camera still works fine. I still use it as my backup camera. Most of the images I post on this forum was taken with the G12. You don't need a dedicated set-up to produce decent results.

Probably more important than the camera will be learning how to light the coin. Shiny things are notoriously hard to photograph, and different lighting angles can completely change the look of the coin. If you consider multiple lighting sources, they all have to be the same type of light. Then, there's learning how to use a decent photo editor. You could have the best camera made, but if you can't light or post-process the image, the final images won't be their best.

So it's like a car. If you want PCGS quality images, be prepared to spend a lot. If you don't care that there's a piece of lint in the pic, you can do it pretty cheap...

Kkathyl

White balance is defiantly important. If you search this site, you will find a few threads with discussion on the topic. I’m probable the worst at pictures. I only use my iPhone and loop but created a DYI photobox to diffuse light which helped greatly. Best of luck

ricko

@cshap....Welcome aboard and Happy Veterans Day.... Great advice above.... and coin photography can become an interesting hobby that meshes with coin collecting.... Post your photo's as you go along... a lot of great advice from others here will help you along. Cheers, RickO

bolivarshagnasty

Could be something as simple as this. Less than 250 invested. Thank you for your service!

Close up of the silver eagle that is on the desk.

1Bustcollector

Nice posting, nice coins and love the 32 Ford book. I previously owned two 5-W and loved them!