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Wanna see me unbox my latest newp?
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,811 ✭✭✭✭✭
Other people have posted "unboxing" threads like this, so I thought I'd have fun with it. 
Uh-oh. Some bozo who took these pictures had his big fat finger near the cellphone camera lens, causing some "ghosting" near the edge of the picture. Some of the subsequent pictures are worse. Sorry.
I really should do something about my photography.
Uh-oh. Some bozo who took these pictures had his big fat finger near the cellphone camera lens, causing some "ghosting" near the edge of the picture. Some of the subsequent pictures are worse. Sorry.
I really should do something about my photography.
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Gonna get me a $50 Octagonal someday. Some. Day.
You're going to store your coins in egg cartons!
... or a fifty-year-old Bausch & Lomb microscope case, apparently.
(No, there isn't a microscope inside.)
I said there was no microscope inside.
There isn't.
There is, however, a microscope stand.
You see, I said in the OP that I need to improve my photography.
This should help. Upgrading my equipment to a proper dSLR and all the goodies is long overdue.
First coin pix will follow Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, perhaps.
(Time to reread Mark Goodman's book.)
Camera: (low shutter count Canon Rebel XS with battery, charger, USB cable, tethering and editing software)
Stand: (System-1)
Bellows: (Novoflex)
Full-Coin Lens: (Nikon 75mm EL-Nikkor)
Diffuser: (general use as shown in System-2)
Lights: (Jansjo LEDs modified for first-level diffusion)
Carrying Case: (old microscope case)
I'll bet you're chomping at the bit to start playing with it.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
I've had great luck with Canon over a decade or so.
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
Between that, and your new camera gear, you should be set (with a bit of practice, of course!).
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
If possible, could you post the steps in your setting up and first few shots? Purely for selfish reasons as I hope to see a similar box soon
Great investment for both hobby enjoyment and for improved selling!
bob
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
My YouTube Channel
Don't forget a super big pic of the sharks teeth edge (serration).
bob
I thought about this. Not sure if I have anymore shark teeth around presently, except some dinky ones. One might be a hemipristis with cool serrations, though.
Bravo!!!!! the pictures of the equipment are terrible!!! (Kidding) Nice score. Will you be offering picture services for forum members?
You're right- they ARE terrible. My old iPhone 3 takes pretty poor pix in artificial or low light (especially when there's a finger in the shot). It does OK in bright sunlight, though. So useful for sudden wildlife sightings (Oh, look! A raccoon! - Reach in shirt pocket.) But let's hope I won't be using it for coins anymore. This pic of my 2c piece love token represents about the best I could do with the cellphone.
Here is not my very first photo with the new camera (that was an accidental shot of the stage plate, and all black), nor my second (that was a blurry whitish disc).
But the obverse and reverse of this coin are my third and fourth photos ever with the new camera.
I was (and still am) fumbling through the software and all the bewildering symbols and icons, so I consider it encouraging that I was able to make the camera take a picture at all at this point!
I wanted to pick a "lucky" coin for my first photos, and since I never had any decent pix of this one, I thought I'd try it. What more lucky than a metal detecting find?
This ca. 1300-1310 Long Cross silver penny of Edward I "Longshanks" was the first coin I found on my 2013 metal detecting trip to England.
The pictures are just... OK. Considering my utter inexperience, I'm pleased with how they turned out.
The lighting could have been better, as could the focus. But this is an adequate set of images, I think.
I do like using the microscope stand's wheels to adjust the rough focus, with the wheels for the bellows adjusting the finer focus.
If a complete newb like me can produce something like this on only the third and fourth tries, I think this might just work out nicely in the long run!
First, the merged obverse-reverse images, in my standard 800x400 layout I use for raw coins. Then the larger 800x800 individual sides. The raw index images were of course much larger.
I cropped and resized these images using MS Paint, which is the photo editing software I'm most familiar with at this point. But that is the only editing done here.
The rest is just as it came off the camera. No tweaking of color, white balance, etc. (I still have no clue how to do all that yet.)
Edit: OK, as a seasoned photographer who now has FOUR coin photos under his belt, I can see that the focus is off on this set, particularly the reverse image.
But hey, these were my very first, so I won't beat myself up too much.
Can't wait to see it set up and some photos!
If possible, could you post the steps in your setting up and first few shots? Purely for selfish reasons as I hope to see a similar box soon
Great investment for both hobby enjoyment and for improved selling!
Hi, Cathy.
Do I take your post to mean that you bought a setup from Ray as well?
If so, I think you're gonna like it!
We'll take out the trusty old iPhone 3 for a couple of shots of me shooting the English penny.
I recently got this nice little '46-S Roosie in a bulk silver (not junk silver) lot.
Has nice cartwheel luster and some subtle pastel tones around the obverse peripheries. Not so much toning on the reverse.
This one was very tricky. I can tell coins like this are going to take me a LOT more practice.
Did much fiddling with light and focus before I came up with these images.
Considering my current level of experience (i.e., practically zilch), I'm about 80-85% satisfied with these pix... for now.
Purchasing it from Ray (rmpsrpms) may rub off on you, this guy can shoot some wicked macro and coin images.
Looking forward to future images from you, have fun.
This "Sam Jessop" love token has a very interesting backstory, as I discovered Sam Jessop was an infamous hypochondriac.
First, here are the set of images from the original eBay seller.
They do not do it justice.
Next, my attempts.
Again, I'm maybe 85-90% satisfied with how they turned out, based on my inexperience.
Way to go Rob! The Rosie looks great, if one can shoot a dime, one can shoot anything.
Purchasing it from Ray (rmpsrpms) may rub off on you, this guy can shoot some wicked macro and coin images.
Looking forward to future images from you, have fun.
Thanks!
Actually, I'm finding the bigger coins a challenge, because I have to crank the camera waaay up high, and the bellows almost all the way... and I don't know how I'll be able to get anything larger than a half dollar or so to fit into the screen!
But I will learn.
This 1963 30-drachmai piece is a 34 mm silver coin.
Except for a little bit of russet toning around the crown, the coin is almost all white.
These images imparted a little bit more color than is actually there, I think.
This coin is considerably whiter in hand, and is quite lustrous.
I think my lighting and/or white balance were a tad off, here. I dunno.
Anyway, I'm perhaps 75-80% satisfied with these images.
http://macrocoins.com
I was so nervous and hopeful...like watching your kid at their first recital or ball game...but you did great LordM! I love seeing good pics taken with setups I've built. I'm also encouraged the system was pretty much plug and play with the settings and lighting config I shipped with. I think we're looking at the black disk background, no crops, correct? If so it's working well. I look forward to more...Ray
"Nervous and hopeful" pretty much sums up my feelings, too.
Yes, that's the black disk background, but the images were cropped and resized down in MS Paint. (Not elliptical/circle cropped- Paint won't do that- just squared because I get a rectangular image in the raw shots off the camera.)
BTW, you might have noticed my stray comment earlier in the CoinTalk thread that 75 bucks for the old Bausch & Lomb microscope box seemed a bit "steep".
Disregard that. As the first thing I saw, when I noticed that it is likely as old as I am, I was a bit surprised initially. However, it is plenty sturdy and the ideal size to put everything into, while remaining nice and compact.
This was a critical need for me, since I do my photography in the office at work in the wee hours, on the manager's desk behind the front desk at the hotel where I am the night auditor. This means I have to put all my toys away at the end of the night. I can't leave everything set up. It also means I can carry the setup home on weekends.
So while the age of the microscope box surprised me at first, I've grown to like it. It's "an oldie but a goodie". And I like the old wood smell inside. (I still use one of my grandfathers' briefcases that is probably 1950s vintage. They don't make stuff like that the way they used to. My 2004-vintage briefcase is falling apart, while the Eisenhower-era one is still good!)
I did get an old flannel pillowcase to wrap the camera and stand in when they go into the box, to prevent them getting scuffed up by the bases of the two lamps when it's all packed up.
The images are great!
The learning curve is rather obvious...keep working on these skills as it is enjoying to see progress.
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
My YouTube Channel
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
gratz.
it is nice getting it all at once from someone that knows what they're doing.
the transition period decreases dramatically, as well as stress and wasted time.
i look forward to your thread 5+ years down the road.
"what should i do with 50k+ images!"
.
bob
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
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