New Canon camera - first coin images

ElmerFusterpuck · December 17, 2011 2:14AM

I'm a Canon bigot, so I just picked up the SX-40 last night as an early X-mas present and really love it so far. It has a 35x optical zoom, but one of the first things I did was test it on some colorful coins. Here is an early stab, they are way better (or at least bigger) than my previous 6 year old Canon model. Still playing around with it, but this camera is A+ in my book. I've posted these coins in the past.

1945-S 5c PCGS MS-66

1942-S 10c MS-65 FB

TomB · December 17, 2011 2:20AM

They are pretty coins and your images are very good. When I shot with film (until 2005) I used a Canon AE1, but when I went to digital a Nikon D70 was purchased. Canon and Nikon both make some wonderful cameras.

ElmerFusterpuck · December 17, 2011 5:10AM

Here's a few more...

1944-D PCGS MS-66

1916 PCGS MS-64 RB

1955-S PCGS MS-67 RB

DorkGirl · December 17, 2011 5:25AM

Very nice!

shish · December 17, 2011 5:27AM

Great images!

What kind of lighting are you using? Could you post a picture of your setup?

comma · December 17, 2011 5:43AM

I like that merc...been lookin for one with that kind of color

messydesk · December 17, 2011 5:47AM

Sounds like quite the camera, reading a review. You need to reduce contrast on the Mercury dime and Walking Lib. half. Also, PlastX makes a nice stocking stuffer.

kimber45ACP · December 17, 2011 5:50AM

LanceNewmanOCC · December 17, 2011 5:50AM

.
you are on the right track

clear images, could be a bit crisper - are you using auto or manual focus? - if you have a zoom option, i would recommend manual

either your light bulbs are not good ones to use or the white balance is not set properly

there seems to be a lot of glare from direct lighting hitting the coin surfaces, try changing the ISO settings to make the camera more sensitive to light and change the angle of the lighting,

you will get a softer image with less white high spots

all in all, using ebay as a primer, your images are above average and you just got the camera

will probably see some great images from you in the future, thanks for trying to improve, many don't

it seems you have the same difficulty as the rest of us, getting proper lighting and lighting angles, grrr - i am constantly having to change mine for various coin sufaces
.

ElmerFusterpuck · December 17, 2011 11:00AM

Lance,

Thanks for the constructive advice - glare is one of my pain points. I'm using the P option on my camera and tweaking the white balance a bit, along with using the tungsten light setting. I'm using 20W halogen gooseneck lamps. I used Reveal bulbs in the past, but they tended to add a pink sheen to the coins. The SX-40 appears to have quite a few settings you can do manually, so I'll be playing with those quite a bit.

OK, my (embarrassing) low tech setup for my coin images:

It's fun to keep trying to get get the images just right, but from what I'm seeing, the pictures I'm getting now are pretty close to what you see in hand. The only thing I do with the photos afterward is cropping them.

Copperguy · December 17, 2011 11:08AM

I wish i could take photos this nice

ricko · December 18, 2011 12:34AM

Superb photographs..... Years ago, before digital technology, I did take pictures with a Canon AE-1, not of coins, but rather of places I lived and mountain scenes and flowers. Still have the old AE-1, just don't use it. Cheers, RickO

ElmerFusterpuck · December 18, 2011 12:36AM

Thanks ricko! Thought you might disapprove of the 'tarnish'!

New Canon camera - first coin images

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