EDIT (New attempts) Practice, practice, practice. First attempts at decent photos. Please critique

BBN · January 12, 2012 5:21AM

Bought a couple of gooseneack lamps with incandescent(sp?) bulbs. Tried photos with direct light and then aimed the lamps against the wall about a foot behind the coins. What sucks is the commem is actually very bright and the nickel has a tad of gold toning. Also, the 1800 dollar is genied for the hole. In all of your opinions, would it net a G4 grade?

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BBN · January 12, 2012 7:11AM

anyone?

Banemorth · January 12, 2012 7:11AM

Better than I can do

Unknown · January 12, 2012 7:19AM

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JamesMurray · January 12, 2012 7:23AM

<< You need to find a way to light the bottom of the coin up more. >>

yep

libertydude · January 12, 2012 7:25AM

The light might be more uniformly distributed over the coin if you bounce the light off the ceiling. You can also try diffusing the light to soften it up more (try some household items; paper towel, tissue, sheet, etc.).

messydesk · January 12, 2012 7:38AM

1. Don't use auto white balance. Use white balance calibrated for your bulbs, either with one of the factory presets or by using manual white balance calibration.
2. Block all other light sources with different colors. This includes reflections off a wall that may not be exactly white, which means...
3. Aim the lights down at the coins, so that the slab glare comes close to the edge of the coin.
4. Don't use auto ISO. Use the lowest setting and put the camera on a tripod or copy stand. You will have to put the camera in "P" mode instead of full auto.
5. See if you can zoom in a little while still being close to the coin. The macro mode according to your camera's (Canon SX100IS) specs focuses to 1 cm at the wide angle setting, and 1 m at the max telephoto setting. Unfortunately, neither of these is terribly useful. What I can't tell is if you can zoom a little and still get sort of close to the coin. You want at least 5-6 inches of working distance so your camera doesn't make lighting impossible, and preferably more. You might actually get the best picture with the camera zoomed all the way to telephoto end of the optical zoom and positioned 1 m away from the coin. You'll need really bright lights to minimize the effect of any shake. A dime should still be 607 pixels across and a silver dollar 1291 (approximately).

The 1800 dollar also seems to have been bent. I don't know what it would "net," but it would probably be something measured in dollars rather than a grade. A hole is probably the most heinous problem a coin can have (with apologies to LordM).

PinkFloyd · January 12, 2012 7:45AM

I use full spectrum bulbs to get white light. I try to put the lamps at 10 and 2 and try to diffuse the lighting a bit with some sheets of paper.

Are you using a tripod/w horizontal or a copy stand? That is ideal to minimize camera shake so that you can use low ISO settings. Shoot with a low F/number as you're essentially shooting a plane. If you can tether the camera to your computer to get a live view, that's ideal so you can mess with the lighting etc. and see how it will turn out.

BBN · January 12, 2012 8:03AM

Thank you for the advice folks. I will definitely make a list of all suggestions and keep them handy until I have this down.

BTW, I have a small tripod, but it doesn't support my Canon Powershot very well. I need something a little bigger with more stability.

Cocoinut · January 12, 2012 8:36AM

I use 2 Ott lights and 2 halogens. The Otts are above and in front of the coin, and the halogens are lower, at each side of the camera, and pointed at the coin. My camera is a Nikon D40, an SLR, so I can adjust the lighting until I think it produces a photo that best captures the details, colors, and luster. I also have diffuser at the sides and top; it's a 24" cube, with one side open for the camera. Here's a pic I took a couple of weeks ago.

Jim

Lehigh96 · January 12, 2012 12:06PM

<< Thank you for the advice folks. I will definitely make a list of all suggestions and keep them handy until I have this down.

BTW, I have a small tripod, but it doesn't support my Canon Powershot very well. I need something a little bigger with more stability. >>

I use a Canon Powershot SD 880 IS 10 megapixel point and shoot camera. For a point and shoot, I think my results are very good. Here is an example, my avatar.

MessyDesk pretty much covered all bases with his post. However, I would like to emphasize point number 3: Aim the lights down at the coins, so that the slab glare comes close to the edge of the coin. If you do this, your photo will look something like this with the lights at 10 & 2.

Some others have suggested using diffused lighting. Be careful using this method. If you do this with mint state coins, you will lose any appearance of luster in the photo. I only ever use diffused lighting for reflective coins such as PL, DMPL, and proof coins.

Raufus · January 12, 2012 12:12PM

I agree with the earlier suggestions.

I would add that I use f22 for max depth of field.

A tripod is key.

Also, I suggest using the 10 second timer for the shots. This will give the camera time to stop vibrating once the shutter is pushed. Even a cable release can cause vibration which can be distracting in coin photography.

Use manual white balance. Buy an 18% gray card such as the one sold by Delta of Dallas, TX.

Once you have the lighting that you like, then put the gray card where the coin will be and do a manual white balance.

I set my camera (Nikon D7000) to live view, zoom way up on the coin w/manual focus (works much better than auto, this is called critical focus), then zoom back to frame the coin and use black construction paper to block distracting light and to bring out the details best. When you move the black paper around, at some point the details will pop out.

You can use a circular polarizing filter to get rid of the glare.

my .02

Yours are nice pics, just a few suggestions.

robec · January 12, 2012 12:21PM

<< I agree with the earlier suggestions.

I would add that I use f22 for max depth of field.

>>

Try some comparative shots with f7.1-f9.0. You may be surprised to see how much crisper 7.1 is than 22. I used to think the same way until Mark set me straight.

Raufus · January 12, 2012 12:24PM

<< 

<< I agree with the earlier suggestions.

I would add that I use f22 for max depth of field.

>>

Try some comparative shots with f7.1-f9.0. You may be surprised to see how much crisper 7.1 is than 22. I used to think the same way until Mark set me straight. >>

I'll give it a try. The f22 have been very sharp, but I'll definitely compare. Thanks!!

bulldozer · January 12, 2012 8:41PM

Your doing fine. I can't take a pic no matter how hard I try.

Mercury · January 12, 2012 9:28PM

I have been struggling with photos myself and just wanted to say thanks for all of the advise.

Bah1513 · January 12, 2012 9:38PM

It's a great start, lots of great advice. I just bought the Goodman book and will be trying some coin photography soon........

BBN · January 20, 2012 10:31AM

OK, here is another attempt with lights at 10 & 2 with glare moved up close to the coin. They do look better. I should have used the same coins.

Here's a 1938D with normal light on the left and diffused with a sheet of typing paper on the right. The diffused light did eliminate the natural gold tone the coin had.

cheezhed · January 20, 2012 10:38AM

White balance looks off.

AUandAG · January 20, 2012 10:41AM

I find that regular tungsten incandescent is great for copper and gold. Silver I use
a daylight type curly-cue bulb.
Keep practicing!

bob

GMan · January 20, 2012 10:44AM

The orange tint is because your white balance is off. Once you have your lights set do a manual white balance with your camera. You can also adjust the white balance in photoshop. This will give you a more natural color.

This is one I took on my homemade copystand the other day. It's a Fuji 12MP point & shoot.

Not great, but not too bad color wise. My lighting isn't great though. Of course that coin is raw. Shooting through the slab is trickier.

BBN · January 20, 2012 10:56AM

Thanks for your replies everyone. This helps me to fine tune and whittle away the problems.

EDIT (New attempts) Practice, practice, practice. First attempts at decent photos. Please critique

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*EDIT* (New attempts) Practice, practice, practice. First attempts at decent photos. Please critique

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EDIT (New attempts) Practice, practice, practice. First attempts at decent photos. Please critique