Can Anybody Recommend a Decent Flatbed Scanner?

[theonlywinner]

Looking to buy a decent flatbed scanner for scanning NGC slabbed colorful rainbow toned coins. I bought a Lexmark All-In One Printer and Scanner, but the scanning quality is garbage, not even in focus. I had an old scanner that would create great scans in focus, but the colors were never right.

 

Looking for a recommendated brand / model so that I can scan my pretty coins and do them justice when selling on Ebay.

 

Thanks, in advance!

[jom]

Save your money and buy a good camera.

 

jom

[JIM F.]

Save your money and buy a good camera.

 

jom

 

I agree with this. Make sure it has a macro lens/mode. I've had decent results with my Canon PowerShot SX110IS (don't know if they make these anymore though).

[lehigh96]

Don't waste your money on a scanner for rainbow toned coins, they don't work. As others have said, buy a camera and prepare to spend a lot of time perfecting the craft of taking numismatic photos.

[TomB]

Buy a camera.

[skippy]

Buy a camera.

 

Ditto.

[messydesk]

+1 for use a camera, not a scanner. You don't need to spend a lot of money, either. Go somewhere where you can try them out, pull a quarter out of your pocket and see how well you can shoot it up close using the feature and/or the optical zoom of the camera. All you need is to be able to focus on the coin, and it doesn't need to fill the frame. An eBay picture of 600x600 pixels is about 1/5 the vertical size of the detector on a 12 MP point and shoot, so if you can get a quarter to be in focus at about 1/3 the detector height, you'll be fine.

[RWB]

Commercially available flatbed scanners have the focus fixed at the top of the glass subject plate. Due to the thickness of a plastic slab, which places the coin well above the glass, the coin will always be somewhat out of focus.

[ldhair]

I have seen a few folks over the years that get good results with a scanner but not great results. With a lot of practice and a few tricks a person can catch the color but luster and focus on slabs is almost impossible to catch. Scanners catch the focus of raw coins a bit better than slabs because they are flat on the glass.

 

A seller on Ebay needs the best images possible. A camera and lots of practice is the best option.

[Mark T]

Top image is a Canon scanner scanned at 1200 DPI resolution, the bottom is a digital camera .

 

A scanner will pick up details very well however where it lacks is getting the true color and whatever luster a coin has.

 

Get yourself a good digital camera with a good macro lens.

[theonlywinner]

I used to have a scanner that had an extended "depth of field" and focus was perfect on slabbed coins. The scanner would not work on my newer PC. I am looking for a scanner that has the extended depth of field. I would assume that Heritage and other auction houses use a scanner for consistency. I will have to contact them.

[theonlywinner]

I used to have a scanner that had an extended "depth of field" and focus was perfect on slabbed coins. The scanner would not work on my newer PC. I am looking for a scanner that has the extended depth of field. I would assume that Heritage and other auction houses use a scanner for consistency. I will have to contact them.

[theonlywinner]

What model Canon? I just bought and returned a Model 210 lide that had a shallow depth of field and would not have the slabbed coins in focus.

[Mozin]

I like my Epson Perfection 3490 Photo flatbed scanner. There is a newer model currently available. I assume the newest version would be even better.

 

No question the scanners do not show the toning very well, but the details are sharp as most anyone would want. I have scanned approximately 5000 shots of my coins. I set my scanner so normally all I have to do is Preview, box in what I want on the screen, and hit Scan. Sometimes the darkly toned coins need the brightness and contrast upped just a bit. Could not be easier, and certainly much faster than a camera setup.

[coinman_23885]

I used to have a scanner that had an extended "depth of field" and focus was perfect on slabbed coins. The scanner would not work on my newer PC. I am looking for a scanner that has the extended depth of field. I would assume that Heritage and other auction houses use a scanner for consistency. I will have to contact them.

 

Not to be rude, but why on earth would you want to emulate Heritage's coin photography? They are mediocre at best, and your coins will likely fetch a lot less if you are doing sight unseen sales on the internet (e.g. eBay). Toned coins especially do not turn out very well in many Heritage photos.