how to take a good picture?

[KeeNoooo]

OK, so I am purchasing a new camera for the purpose of taking pictures of my coins..

 

Does anyone have any ideas on what type of camera and I also am curious as to what type of lights and setup works good for taking good pictures....(budget of around $300)

 

I was looking at some of my pictures of the toned coins I have and they really do NOT represent the colors and surfaces well at all!

Any help would be great!

Thanks

[Deerefan8420]

Hey Nick! I'll send you a PM when I get home in a little while. I've got some spare equipment that you might be interested in.

[e1cnr]

lighting is important as well.

[Deerefan8420]

PM sent!

[KeeNoooo]

Sweet! I'll be looking for it.....

 

Any ideas on light set ups, types, etc. Would be great from anyone as well

[brg5658]

You might find this thread useful when learning to light a coin for photography.

[bsshog40]

Your budget will depend on how far you can really go. This first pic was my poor mans setup. I had 2 OTT lights, and a modified extendable arm worklight that I took the light off and mounted a tripod mount to it to hold my camera. It worked. The second pic is my upgrade to a copy stand with 2 halogen lamps. I also took one of those crochet rings and put tissue paper in it to create a diffuser.

 

 

 

 

[Deerefan8420]

That's a good looking setup there Bobby. I almost bought the same type of copystand you have there but I went with Bencher Copy Mate II with the heavy duty counter spring. It's a good, heavy duty stand but it's not what I would call budget friendly. I think I paid right at $500, including shipping, but it was worth the money in my opinion. Here is a picture of my current setup-

 

Please excuse the mess!

[bsshog40]

Thats a nice setup. That was a little too high for my budget. Mine shakes a little when moving up or down but locks in place once you have it where you want it. I wish it would've been just a little taller tho. Sometime I like to use a bigger zoom lense on it, but other than that, works fine fir what I use it for.

[Deerefan8420]

Thats a nice setup. That was a little too high for my budget. Mine shakes a little when moving up or down but locks in place once you have it where you want it. I wish it would've been just a little taller tho. Sometime I like to use a bigger zoom lense on it, but other than that, works fine fir what I use it for.

 

Thanks Bobby! The only complaint I have with my stand is that the camera with the 105mm lens may be just a little heavy for the carriage. It tends to sag just a bit and is not exactly level. You can probably see the string I have tied to the carriage and that is to keep it exact. This stand has a 36" column but I rarely ever go over an elevation of 24-26 inches, unless I'm shooting a full slab shot then I'll raise it up to about 34". My next big purchase is going to be a microscope. I hope to purchase that after the 1st of the new year.

[rmpsrpms]

There's a good thread on another forum where folks are trying for an under-$400 coin photo setup. If you're only interested in full-coin pics it's actually more like under-$350. The core concept is using a Canon XS camera with enlarging/duplicating lens on fixed extensions to keep cost down while still achieving excellent quality. Here is the link:

 

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=158182&whichpage=1

[messydesk]

For $300 or less, you're going to be using a lightweight point and shoot. The other stuff that you'll need:

 

- two gooseneck desk lamps with CFL bulbs ($30 total)

- inexpensive tripod that you can extend to about 5 feet that will enable you to extend one leg longer than the other two, leaning the tripod over a table so you can point the camera down. This tripod will also have a hook on the bottom of the center column for some ballast that will stabilize the tripod. Targus TGT-BK58T is at Walmart for $22.

- Gray card for white balance $8

- Memory card for your camera $10

 

This leaves $230 for the camera itself. You want one where you can set custom white balance, mount to a tripod, and use a 2 second self-timer. Go try them out, paying attention to how big of a shot you can get of a nickel while holding the camera at least 8 inches away. You'll use a combination of the macro and zoom for this that varies not only from manufacturer to manufacturer, but also from camera model to camera model.

[bsshog40]

I used a Canon S3 IS for a long time. I paid $400 when they first came out but can be had for around $100 now. What I liked most about the camera was the Super Macro mode that it had. You could set the lens of this on a coin and it would focus it. The focus will go down to 0cm. Of course this is a point and shoot and doesn't interchange lenses. It was and still is a good camera tho.

[rmpsrpms]

If you go the point and shoot route what you should look for is the ability to get as far from the coin as possible while still being able to zoom in and fill the sensor with the coin. Closer is NOT better, because you won't be able to get good lighting on the coin if the camera and lens are blocking you. John/messydesk suggests 8 inches minimum, but with small gooseneck lamps you can deal with a little closer, but the closer you get the farther from vertical your lighting becomes and the less of the "in-hand" look you will be able to achieve.

[bsshog40]

If you go the point and shoot route what you should look for is the ability to get as far from the coin as possible while still being able to zoom in and fill the sensor with the coin. Closer is NOT better, because you won't be able to get good lighting on the coin if the camera and lens are blocking you. John/messydesk suggests 8 inches minimum, but with small gooseneck lamps you can deal with a little closer, but the closer you get the farther from vertical your lighting becomes and the less of the "in-hand" look you will be able to achieve.

You are right. My point was this will focus at any depth. I've actually produced some very nice close-ups with this camera, such as die cracks etc.....

To add, most all my registry pics below were taken with this camera.

[Guest Golddog3]

I've been experimenting with a Nikon SLR and tripod. I never thought about collapsing one leg. Great idea - thanks Messydeck