Photo ethics question

[nwcs]

I was thinking about this as I have been playing around with the new version of Photoshop. The new version makes it very easy to eliminate the evidence of many things on the coin image. But let's say that you have a slab with some scratches and the scratches show up in the image. Is it OK to fix the image to remove the scratches even though the person will see the scratches on the slab? After all, you're not deceiving them with the coin itself -- just the slab condition. Would it make a difference to just annotate saying that the scratches were edited out or would that just make everyone suspicious (even if you were being totally honest)?

[EZ_E]

One of the best coin photographers that I have seen is JamminJ. Practically no photo will image exactly "as is" but needs to be tweeked with the photoshop. James will photograph the coin and then uses photoshop to represent the coin as closely as is possible. So, if you could eliminate the scratches and closely reproduce the actual appearance of the coin then I would have no issues with it.

[HaydenTubbs]

I wouldn't have any problems with that.In my own case I listed a half cent on eBay and even though I clearly stated that the scratches were on the ANACS holder,I still had three people who contacted me and asked me if the coin was scratched. I wish I had been able to edit the scratches off the holder.

After all as the saying goes buy the coin not the holder,and photoshop is a great tool to enforce it with...Now could someone please burn me a copy?

 

-Hayden

[midwest]

I think it is fine if you say a scratch was edited out. It would be even better if you include an original picture so people know what to expect scratch wise. However editing large scratches out with out any mention is a no no in my book

[Leothelion]

Sure, if everyone reads your description and no-one gets not too paranoid about such matters. I wouldn't mention it because of the wide gulf of charactors we have out there! If the buyer has a problem with it, you just tell them that's the way it came when you bought it and then introduce the reholder services offered by the big 3! Trying to respond to something that's so far off the wall that you've got to reread what you wrote to see where so and so is coming from is really amazing at times. And then there are those who may not even bother to ask about it, if it's a problem! Then you have lost some potential buyers! No, keep it inder the hat! It's not an uncommon problem with these scratched up slabs!

Actually it's a great way to tell if the coin is any good! It's been thrown around so much, nobody has really wanted the thing and now someone is going to buy it?

Just keep your fingers crossed!

 

Leo

[IGWT]

I don't think that editing the photo to eliminate defects in the slab constitutes an ethical breach if the defect interferes with the view of the coin, but you're asking for problems if you don't plainly disclose the fact. You have to know your eBay audience; and, despite all our talk about "buy the coin and not the plastic," you know that many eBay buyers do buy the plastic. If the picture of the slab doesn't match the actual slab, someone will accuse you of a switch (yes, even if the insert numbers match). Also, it appears that many collectors prefer pristine slabs and pay to reholder without looking for an upgrade. One of these potential buyers might not like receiving a scratched slab that appeared clean in the auction photo.

 

At the end of the day, unless the scratch on the slab obstructs the view of the coin, I would not edit the photo to remove the defect. And, if you remove the scratch because it does interfere with the view of the coin, I would clearly note the alteration.

[XpipedreamR]

Since some people seem to be as interested in the holder as the coin itself, I would be surprised if you didn't ultimately run into some problems doing this.

[Oldtrader3]

I would be unhappy if I bought a fairly expensive coin and received it in a badly scratched holder. IMHO, for the sake of transparency and honesty you have to tell or show the buyer what they are buying. For a few bucks, you can have the coin reholdered.

[James_OldeTowne]

Since I don't own or use PhotoShop, I can't edit images such as you describe. All I can do is angle the slab and/or lighting to get the most scratch-less image possible. But I am sure that I've bought many items with slab-scratches edited out, and been very happy with the item.

 

James

[nwcs]

Was wondering, though, about the light manipulations. Say there was a light scratch but the lighting just brought it out. Ok to fix that and not say anything?

[HaydenTubbs]

Was wondering, though, about the light manipulations. Say there was a light scratch but the lighting just brought it out. Ok to fix that and not say anything?

Sounds all right with me....

[Bruceswar]

Here is the way I look at photo editing... If you use it to enhance the coins appearance then it is bad. If you use it to try and show how the coin looks then it is ok. It could be any of the photoshoping techniques as long as it is used for the right reasons.

[James_OldeTowne]

I think it would be completely unethical to edit out a scratch, or manipulate it in any way via software. However, I freely admit that I will rotate a scratched coin in the light until it is subdued to the same extent that it would realisticaly be in hand.

 

James

[stev32k]

I think if you try to hide important details (or lack of details) then that's wrong. I take a lot of photos and there rarely any of them that do not require post processing. It can be color temperature, exposure, digital noise, curve adjustment, or any of several other parameters. It's up to the photographer to do the best job possible to make the image as accurate as possible. That is a hard job.

 

Coins can look very different depending on the light. Outside in bright sunlight a coin may look very different than indoors under incandescent light. They can look different to the naked eye vs using a 10X loupe. Good digital cameras with good lenses can pick up details one cannot see with the naked eye - that is always a dilemma for me. Some pictures look worse that the coin in hand because of the "stuff" that shows up in the photo. Very faint scratches will often show up as big ugly black scratches because they reflect light - not because they are big and ugly. At the same time some rather large marks do not show up at all or are very faint - again because of the angle of the light and lack of reflection.

 

So it's very hard to get an accurate image. One does not want a really good picture that makes the coin look better than it is, but you also do not want one that makes it look worse.

 

P.S. One thing to always watch for is getting the scratches that are on the holder and the coin in the same image. That can make a good coin look terrible.