How much does your coin photo setup cost?

[bsshog40]

That's a nice close-up. I also take all my pics at 2800pixels. I haven't had the need to crop to a specific point yet to see what it looks like. I may do that to one anyway for the fun of it.

[nwcs]

I thought I'd do a quick example of what I'm talking about. Here is an Onza (didn't have any SAEs around). Same equipment I mentioned. Both had two lights. One about 4 feet off with some decent wattage (forgot). Then a desk lamp with a 60 watt bulb diffused with tissue paper about 7 inches on the opposite side of the lens. Should have done better with the reverse. It's softer than I wanted. The reverse was shot at different parameters because I had mirror slap problems and didn't want to futz with it. It's also clear to see how the surfaces are quite different between the sides.

 

Obverse: ISO 100, Spot Meter, 1/13s @ f/8, no color enhancements, incandescent light, Manual mode, unsharp mask in lightness

Reverse: ISO 200, Spot Meter, 1/13s @ f/10 (since it has more relief), incandescent light, Manual mode, slight lightening of dark areas, unsharp mask in lightness

 

[bsshog40]

Ok, one thing I don't know is "what is f/8-f/10?? What this stand for?

[nwcs]

. The f numbers refer to aperture. I was going to describe it but think I'll let wikipedia do it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture

 

Taking control of aperture and shutter speed (time value for canon) is a fabulous step to great pictures. One book I recommend on understanding the relationship between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed is Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Easy to read and very helpful.

[bsshog40]

Thanks. I found mine but it's limited in certain modes. I'll have to experiment with it one of these days. thanks again!

[pendragon1998]

If you know your lightsource go ahead and set it instead of using white paper (which can throw your exposure off). EV + 1 helped but with your lighting you really need spot metering on the highlights and go EV + 2. This would show your lighting imbalance and show you where to place the new light. Increase your aperture to f/8 or so.

 

If you are going to the extent of manual control of your aperature, just manually control your shutter speed as well. I do both manually for better control of exposure conditions. If that is the case, you shouldn't need to bother with exposure compensation. There's a lot of variation with the spectrum produced by bulbs, so I never go by the camera's built-in white balance presets - I always manually set the white balance with the camera. Now that is meant to be measured against a 15% gray card, but a white sheet of paper doesn't do too bad of a job.

 

I've found that when learning to manually control the f-stop and shutter speed, it can sometimes be helpful to set the camera to automatic mode, see what the camera suggests is a good set of values, then switch to manual and work from those. Take lots of pictures and see what works. Sometimes a very small tweak yields vastly superior results! I took literally hundreds and hundreds of photos of a single coin when I was learning. Photo differently finished coins as well - proof, matte uncirculated, regular circulated, dark, light, golden, silver, you name it.

[nwcs]

>If you are going to the extent of manual control of your aperature, just manually control your shutter speed as well.

 

I wouldn't say that. A mode is very useful especially when you aren't concerned with shutter speed (and can leave it auto-selected).

 

>If that is the case, you shouldn't need to bother with exposure compensation.

 

True, if you're in manual mode you don't need exposure compensation. But in PAS modes you would.

 

>Now that is meant to be measured against a 15% gray card, but a white sheet of paper doesn't do too bad of a job.

 

Actually, it doesn't matter what percent gray it is. All that matters is that it is properly lighted and has no tint.

 

>I've found that when learning to manually control the f-stop and shutter speed, it can sometimes be helpful to set the camera to automatic mode, see what the camera suggests is a good set of values, then switch to manual and work from those.

 

That is a very helpful bit of advice and I think people could learn from it. It doesn't replace learning the relationship between ISO/aperture/shutter speed but it can definitely help people get an idea of where to begin.

 

>Take lots of pictures and see what works. Sometimes a very small tweak yields vastly superior results!

 

Absolutely, 100% totally true.

[bsshog40]

I've been messing with my aperature settings and white balance and playing around. I got a pretty good shot on a washington qtr but I was a little too close and cut a little off the top and bottom. It's getting me that cameo look that I need but I still need to get another matching light to offset each other. I noticed that I am able to change my aperature only depending on how far away I am from my coin. Up close, I can set it no higher than f/4, but if I'm a few inches away it will let me got to f/8. I noticed the higher the setting, the slower it takes the picture, I guess gathering light?? I'm just gonna add a small pic of where I'm getting to but I know it would be better when I get another light to offset each other. I said that didn't I?

[bsshog40]

I kind of think I may have hi-jacked zoins thread here with the photography classes. Sorry zoins!!

[pendragon1998]

Yeah, sorry Zoins

 

I noticed that I am able to change my aperature only depending on how far away I am from my coin. Up close, I can set it no higher than f/4, but if I'm a few inches away it will let me got to f/8.

 

Huh - I'm guessing that's an issue specific to your camera body.

 

I noticed the higher the setting, the slower it takes the picture, I guess gathering light??

 

Quite right. The larger the f-number, the smaller the aperature, or 'hole' that the light comes through. When the hole gets smaller, there's obviously less light coming through, so you need to have the shutter open longer to get the same exposure. The benefit is that you get a deeper depth of field, meaning a larger depth of the photo is in focus. The negative is that you must either provide more light or expose the image longer, possibly resulting in motion blur or digital noise.

[bsshog40]

Thanks Michael.

 

Ok, back to zoins topic. So when I get me another light I'll probably have anoth $25.00 invested in mine.

[WinstonWare]

This is what I have been using. I use it for everything, coin pics, regular family pics, even movies. It’s big for a pocket camera but smaller than an SLR.

[bsshog40]

That looks like a nice cam.

[Bruceswar]

I bought my Canon Digital Rebel back in May of 2004. It was $950.00 at the time. I then bought some close up rings for $50.00. A tripod I already owned. a total of 4 OTT desk lights over time. Costing about $90.00 total. I then bought one floor OTT light for $30.00. When I photo my coins I use 1, 2 or 3 OTT lights. Just over 14,000 shots later, I am finally figuring out this camera as far as coins go. Now not all these shots are coins, but I would say 40% of them are. Anyhow I think my work has been shown and is decent. My camera was one good investment! Soon I will be upgrading my camera again to an XTI for many reasons!