Re: Coin photographers?

On 29 Aug 2006 20:52:15 -0700, "Phil DeMayo" <flip1948@xxxxxxx> wrote:

anti-spam wrote:

It's not a matter of semantics.

It's just that the lighting did change between the shots, and the
crappier lighting used with the fixed-lens camera resulted in a crappier
picture.

Your examples absolutely, positively do NOT prove the superiority of one
camera over the other.

(Although I personally prefer my SLR over my point-and-shoot for
close-ups and macros.)

In the post in which Eric provided the links to the two images he did
not say the lighting was the same....he said the setup was the same.

The point of his post was that with the fixed lens digital camera, the
majority of which use the wide-angle end of the zoom ratio for their
macro mode, you have to get so close to the subject that the camera
and/or lens will block the light. He proved that with his images.

Now, here's exactly what he said before listing the links....perhaps
you need to read it again:

"Now as far as fixed lens cameras, I have one of the best, the Nikon
8800. It does
great outdoors, and the 10x optical zoom with VR really is sweet. But
it just can't
compare to a SLR and a good macro lens. I've been through plenty of
fixed lens
cameras and they all have the same problem, to get close enough to the
coin to
get a decent sized macro shot you wind up with the lens blocking your
light source
only allowing light on to the coin at a low angle which is bad for
doing coins, you
want a high angle of light which is impossible when your lens is only a
couple of
inches away from the coin.

Here are two shots of the same coin, one taken with the 8800 and one
with the
D70. The setup for both was identical, only the cameras were switched:"

His example clearly illustrated the superiority of the DSLR in that
it's greater subject to lens distance allowed for proper lighting of
the coin. The fixed lens camera did not allow for this and I doubt that
significant repositioning of the lights would have resulted in the type
of image he acheived with the DSLR. Moving the lights in closer would
have resulted much harsher lighting....requiring much experimentation
with diffusing the lights.

Additionally, if you take a good look at the images you should be able
to clearly see that the dedicated macro lens was also optically
superior.

Thanks Phil. I'm not sure what his point is. On one hand he says he prefers
a DSLR, but his argument seems to be that my comparison was flawed claiming
that the lighting was different between the two cameras. Everything was the same
with the exception of the position of the cameras which was necessary due to the
differences in the lenses.

I've been in arguments before where people have tried to tell me they could do as
well with a fixed lens consumer camera. As you know, I made the change to digital
cameras over five years ago. I've gone through half a dozen cameras, and there is
just no comparison. It's like trying to compare a Honda Civic to a Mercedes.

If anyone here wants to argue that a fixed lens can do as well as a DSLR with a macro
lens, I would challenge you to image a dime. Dimes have been the most difficult for
me to photograph, and I still have some bugs to work out (mostly the cool spot at 12
o'clock) but if anyone wants to argue that a fixed lens camera can do as well, try this
with a fixed lens camera:

http://www.k6az.com/forums/1940_mercury_obv_lg.jpg
--
K6AZ Forum

http://www.k6az.com/forum/
.

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