Re: Taking pictures of coins
- From: "note.boy" <note.boy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:01:12 GMT
"tony cooper" <tony_cooper213@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:9p1ss3h662ma8maq7etfdv1qhmr3ck7ov8@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:19:23 -0800, dave a
<blkcatREMOVETHIS@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This may have already been covered previously, if so please point me to
a FAQ. As I have mentioned, I'm selling off my coin collection on eBay
but have had great difficulty getting good pictures of the coins. Part
of the problem is that I am using a relatively inexpensive Canon A400
camera, but I really don't want to spend big bucks just to take coin
pictures.
I built a small copy stand that holds the camera and am using one or two
250W halogen lights. I've tried both direct and indirect lighting. My
results are very inconsistent. I generally use the Auto White Balance
and Macro focus mode, although I've tried using the Custom WB feature as
well.
What I would like is a simple way to quickly get a good picture every
time without fussing with many shots and lighting angles for each coin.
Any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks,
dave a
You say you have a problem, but you don't say what it is.
There's no reason that you shouldn't be able to get decent pictures
with a Canon A40, but perhaps you're expecting something more than
adequate for eBay.
This image was taken with a Nikon P2, which is a less expensive camera
than yours.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/cooper213/176-1901a-1.jpg
That's an adequate image for eBay. You'll see better, more detailed
images, but unless there's something special about the coin this type
of image is acceptable. The coin sold, by the way.
Post one of your images (as a link the way I did) and explain what you
think is a problem.
Unless you are diffusing the light, you are using *far* too much light
with two 250s. Without diffusing the light, you'll get glare spots or
washed out images.
Custom WB - set to the type of light - is best because all the images
in the same group will have the same color. Auto WB will result in
changes in tonal color.
I use a home-built copy stand:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/cooper213/stand.jpg
and shoot in indirect sunlight with the WB set to sunlight. I get a
shadow doing this, but I think that adds to the depth. (That's not my
P2 on the stand. I had to put something on the stand and use the P2
to get the picture, so I used an old film Minox as a "model".)
I have found that using a white or gray background works best. I
can't explain why, but a color background seems to affect what the
camera senses.
If I have to shoot at night, I use a lamp shade I've converted to a
"soft box" to diffuse light.
I recently purchased a Nikon D40 dslr, but I haven't tried it on coins
yet. Even though the D40 is four times the price of the P2, it isn't
going to produce that much better an image.
Post a link. Let's see what you call a problem.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Set up used.
Place coin on low table near the window, set digital camera to marco mode,
leave on auto everything, hand held.
Time from deciding to photograph the coin to actually having snapped it,
about 3 minutes.
Perfectly acceptable result I think for most uses. It's maybe too good for
eBay as it shows all of the dings. :-)
A newspaper reflector may have given a slightly better result. Billy
http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/2/4/5/5/8/7/webimg/96984929_o.jpg
.
- References:
- Taking pictures of coins
- From: dave a
- Taking pictures of coins
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