Happy Birthday To Me! New Camera, Fantastic Photos!

Well, technically my birthday isn't until tomorrow, but I think we can let this slide.

Today my mom had called to see if the Nikon D3100 Camera she had ordered, along with the upgraded lens, and carrying case were ready. They weren't. She had ordered the camera for my birthday on the 21st and the lens still had not come in. She got her refund and basically told me we were going to camera shopping.
We went to a local Wolf Camera to see if they had the Nikon D3100 package deal like other stores, and we were in luck.

Since 1 P.M. I have been toying with the camera. Took me about an hour to understand how to take pictures with the thing let alone changing the white balance and other settings. I finally got it all figured out and took a picture of my 1883-O Morgan Dollar. (Will post the pic tomorrow!)
I was so impressed with the results, that I decided to re-shoot every coin I have graded, and every single shot was better than my previous shots, taken with my point and shoot camera.

The only thing that changed in this equation was the camera. The lighting and background stayed the same.

Here are before and after pictures of some of the coins I re-shot today.

1913 1 Franc ICG MS65: Point and Shoot (Before)



1913 1 Franc ICG MS65: Nikon D3100 (After)



1913 50 Centimes NGC MS64: Point and Shoot (Before)



1913 50 Centimes NGC MS64: Nikon D3100 (After)



1915 50 Centimes NGC MS65: Point and Shoot (Before)



1915 50 Centimes NGC MS65: Nikon D3100 (After)



1916 1 Franc NGC MS66: Point and Shoot (Before)



1916 1 Franc NGC MS66: Nikon D3100 (After)



1918 1 Franc PCGS MS65: Point and Shoot (Before)



1918 1 Franc PCGS MS65: Nikon D3100 (After)



1919 50 Centimes NGC MS65: Point and Shoot (Before)



1919 50 Centimes NGC MS65: Nikon D3100 (After)



1919 1 Franc NGC MS65: Point and Shoot (Before)



1919 1 Franc NGC MS65: Nikon D3100 (After)



Hopefully this camera will continue to do wonders for me!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to all that have given me photography advice through the past year or so.

 

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Great photos. Very professional. Enjoy the new camera. :smile TC

 

Like night and day! Excellent results! and Happy Birthday!

 

Happy Birthday tmoneyeagles nice pictures

 

Happy Birthday!

Have fun with your new toy.

Chris

 

I'm favoring some of the before pictures.

 

The only one I can imagine you could favor from the before category is the 1916. (I'll admit, with a point and shoot, the shot of the 1916 was one of my best)
All of the newer photos are crisper than the before photos, and show an accurate representation of the coins.

 

nice pics, nice coins! enjoy your new toy and have a happy birthday!!

 

Congratulations on your new camera. I know it will give you many hours of fun and enjoyment. So far the difference is substantially better and will get even better the more you get used to your new camera.

 

Me too.

Keep playin' with the settings Travis.

 

Don't forget guys, we all have different monitors and see the contrast and colors slightly different and through varying degrees of monitor resolution... this may be more to do with each of our own monitors' calibration than T$'s abilities and camera settings.

 

Very true Chris. Still, a few of T's photos appeared spectacular in their original state. That's just my monitor talkin'.....

 

Nice pick,s money!

 

Happy Birthday Tmoney!

I would recommend one cheap accessory; all of my photos have been taken with one of these since I haven't had the money to splurge on a nice macro lens and it's worked great. Just make sure you toss the wide-angle part of it and only use the macro ring and make sure you get one that fits your lens. It will take some getting used to having to focus manually, and you'll need a tri-pod, but it's well worth the minimal cost.

http://cgi.ebay.com/0-45X-WIDE-ANGL...66319909?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item35aed2d725

Jody

 

As others have said, it could just be my monitor. Happy birthday! I have a nikon and they are great cameras. If it is any consolation, my ability to take photos isn't even in the same universe as your skills. Great photos, both with the old and new equipment.

 

Great pictures ! enjoy yourself

Happy New Year

 

That has to be it. The original shots are overexposed, and just not clear enough. The new shots are sharp, and colors are how they should be. It is like looking at the coin in hand. (Although I'm sure the pictures will someday look even better when I have the camera all figured out!)

Don't have a tripod as of yet. Kinda burned all my money on the camera and extra lens.
I'll make sure to get one, and possibly this when I see dollar signs in my future.
Thanks for the advice Jody, this could prove to be helpful.

 

I do thank you for the compliment, even with the point and shoot I always received nice words and good photos so I can only imagine what this camera can bring.

 

nice but still need a lot of tweaking.

 

Here's another wish for you T$, since today is officially, the day!