Photographing coins in a slab with a point and shoot

Any tips on getting rid of the camera reflection off the slab?

I take the best detail photographs in macro mode about 3-4 inches from the coin, but if the coin is in a slab I get a terrible reflection of the camera off the slab.

One thing I tried to combat this problem was to back the camera 1 foot or so away from the slab and use the zoom function. This takes an okay picture and all but gets rid of the reflection of the camera off the slab, but I lose some quality/details I get from the above setup.

I'm using a 3.1mp cannon A80 with 2 100W reveal bulbs. If I need to provide more/different info let me know.

Any help would be great

 

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more lights around the coin and dont use the flash

 

I'm not an expert coin photographer but photography is another hobby of mine. Try different lighting angles, or, since 200W of light is quite a bit you could mess with bouncing light in different ways, sort of like a light box. The trick is getting the light to hit the coin but if the light is too direct you will have a glare. From experience using a light box I know that this method of bouncing light around instead of aiming it is very effective. Hope that sort of helps.

 

You guys might be right, but I don't think glare is my problem....I can us just a VERY faint light and still get the camera reflection off the slab in the photo...Here is a picture that shows what I'm talking about:

 

First, try a completely dark room (outside the lights you're using on the coin).

If that doesn't work, try electrical tape all over the silver parts of the camera. I am not kidding, and now you know why expensive camera gear is generally black.

 

I think you will find that if you tilt the coin just a little, your problem will disappear. I use 1 or 2 casino chips under the bottom edge of the slab depending upon how heavily toned the coin is. Here is a link to my complete set up instructions for a point and shoot.

http://www.coinforums.com/f15/what-best-method-photo-slabbed-coin-561/

 

I started by trying a completely dark room and also moving the lights to different angles as well as diffusing the lights with paper to no avail.
I'll have to get some black electrical tape tomorrow to try that avenue, but I'm betting I will still pick up that reflection (I tried a hole in white paper over the camera and could see the paper).

Lehigh, I tilted the slab every which way in every direction and couldn't get rid of the reflection. I noticed in your tutorial on the other forums you start by moving your camera 8-10" from the slab. I can get rid of the reflection by doing that myself, I just lose the quality/detail of my photograph compared to 2-3" away from the slab/coin.

 

I would recommend getting a sheet of non-reflective black construction paper and cutting a hole in it the exact size of the glass in the camera lens and shoot through it. That should do the trick.

-LTB

 

If you have the camera that close to the coin you will never be able to get enough light on the surface of the coin to achieve the results you want. Why not back off to about 6 inches. The photo quality at that range should still be pretty good.

 

I don't think my pictures are too bad and my camera is from 1.5" to 2.5" for all of my pictures, I have a Canon A560.

 

Does that mean you are happy with the amount of light you are getting on your coins when you image them? I know that when I attempted to photograph my coins from that range, I had no shot at showing color or luster.

 

I agree with this. I'm no expert in photography but when I do take photos with my point and shoot I tend to get better results backing off with the camera and then using a little bit of zoom in macro mode to get "closer" to the coin. Having the camera further way should help with the reflection as well.

 

Some might not care to do this but a black magic marker works great to hide a silver camera.

 

I don't think I have any problem what so ever with luster. Color can be a problem, but I don't think I am alone there.

 

rlm, do you ever have any issues with the reflection of your camera off the slab at that distance?

 

Not significant, but lately the left side of my camera seems to reflect a bit. When I see it, I just put my hand over it. Look at my pictures in my grading series. Some of my slab pictures show a bit, but when I point it at the coin, I see none.

 

Here is a link describing one way to accurately adjust the angle of the coin:
http://www.cointalk.com/t56856/

 

The problem with tilting the coin is that, particularly for close-up shots, it makes it very difficult to get the whole coin in focus. And even if you get the camera out of the image, you'll still be seeing reflections of the rest of the room.

If you're seeing a reflection of your camera in your images, it's because you have too much ambient light hitting your camera, and not enough hitting your subject. Experiment with ways to get more light hitting the slab, and less light falling directly on your camera.

 

What kind of zoom are you using, digital or optical?

 

That's a great idea.