Photographing coins in a slab with a point and shoot

I dunno, I guess I'm gonna have to try covering the camera up with something...I moved the camera about 6" away from the slab and adjusted the lights every which way and also tilted the slab every direction to different degrees but I still see the reflection of the camera. Until I get the camera about 1ft away from the slab I have this problem. I can move the lights to where they are lower than the camera if that makes sense and still see the reflection, I can all but remove the light making the slab almost too dark to recognize and still see the reflection. I dunno it's crazy

I believe I'm using the digital zoom but can you explain the difference between the two kinds of zoom?

 

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Don't sweat it man. Sometimes there is just nothing you can do. I am almost a foot away from this coin.

 

First try putting something under the slab to tip it slightly - a coin, or something a bit thicker.

second, if you have optical zoom, you camera will use that first before it goes to digital. Optical zoom uses the lens to spread the light further on the digital detector. Digital zoom does not affect the light, but only uses the center of the detector and spreads the pixels further apart. Digital zoomed pictures are necessarily less detailed than optically zoomed, but since most coin pictures are way over detailed, you will not see the differences at least most of the time.

 

Two things.

1. Move your camera to the side so the coin is just hitting the upper left corner of the frame. You can see the reflection in your camera screen, just keep moving over and out until the reflection is beside the coin. Then use any software you want to crop the picture, so it cuts away all the blank space.

2. If you are only using 3MP, you may want more detail in photos....so a higher megapixel camera will help.

I use a Canon SD1300IS Point and Shoot. Using the above steps, I get some pretty good shots. See my photos at this link (also my avatar is a proof coin shot in this manner)

http://www.cointalk.com/showthread.php?t=157567&p=1107910&highlight=#post1107910

 

Here is an example with a very reflective silver Mount Hood ATB. One shot shows the close up method. Another shows the full picture in upper left. And third shows the crop image.

 

From the research I have done, if you want to get a close up picture of a reflective surface you need a nice camera with a polarized filter added to it. This filter cuts the reflection coming at the camera. I did not want to spend the $$ to go that route, so I played around and developed this technique. I have the coin reflecting a dark room, so the reflection is black. I can make it reflect any color just by changing what is in front of the coin...and that is better than my camera, fat fingers, etc. How about red?

 

actually my camera is a 4mp (big difference I know ) I don't want you to think I can't take photos, and I can get decent details being 1' away from the coin, I just think they are better photos closer to the coin. Here are a few photos I took at a distance:







Here is a couple "close to the coin" photos:

 

What ever you did on the Eagle should work on the slab. It looks like a nice proof, so the fields should be highly mirrored and cause even more reflection than the slab.

 

I agree the closer the better, and the more direct line the better for detail and depth. For reflection the key is changing the angle the light reflects to miss the camera. If you get close, that becomes impossible. If you stay in direct line, it does not matter how far you back up. This shot was taken from 3 feet away, in direct line and you still see the camera. Moving back 1' the angle can be changed slightly and light misses the camera. The method of up and to the left of range, the shots are the closest I can get without having a reflection issue or purchasing a new camera, lens and polarized filter. I am within 4 inches or so on those and I can keep the camera directly in a parallel line with the subject coin.

 

The proof was photographed 1' +/- from the coin, which is a fine photo unless you really want to see the details of the surfaces etc. I may have come up with a solution to my problem. I was speaking to someone on another coin forum about my problem and he suggested buying a +2 close up lens with a 52mm adapter to fit my camera. Currently I can only use 50% of my optical zoom at 1' from the object I'm photographing. With the new setup I should be able to use 100% optical zoom from the 1' distance, thus eliminating my reflection problem and also making my photos more detailed. (around a 30-35$ fix)

 

My solution here was the same as the solution to the 1839 half, back the camera about 1' away...I just lose some of the ability to enlarge to a nice clear image.

 

I hope it works out for you. The +2 and similar lenses are just simple lenses, not corrected compound lenses like the one mounted on your camera. Typically they only produce good image quality near the center of the field, and have significant chromatic aberration around the edges. You'll have to experiment with it and see how it works out.

With DSLRs and other detachable-lens cameras, you can get "extension tubes" that let you use a regular lens for macro shooting. These have other drawbacks, but typically yield better image quality than "diopter" lenses. Of course, first you have to have a DSLR...

 

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