Just got this coin back and I wanted to try a new photo technique.

Canon 40D? get the matching 100mm Macro and use the Zoombrowser (EOS Utitilities)

You can expect this level of detail and color capture with that set up, no post editing other than crop:

 

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Just one comment. Evey time you post a photo in a thread I have to switch to another browser to compensate for the scrolling issues associated with the pics. That's a good thing though because I get a much better view of things on "chrome".

 

Chrome is an awesome browser. Just felt like tossing that in there.

 

I'm unfamiliar with CHROME . I see they have it available for IMAC as well. If anyone on this forum uses it with the MAC , please e-mail me your opinions. Sorry LD for diversion from your intended topic.

The Coin sure looks very nice, but without an in-hand look, I don't feel comfortable agreeing with the grade. No matter though, NGC gave you what you had hoped for and you got what you hoped for with the quick sale. Congrats.

 

Looks like a MS66 to me and the pics are really great. Swell job!!, now that's an antique word for antique coin.

 

Thank you for the comment, Peter recently sent me a PM asking who was having a problem. I believe there is some code missing from this message board that auto sizes image width in Internet Explorer to each users monitor resolution. I think, he thinks that it doesn't affect that many people.

Don't you find that Chrome is also much faster?

 

Extremely fast! I've also got "adblock" employed with it too. Cuts out a lot of chatter and web pages load faster.

 

Thanks Peter. I think I might give it a go . Probably not to difficult to install .

 

I have a MacBook Pro and use Chrome almost exclusively (I use Firefox whenever I want to capture a video.) IMO Safari crashes way too often for me to even stand using it at all. I haven't had any issues with Chrome so far.

 

EyeEatWheaties - I agree with your point that different coins should get different styled photos. I can appreciate the desire for a "consistency" of imaging for a major business - not only does it make the customer feel like the business is organized, but it makes the photo capturing process a lot simpler, faster, and cheaper - the mantra of most American businesses.

However, as we all know, different coins have different needs (photographically.) I had a 1948 Canadian dime that was like holding a star in your hand...and no matter what I tried (although, to be honest, the technology I was using at the time was rather primitive) I could not even begin to approach an accurate photographic representation of the coin in hand. I will agree that the original coin photo in this thread was at first glance nice, but lacking in "something." IMO, the image was a little fuzzy and the contrast btw fields and details wasn't as good as it could be. I feel that most great coin images I've seen had some sort of symmetry applied to the luster/contrast depiction - which is probably a result of light placement. I feel with high-quality coins like this, I would opt for symmetry in the photo. Would you?

Thoughts?

 

I'm just happy that I can post something reasonably accurate. I do not posses an expensive camera, just a basic point and shoot with macro capabilities. I'm not into marketing the coins that I post here. I only wish to share with the community. I suppose a person with loftier ideas about marketing their coins would need an more elaborate setup with really expensive equipment and special lens's up the yazoo.

The one thing that I've learned about coin photography though? It's really all in the lighting. I don't care how expensive your equipment is, if you don't get the lighting right the pics are gonna suffer.

 

Pretty Morgan! Love the clean cheek, reverse fields, cool die crack. Must be gorgeous in hand.

I think the photos are fine. More than acceptable. If you're like the rest of us you will forge on and make huge strides with lots of practice. You will be your toughest critic too. The key is experimenting. With everything.

Personally I would like to see a little less exposure, and a little more contrast. The Morgan has wonderful relief and imaging to show its depths is important.

I like the idea of examining a coin before shooting it, and asking "what should I emphasize (or de-emphasize)?" Think a little about its best traits.

My guess is your coin has superb luster and clean fields. So that's what you want to show off. Your photos look a little washed out, and crisp details in things like the separation of hair strands and feathers don't show as well as they should.

The below examples show a Morgan with nice mirrors (though not PL or DMPL) and one with nice frost and luster.

These are just my opinions, FWIW. We all have our likes and dislikes. So take this advice with a grain of salt. Except for the part about keep at it!
Lance.

 

Going back to the OP image. All it needs is a bit of playing with the lighting. With silver I usually start with the lights as close to the camera as possible and adjust from there. Looks like a 66 to me.

 

I ordered the new lens last night. I must be able to take pictures like that... haha!

what kind of lighting setup do you use? I have 3 bendy neck lamps with sunlight bulbs in them. What are you using?

 

bumpity bump

 

White balance looks good, I think you need a little more light or increase exposure. Other than that the pics look great! Good enough for web use.

 

I like halogen. I always start there. I have others, like Reveal and Otts, but I almost always get better results with two halogens, high, and almost directly above the coin, at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. I sometimes use a third halogen flood light which I move around by hand while looking at the display on the LCD screen.

All lighting has side effects you should counter with post-processing s/w. Halogen, for example, is a little too red so I tone down that color in order to get the image as close to reality as possible.

Here's what the set-up looks like, though it's no longer on the floor. LOL. I also use a longer lens (180mm) than in the photos (100mm) so I can get the camera farther from the coin.

The below halogen bulb can be screwed into any ordinary socket. Same for the halogen flood lights I use in the goose neck lamps.
Lance.

 

With a bit of practice you can get results like this. It's really not hard. Just time consuming. I run my business from home so I get to play around a lot.
Lance.