Coin Photography

I thought we were talking about coin photography?

I still suspect there's a problem with non-shutter induced vibration -- perhaps his copy stand or camera mount or his hands on the camera instead of a remote shutter release.

The reason I suspect this is that I suffered with the same problems until I fixed my camera mount and shooting methodology as suggested above. The results are sharp pixel level detail for coins shots as sharp as any ETSC shots I've seen -- thus my comment.

Of course YMMV.

Respectfully...Mike

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

That is a superb photo! Great lighting, great color, superb exposure. Luster detail is a bit lacking, but in making the color as even as you have, you trade off the ability to catch cartwheel luster -- and I think you made the right choice for this coin. Well done.

 

the coin is not white fwiw

 

I spent a lot of effort making my setup as rigid as possible. I use a microscope stand as copy stand, and the surface the coin sits on is mechanically coupled with the camera mount. It's tough to get much more rigid! I do all my camera control tethered to PC to avoid inducing vibrations. The effects I and others have documented really are due to that last bit of camera vibration that no amount of bolting or dampening can solve, and EFSC really does solve the problem. In fact I think the rigidity I've built into my setups is complete overkill with EFSC, which essentially completes the exposure before any vibration is induced into the system. I suspect a much less rigid system, perhaps even tripod-based, would be adequate as long as EFSC was available.

 

Thanks for the comments. You are right on with the lighting analysis. To capture this coin's "deep" color, the lighting is almost axial, which is not at all good for capturing luster.

 

Fascinating.

Would you mind posting some pixels with and without EFSC so I might take a look at the results you describe?

Thanks in advance...Mike

 

It's the holder that's the easy give-away on this photo, not the coin. I'm assuming it's white in reality. Here's a color balanced image presuming the holder is white:

 

NGC holders are NOT pure white. IIRC, they tend towards red or blue -- I cannot recall which.

 

Ah, well if they lean toward red then perhaps the original pinkish photo was more accurate! If they lean toward blue, then both the original and my adjustment are wrong

Dave

 

I love the detail though on a coin about half the size of your thumb nail.

 

Certainly...

I shot the same coin as before 4 different ways:
1) with T2i in Live View (EFSC is always on in Live View and you can't turn it off)
2) with T2i "normal" with mirror down
3) with D7000 in Live View
4) with D7000 "normal"

Here is the comparison, 100% cropped single images with no sharpening

 

Very interesting. There is clearly a great deal of difference between the two T2i shots which could be attributable to EFSC -- provided you didn't mess with the focus on the lens.

Getting past that, why do you think there's such a difference between the D7000 shots? I have not noticed any difference in the sharpness between live view and normal time-delayed shutter actuation -- provided I don't touch the lens or engage autofocus. But then again, I use a D300, not a D7000 -- thus the question.

 

For each camera, the degradation between Live View and Normal is due to Mirror Slap vibration. The vibration is happening within the camera itself, so no way to dampen it externally.

The Normal sequence is: Shutter release (time delay, PC tether, wireless remote, etc); Mirror rises, inducing "Mirror Slap" vibration; first shutter curtain opens, inducing "Shutter Shake" vibration which adds to the overall vibration; exposure; second shutter curtain closes; mirror drops.

In contrast, the Nikon Live View sequence is: Shutter release; first shutter curtain closes; photo sites are extinguished; first shutter curtain opens; exposure; second shutter curtain closes; mirror drops; mirror rises.

The Canon Live View sequence is: Shutter release; photo sites are extinguished; exposure; second shutter curtain closes; mirror drops; mirror rises.

D300 and D7000 have similar shutter mechanisms, so should produce the same amount degradation. I believe both have a single motor that runs the shutters and the mirrors, hence the need for the mirror to cycle even in Live View. I further believe that most or all Nikon and Canon full frame cameras have independent motors such that in Live View only the shutters actuate.

The amount of degradation due to vibration is very dependent on shutter speeds. If the shutter is very fast, the effect is smaller, but can create a "smear" effect since the vibration may not have many cycles to average out the effect and the fast shutter can catch just a single or even partial cycle.

 

The white balance on this photo is off. Love the coin though. You can tell by the color of the prongs being more redish than actual white. What kind of light bulbs are you using and at what wattage? I was recently turned on to CFL Daylights 100wat equivalents at 5000k, they expose the coin and slab pretty accurately however, I am still working on getting it as close to a perfect match with the color temp brought out by the lights to the actual color of the slab. I would try experimenting with your lighting on this particular shot.

I've also learned, all coins react to light differently. Morgans in PCGS holders seem to capture whites better than Morgans in NGC holders. Just from experience, each coin reacts and exposes differently under different lighting scenarios. I came in believing all coins would photo the same with the same exact settings, couldn't be farther from the truth, I sometimes have to lower the fstop to 6 on some, and as high as 13 on others to get that perfectly lit shot while maintaining the most optimal focus and color progression.

 

I agree. I had a Canon f2.8 100mm Non HSM lens and it did the job just fine for what I needed at the time. I wouldn't spend anything over $400-500 on a Canon lens these days for Coin Photography based on my experience.

 

They lean towards blue, I believe. They are not pure white like the color balance did, and I find that photo if I were to use it to sell a coin a bit unrealistic with how NGC slabs actually look. I tend to find them a little more on the blue side than red, but again as mentioned in my prior replies, type of light bulbs and color temperature play a big roll in the overall exposure from I've been learning here.

 

what the heck is color temperature. ?

 

Getting the color temperature/white balance nailed in-camera will make your exposure better. Everyone should be using a gray or white card to set a custom white balance.

 

My recommendation is to stay under $100 to start, then go to the $300 level. I would not spend over $300 for a lens, it's a waste and most likely the quality is worse than you can get at the $300 level. The lens I use daily cost me $125, and I have not found a better one to replace it. My $125 lens blows away that Zeiss!

 

the canon macro 100 f2.8 is 550 dollars.