Collect89, the most interesting man on Cointalk. Nice setup, but I would think that after a few coins your pictures would get blurrier and blurrier. I do like the bullet collection and the shotty up above..
I have two camera setups, one for "normal" coins and one for Proof and PL coins. Normal Setup: Axial Lighting Setup for Proof and PL Coins:
I don't have a set up. eventually I will get around to making one. and for now all I have is some bulky equipment I use for other endeavors. but Im not a dealer and I don't buy a lot of coins so I usually just plop a coin down on the desk and snap a pic. but my equipment is so large its like trying to butter bread with a machete LOL. thats why my photos aren't that great. here is my equipment. canon Mark IV and some misc. lenses
I just made this temporary crazy set up with some old studio lighting. need to buy some smaller lamps.but it will do for now.
I use modified microscope stands for my numismatic photography setups. They give me fine enough focus capability to do focus stacking at 5x or even higher magnification. For full coin shots I mount a Rodenstock 75mm f4 Apo Rodagon D M=1 duplicating lens (75ARD1), or occasionally a Nikon 105mm f2.8 Printing-Nikkor (105PN). For variety details I mount a Nikon 4x Plan 0.1, a Nikon 3xMM, or Nikon 5xMM microscope objective. I converted from Nikon to Canon about 15 months ago after finding that my Nikon had some inherent shutter shake that blurred my images, especially at 3x and above. I now use a Canon T2i on my desk setup, and a Canon XS on my portable setup. For lighting I use either Jansjo LED's with highly-customized diffusers, or an EKE ringlight. Here are pictures of one of my portable setups with the 75ARD1 and one with the 4x Plan objective: Here's a pic of a toned 1957-D Cent using the 75ARD1: And a 1950 Proof Nickel with the same lens: And here is a pic using the Nikon 5xMM objective: And finally a pic of a 1955-S/S/S RPM#1 using a Nikon 4x PlanApo 0.2 objective:
Well, all I have is an old Sony, a desk lamp and a steady hand... this camera: Gives me this picture: The problem is finding the 3.5" floppies, lol.
I had one of those in my collection of cameras. I'm not quite sure where it went though. the worst part is, i cant find my Leica either.
Thanks, I've been building these for a couple years now and they work great. Cost breakdown is like this: Modified B&L Stand: $200 Pentax Bellows: $100 75ARD1: $190 Nikon 4x Plan 0.1: $50 Cone-shaped RMS Adapter: $25 M42-Camera Adapter: $10 Total for setup only: $575 Canon XS body: $225 Total with camera: $800
Raw vs slabbed makes little difference once you figure out your lighting. Here is a 34P Buff taken with this setup: and here's an 09VDB. Note the slab scratches...slabs often need polishing in order to not show the scratches in the photo:
That's pretty expensive but it's a lot less than i thought it would've been. Although i dont know what some of that stuff is. Lol. I'd know if i saw one though.
And I do have to say that gbroke really helped me out. Before, I was using only a single light source as illumination. He instructed me about the "10 and 2" method, and since then I have found that the details of my photographs have improved greatly, although they are far from perfect.
Nope, my camera is a Nikon D-90 and I use a Nikkor 60mm macro lens (Nikkor calls it micro). My lighting comes from two Ott-Lite desk lamps with "white" light tube elements. They are close to sunlight. Once I set my white balance for them I'm ready to shoot (as long as I remember to turn off the ceiling lights ).
Oh, i didn't know the D-90 had the screen on the top. And i didn't think of ott lights. I have one of those. I wonder what would happen if i use an ott and a gooseneck at the same time.