Since I've become an active member here I've enjoyed seeing all of the amazing photos of coins. It seems to me that photographing high quality photos of my coins to show is part of the fun. Where I am stuck is that I don't want to go spend a fortune on photography equipment because I'd rather spend that fortune on another high quality coin! I am not ignorant, I realize that I need to spend money to get the quality I seek. My question is: How to get the biggest bang for my buck on photographing coins? What set-up do you all use and how much (approximately) did it cost to achieve that set-up?
Here is a thread you should read, and then I can explain more in detail here specifically about your needs / wants. CLICK ME HERE
Thanks for the link. To be honest I do not know a thing about photography. I have photoshop, and understand everything once it's on the disk, but taking the photo... What metrics are considered "good"? For example, would this package from Best Buy work? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/canon-e...?id=pcmprd230900050024&skuId=9999232200050024
Before you start photographing coins, you should understand the basics of photography. I recommend the book "Understanding Exposure". It's a great book for beginners and I enjoyed it very much. Good luck!
Thanks, Savy! That at least will get me a starting point. Is it possible to have your coins photographed by a professional? Is that common practice or even possible?
Yeah, of course it's possible. There are even several members of CT who do exactly that, they take coins pics for others and get paid to do so. That said, you can spend less than $200 and take excellent coin pics. Or you can spend over a $1,000 and take lousy coin pics. That's because it is a matter of technique and practice and not a matter of equipment.
That's a very good point. How do you find or trust CT members to do that? I am open to paying for that service.
Well trust usually has to be earned, but it can only be earned through experience. So when you have no experience the only thing you can do is ask for references, possibly from somebody else you do trust or somebody who has nothing to gain. That said, I would recommend this gentleman - https://www.cointalk.com/members/blu62vette.17342/
Here is another link of a member who takes great photos and teaches how to on his website: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/
100% agree with this recommendation. I own the book and have purchased it for friends family as a gift. OP, you can buy a used copy for around $11.00.
Here are a few other links the OP should read: http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/coin_photography.htm http://coinimaging.com/photography.html http://www.sigma-2.com/camerajim/cjgcoins.htm http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com/tips/coin_photography_tips.html http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=81
You should purchase Mark Goodman's Numismatic Photography. That's where I would start. It's a terrific book that goes through a lot of the differences in lighting and aspect.
@gbroke preaches about the quality you can squeeze out of a fairly cheap coin photo setup, @Argenteus Fossil you should try PM'ing him for some details, although he doesn't hang out with us as much as he used to.
Here is my setup and settings Here is a good resource also, like others have mentioned. More specifically, this is the article to read from Marks site.
I greatly appreciate all the advise and links. It will take me some time to go through it all, but I am looking forward to it.
Another short but good read on the subject I found today: A Photo is Worth 1,000 Words (Except When It’s Not Enough)
