On several occasions I have suggested building a super solid camera stand out of scrap lumber. The problem is making it adjustable allowing shooting different size coins without compromising the strength. I bought a macro focus rail (eBay under $20) which gave desired adjustability but it did nothing for the rigidity of the rig. Previously I suggested making a series of dowels of different lengths for coin supports and still believe this works but here is a compromise. Rather than mounting the heavy camera on the movable macro focus rail, I mounted the rail on a wooden upright and a small shelf on the rail. Instead of moving a heavy camera, this moves the coin up and down as required. The wobble of the light coin is greatly less than that of the heavy camera. If anyone has tried something of this sort, I would enjoy hearing from you. This is considerably more solid that 90% of the camera stands on the market - especially those made of wobbly metal. Wood dampens vibrations much more effectively. A camera bolted to 2x4" lumber does not wobble.
That one is very nice, but it's a bit too high-tech for the likes o' me ... ummm, do you happen to have one that is made out of rocks and dirt?
I like where you're going with this: building nice things is hard, but have you ever lifted rocks and dirt? Kind of heavy. I'm wondering if we could put something together using paperclips. I own a box of those and it weighs almost nothing.
I put one together a couple of weeks ago when I was looking up old photography threads and saw yours. It's sturdy as hell and the camera doesn't shake at all. It's a great stand for just being a 10 minute project. For now I'm just using books to adjust the coin height and I'm still working on camera settings and lighting though.. I'll get there one day. Thanks for the stand design man!
@dougsmit is that a compact fluorescent bulb in your lamp? I'm always curious what type of bulb yields the truest colors.
That one is CFL. I have no preference between CFL and LED as long as you have one of the daylight balance types with a high CRI. Color Rendering Index, or CRI, is a measure of how well the bulb mimics a continuous spectrum of colors. It is harder to reproduce colors properly if you have gaps in the spectrum. Some lights are high (95 or so) and others (sodium vapor in parking lots, for example) have pretty much one color so you can not color correct. High CFI bulbs usually say so on the package and cost more. Worth it? That depends on the colors you are trying to reproduce. Sometimes we just drop back and punt (aka postprocess) as best we can. Light purists will be aghast at that. Daylight balance is nice but bulb makers apply the term to a rather wide range of color temperatures (5000 to 6500 or so) but it makes little difference if you are using manual white balance to set up your camera. My LED ringlight is a little colder than my other bulbs so I suffer sometimes. You can buy correction filters to place over lights but I am not that into it and make do as it is. It is better if all lights used in one shot are the same but I have so many bulbs kicking around now that is not always the case. I won't be buying any more CFL bulbs as long as I can get good LED's but I'm not throwing out the ones I have and they probably have a longer life expectancy than I do. I do not recommend buying large quantities of light bulbs in advance. The first CFL's and first LED's were not nearly as good as the current crop. I suspect next year's group will be better as well. Don't buy those 2700 degrees Kelvin orange bulbs made for people who liked the warmth of the old incandescent bulbs in their lamps. Stick to daylight for photos.
The last camera stand I bought a few years ago cost me $20, I think $4.95 shipping. Solid, steady, versatile. Like so many other things in this day and age, it is FAR cheaper to buy it than to build it.
i don't think i did mine right. but seriously, i'g going to attempt some type of stand. i try to take pics from the same distance, but i'm usually off a tad...and have resize one of the pics to match the other side of the coin. i'd love to not have to do that any more. i may be using some old throw away chemistry equipment, i'll keep you posted.
Doug. Have you looked into the smart LED bulbs? You can control the on your phone (assuming you use a smart phone, others come with remote) and adjust the brightness and fade between daylight and soft white. Have you tried trash?
