• Your Biggest Coin Photography Frustrations?

I'll try, but not tonight. It's something I learned about a long time ago, so I don't have specific links handy.

 

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That is a challenge even for seasoned coin photographers. It requires careful control of the type and placement of the light, and often multiple exposures.

 

Without a doubt, phone cameras have made coin photography faster and easier for collectors and dealers alike. There's no learning curve, or very little, as the algorithm does all the processing. But that will only take you so far. The question is, is that far enough?

 

Is the coin still in the capsule? The shot will improve if you take the cover off it. The coin will determine the light effect, not the plastic cover.

 

Solving both of those issues requires a little more investment in the capture process. For the first issue, you can tether your camera; for the second, you can use lights with greater control over beam and direction.

 

Good point, and something I will address in the presentation. For many proof coins or those with monster toning, axial lighting is the best method for capturing the colours, but of course, the slab kills that option. Multiple exposures and precise light placement can bring you much closer to a raw coin image. Still, nothing can fully match it.

 

6500? That's a soft light source, and I assume you adjust the colour temperature to daylight (5500) in editing?

 

@Denis Richard
I could be wrong about the K rating as it is a LED lamp and I do have it on a dimmer.
But what ever it is, it works for me.

 

I have trouble with brown copper. I'm using an DSLR with the Sigma 150 macro lens. I do a custom white balance using a gray card.
My images come out a lighter brown color. With worn copper, I get green spots that I don't see in hand. I don't think it's PVC. It looks like junk stuck around the devices.

 

Are you shooting JPGs? Is your monitor calibrated? Either may be causing the colour shift and increased brightness. Colour Management and RAW editing are critical to consistent, worry-free results. Also, when you look at the coin with a loupe, can you see the green bits?

 

That's an interesting point. Does "works for me" mean they're accurate or that they look good to you regardless, so there's nothing to fix? I face that when taking coin images in non-controlled situations. The image is much warmer or cooler than it should be, but it looks terrific that way. I have to resist the urge to leave it. (Unless I'm doing something artsy with it, then all the guardrails are off.)

 

I have a light sconce which is much like dwhiz's (except it's a regular light) which is above a disused desk. Perhaps I should convert that to the photography station.

Furthermore, there's a window right above the desk.

What are some coin-safe objects that I can use as a riser, to place said coins on?

I plan to stick with the Samsung Note 20 Ultra. It makes no sense to invest in lenses for the SOny alpha, when I'd probably be going Canon/Nikon for the next camera. Unless I could find a used Minolta macro and make the old Sony the camera... That would create problems of finding a copystand, etc.

We have the frustrations, but some basic tips (how to use the gray card), making a DIY light shoebox, etc, would be most helpful.

 

This seems like a reasonable introduction.

Cameras sort of "assume" the scene they're facing reflects an average of about 18% of the light hitting it, and that all the colors in the scene average out to neutral gray. The camera then tries to adjust exposure and white balance on that basis.

If you're photographing a bright scene (newly-fallen snow), the camera will make it look dark. If you're photographing a shiny silver coin on a black background, the camera may overexpose the brightest parts of the coin. If you're photographing a gold coin on a white background, the gold might get underexposed, and the whole shot might take on a blue tint (making the coin look more silver and the background look more blue).

Most cameras and phones provide a way to lock exposure and white balance. (I can't give instructions for that, because it's different for every device.) So the technique is:

1) Set up your camera and lights.
2) Put the gray card where your coin will go (or even lay it on top of the coin).
3) Lock your camera's exposure and white balance while it's looking at the gray card.
4) Remove the gray card, replace it with your coin, and take the photo.

As long as you don't move your camera or lights, you can do the first three steps one time, then photograph as many coins as you like. But if you do adjust your lighting, you'll need to recalibrate.

If you use Photoshop or something similar, you can sort of do the same thing in post-processing by manually adjusting the exposure and white balance. But if the exposure or white balance is off too badly, you can't really fix it in post. It works much better to set the camera correctly from the beginning.

 

Thank you. I think you gave me the answer to my problem. I need to go back to shooting raw. A few years ago the software I used for raw quit and I went to shooting JPG. I'll give it a try.

 

I’ve tried a few different types of axial lighting, including a hybrid of sorts. Most results were unsatisfactory. I have also tried several exposures of the coin in the same position with only the lights being moved to expose colors in different areas of the coin. This can be time consuming but the results in many cases almost rival what you would get by shooting the coin raw.

 

Interesting. How does your hybrid axial system differ from the standard?

 

It is an axial type setup but instead of the one centered light hitting the glass I also use two other light straight down at near 10 and 2. Plus on the axial glass can be moved to to any angle. It’s more trial and error.

 

Capturing mint luster. I can doing it using angles, but straight on shots are tough.

Highly lustrous and Proof coins are hard capture the whole coin.

The convex PCGS slab windows tend to give me “hot spots.”

Most raw coins, tokens and medals are pieces of cake.