My first error coin USB microscope

Everyone is welcome. I thought I would share my personal experience with my first USB microscope in taking photographs of my error coins.

Usually before I purchase an item, I will go to YouTube and do a little research on the item I'm intending to buy. This generally gives me an idea of what item I may want to purchase.

Now finding the right camera, knowing absolutely nothing about USB cameras I start my search. (Good old eBay) one problem so many USB cameras to choose from.
Fortunately for me I have my standards. Inexpensive and easy to use. So I make my choice do not mind waiting for a while to get it from China.
20-800X 2MP USB 8LED Digital Microscope Endoscope Video Camera Magnifier SC

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Now after you receive the camera. First and most important part the CD that comes with it is not compatible with your system.Fortunately Windows 10 happens to work with this camera.
The next thing is the camera stand does not even make a good paperweight more or less hold the camera. Now let's find another stand I have found that this stand though it may be plastic and cheap does an adequate job.

I believe at the time when I purchased it in 2015 I think the most I paid for both camera and new stand was about $30. I'm sure the prices are different now.
80% of the photographs that are on my threads for 2016 was taken with this USB camera. And I have use that camera up till a month ago. When I purchased a new one.

Here are a few photos This camera is very easy to set up and start taking photos of your coins within minutes
More information to come. USMC60

 

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I don't recommend taking whole-coin shots with a USB microscope. Truthfully, those pictures are really, really hard to see any detail in them. Microscopes are intended for close ups and magnification. If you're going to take whole coin shots, I don't recommend going beyond 5-10x power with a simple loupe or camera attachment.

 

With this particular camera and with some manipulation you can actually take full shots like you see above and throughout my threads last year. It will give you a general view of the coin. But since it's only a two megapixel if you try to zoom in it only gets blurry.

That's why it's best to zoom in for your close-ups of errors manually. As you can see by the photo above you get a decent close-up photo.
For someone who is just starting in error coin collecting this set up is inexpensive and will do the job. There are many options out there you just have to be careful which one you choose.

Seattlite86 If you will take a look at this photo
Now if you would zoom in on any part of it and see how clear it is.
Five megapixel is a whole lot better. I will be discussing this USB camera a little later on in this thread. usmc60

 

We're going to have to agree to disagree on what makes for a good whole coin shot. I think your zoom ins are great, but the 1838 and 1948 cents above are very low quality photos. I think your dime shot is decent but it's still lacking in details due to the low resolution of the shot. Having said that, the going rule of thumb for coin shots is to use an 8 megapixel or better. Obviously this is harder with USB microscopes. I'm not trying to derail your post, I'm just trying to point out to the inexperienced photographer that USB microscopes do not take good whole coin shots. Especially not when the coin is bigger than a dime or cent.

 

I also have a new 5 megapixels USB camera. I hate it

 

Seattlite86
I couldn't agree with you more the more megapixels the better the image is going to be.
Unfortunately there is a limitation when it comes to USB cameras. Seems every year there Getting a little better with them.

But this thread is supposed to help the new to error coin collecting. That do not want to invest a lot of time and money into a camera. But still would like to present their coins for members to see and evaluate.
It's all part of the learning experience when it comes to error coin collecting. Not only learning about the error coins that you are collecting. But taking a decent photo, I'm not saying the best photo. That will come in time as you progress in collecting And your knowledge progresses.
Seattlite86 Like yourself there are many other members out there with their own camera setups that have been doing this for years, and have invested a lot of money and time into taking photos Of their coins.

This thread is intended to help the new members with a cheap and inexpensive way to present a decent photograph of and error.
I'm not saying go out and buy this camera set up. I'm only pointing out options.
Which new members need. One thing I do recommend to the new members go to the search box and look up anything concerning coin photography. Since Peter seems to think that coin talk does not need a photography thread you'll have to do a little searching through the threads. I know a lot of members out there have put up there camera setups on threads. Unfortunately there spread out through CT threads. And not consolidated under one photography thread which should be extremely helpful especially to the new members.
All new members I'm sure if you asked one of the members what kind of cameras they are using they will be more than happy to help you out.

 

paddyman98, That is one thing about USB cameras finding one that works well.
For a while there I was looking at Rick's photos, finally purchase a USB camera like Rick's. Could not get this camera to take photos anywhere near what Rick was presenting on CT. But tell you the truth I really haven't spent that much time with the camera and like Rick I'm unfamiliar with all the tricks to make the camera do a good job.
And believe me these USB cameras are real fickled, there are a lot I little tricks to make them perform well. paddyman98
Right now I'm on my third five megapixel camera. My first five megapixel USB camera I ended up selling to a friend of mine could not take a full coin photo no matter what I did. But it does take a decent close-up photo.
My second five megapixel camera is still sitting in the box, will not work on Windows 10 software.
Now this last camera I purchased is also five megapixel. Has an outstanding aluminum Stan, just learning how to use the camera. I'm finding I like Windows camera software works well with this particular camera. As you can see by a bunch of my photos this last month.I will be presenting this camera a little later on in the thread. I'm sure a lot of the newer members that use their phones will like this camera because it has a plug-in for smart phones. USMC60

 

I have used a lot of different cameras over the years. With each one, I had to practice a lot to get good images. It was never easy to learn just how to get the most out of each camera. It takes time.

 

That could not be more of a truer statement. And we haven't even got into the lighting yet. PS You mentioned time. Unlike many others when my computer boots up I'm ready to start taking photographs of my coins. Put a coin under the microscope adjust the image and press click. Less than a minute once my computer is booted up. This is a kind of ease and convenience I personally prefer.

 

Getting the lighting correct will drive a person crazy. Lots more practice. I was lucky. There was this young kid on the forums that took the time to teach me. Some here may know him as Airplanenut. Really smart young man. He was at MIT at a young age.

 

paddyman98 You have to has some reasons for Hating your five megapixel. What problems are you having.?

 

I like to use everything the scope has to offer, from zooms, to lighting . I also use a hand held LCD light, to try and blend in the natural lighting .

 

Rick I also use a hand-held LCD light.
I picked it up on eBay for very little.
I put frosted scotch tape over the light to get the desired filter that I want,
So I do not get any glare. And what's nice about a light like this you can position it 360° around the coin.I find it works quite well to illuminate those shadows that occur with other lighting.

 

Here's what I use and it's a Sear, Craftsmen too ..

 

Shall we continue. As mentioned earlier if you go through the threads in search you will find information on camera setups. This thread has a brief discussion on cameras particularly the one that I'm showing.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/harpers-ferry-ddr.285908/
It has this camera plus members discussion.
Feel free if you have any questions please do not hesitate to asked me or any of the other members.

I would like to start this next segment off with.

Coins talks proper etiquette of error coin photographing, and presentation.
(1) A full photo of the overs and reverse would be nice. Also a photo of the anomaly in question.
If at all possible please, no side photos – no upside down photos.face on photos preferred.
(2) Clarity I know this was a hard one to accomplish. You do the best you can with what you're working with.
The problem with some of these USB cameras. Is that they just do not have enough megapixels. This is a problem you're going to have to deal with.Until you decide to upgrade.
As an a lot of members out there would tell you, when you try to enlarge a two megapixel photo, you turn out with a very crappy photo not enough megapixels. The old saying is the more megapixels the better your photograph will be.

Bottom line with this camera set up and only two megapixel, your full shot of the coin will not satisfy some of the members on coin talk. Frankly I feel nothing will satisfy some of the members on coin talk.

Please all new members do your research before you purchase. USMC60
that's all for now they will be more coming.

 

I seen this camera I thought I would give it a try
continuous zoomi 1X to 600X Microscope LED USB Digital Video Camera Image +Stand

On average at the time this one cost me 3995 on eBay. I occasionally still use this camera. It has some problems, the first one is since it's so small and they have the lighting within the housing itself causes a lot of glare. And if you try to use outside light this is what you get It has a tendency to have the goldish look to it.I'm using Windows 10 camera software, for some reason the software that came with the camera is not compatible.For coins that have color it's not a bad camera. Overall the camera takes a decent photo. On this one the choice will have to be yours, and by the way it's only a two megapixel. And it will take full coin photos. uusmc60

 

I will be somewhat contrarian about megapixels. Unless you want to make a poster for your wall, a megapixel is plenty. A 4" x 4" 300 ppi images is just 1.44 megapixels. You can enlarge this to 12' x 12" with good results.

The real key to getting good pictures is the lighting. That and having a camera with a lens that doesn't have spherical or chromatic aberration. The little microscopes fail in this respect.

 

Is there any software that is good to use with the usb microscopes??

 

Personally I haven't a clue. I have very limited computer experience.
That's why I personally pay for tech support.
All I can say personally is that software usually comes with your camera. I have found half the time that software is old and outdated and my system will not accept it. So I do not foresee issue. If it works with Windows 10 camera you're ahead of the game.

Maybe there's another member out there that has also dealt with this issue with USB cameras. USMC60

(Say what)
's always good to see that we have members out there that are willing to step in the help. In my simple life the more megapixels the better quality of the photo.

Now you say lighting, lighting is definitely a key factor. But when it comes to these USB cameras, lighting can be very tricky.
All USB cameras are different and function differently. Which means they react to light differently. I think in my next camera update I will discuss camera lighting a little more.
USMC60

 

Since another of my interest is astronomy, I also have cameras for that also. A large proportion use the Philip webcam setup ( that is why the older Philips webcam costs more on eBay), The sites below are for all aspects, so the amount of camera specific software is just a small part for many. But astronomers were well ahead of "coin" and "Dino" type of cameras, and many of the software can sense your camera type chip. They usually include stacking and some aspects of photo modification software.
The majority are free, but the ones to also run an observatory are not. Maybe you can find drivers or programs you need. Astronomers are more critical of results than most coin photographers ( not you pros). Some are Linux based also, so could be
arduino visual software. Jim

http://webcamastronomy.com/software.html

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/SOFTWARE.HTM

http://www.astronomycameras.com/products/software/

http://arnholm.org/astro/software/wxAstroCapture/

http://astronomyonline.org/astronomysoftware.asp#CCD_Control_and_Imaging_Software:_

http://www.sharpcap.co.uk/