I just purchased a Cannon SD1300 IS but I grew up shooting film. Here are the first three coin photographs taken with my new Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS. These first photos are not yet enhanced with a photo editor. They are simply cropped & posted here. The camera was held by hand (steady). The camera was probably only about 6” above the coin so it was easy to hold the camera very still by touching my elbows to the table surface. The camera was set to manual with selections for macro and no flash. The coin is illuminated by a couple incandescent light bulbs reflected off the ceiling. I purchased this Walker at a coin show last weekend so it is also a new purchase. I bought it raw in a Capital plastic holder. Of course, I am interested in your grade opinions of the coin. (IMO I stole it for Gray sheet MS60 money). I hope to be taking good photos once I figure out how to use all the features of the new camera. I’m going to a really nice Mediterranean city right now so I’ll put the camera through its paces. This last photo (of the type set) was shot from 4.5 feet away with the camera held by hand (steady). The two incandescent lamps and some overhead fluorescent lamps provided the ambient illumination. Again, I just cropped the picture to post it here. It has not yet been Photoshop-ed. If you zoom-in you can really see detail in all the type coins. IMO it is not bad for being 4.5 feet away and hand held. There may be some anti-shake processing in the camera or it may have a short exposure time. Thanks for letting me share & I’ll post more coins later. Very best regards, collect89
I grew up shooting film too, but I'll tell ya, you can't beat digital for cost effectiveness. It's also nice that you can see your results right away instead of hitting the one hour photo, not to mention the ease of transferring the finished product to a site such as this....:smile Nice pics Collect89.
I know a lot of die hard film camera users that swear they will never go digital...until they get their first digital camera, then they're hooked. I know. I'm one of those guys. Nice pictures. I'm still working on perfecting my coin pics.
Still working on my pics. also. Here's one of mine that I noticed someone's using as theirs on another site.
Lookin' Good Lookin' Good, C~89. You might want to try shooting in a room without the pink ceiling, tho. Cut my teeth on silver based light traps. Then straddled the digital barrier by turning my slides into digital files back in the 80's to do planimeter work. Since my eyes are "color defective" I really like having modern software (some good stuff out there that is FREE now) that allows using numbers to shift & balance colors without wasting all that good water. I also like the digital ability to "reprint" someone else's stuff. I also hate the digital ability to "reprint" someone else's stuff. So, here is your photo back at ya without so much pink ceiling in it. or is that a tungsten source, so use a wratten 87 filter ....or.....page XXX in the camera manual where you have to do a grey card color balance.....or..... oh...never mind. What software ya got? There are many suggests here if you search CT. Now off to watch some March Maddness!
Thanks for looking & sharing your comments. Do you think the Walker is better than MS60 :goofer: ? I know that is a no-brainer but how good do you think it is? Today I am in Athens & have time to shop for coins at the Plaka. Wish me luck.
A few suggestions The overall clarity of the photos is good but the lighting needs to be adjusted. First, you are not going to get results with incandescent bulbs. You need to use either halogen, florescent, or OTT lights. Buy two gooseneck lamps and the bulb of choice (I use florescent) and place them pointing straight down at 10 & 2 o'clock in reference to your coin. Your current lighting is not portraying the correct color or luster. The coin appears pink and polished when it is probably silver and fully lustrous. Here is what your uncropped photo should look like. Notice that the light source should not overlap the actual surface of the coin, but should come very close to the rim. If you can't get enough light on the coin without overlapping the coin, then your camera is too close to the coin and is blocking the light. Ideally, you will need the camera at least 6 inches away from the coin in order to get enough light. Rockdude, You are tilting your coin too much. When tilting the coin into the light, use another slabbed coin or something thinner. Too much tilt will always result in an unnatural appearance IMO.
Thank you for the advice. I was using two Reveal incandescent bulbs. In about a week, I will photograph the same coin with some different lighting & post the pics. This will be done at first without changing the white balance using the camera's automatic setting. I hope it is OK if I copy & paste your suggestion above to the recent thread on Numistography.
Thanks for the info. I'm currently using two of the goose neck halogen lights and find that the camera does get in the way at times and needed to tilt it just for a shot not really caring about the angle.
1st grade photo's 89!! See that Capital type set holder,A buddy of mine just found a half case of them.But I sure most will sell this weekend Coin show in Kentucky I think he said
I grew up shooting film, too. In fact, my fist SLR was a manual Canon I purchased in 1979 and used continuously until I purchased a Nikon D70 DSLR in 2005. Digital is fantastic for convenience and cost effectiveness, but I must say I have not taken digital coin photography seriously and have used my DSLR almost exclusively for images of my wife and our girls.
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I was speaking of generic regular incandescent bulbs which have a yellow color. White incandescent like Reveal bulbs are fine.
