Decent camera to take coin pictures

Hi,
Just wanted some input on what type of digital camera works best for taking pictures of coins in a decent price range. I have a fuji finepix 3800 and I can't seem to be able to get good pic's. Maybe I'm doing something wrong... but I need to get a newer camera anyway sooooo..... any suggestions???

Thanks

 

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I have a Sony Cypershot 7.1 megapixel with a zieler lens. It's not bad although I wish I had the money for a more camera like camera and not one so automated.

See http://www.mrbrklyn.com/coins/ for some results especially something like this:

http://www.mrbrklyn.com/coins/barabara_1915_obverse.jpg

 

Hey guy's... for most coin pics all you need is ~2MP shoot in jpeg basic and walla... the only catch is the need for macro/micro focusing. Most modern digatal cameras have some sort of macro or telephoto. You have a minimal focal distance with the lens you use..read the manual and it will tell you! I suggest cutting a piece of string or tape it to the bottom of your camera and measure each time for the correct focal distance. Your pics will be sharp and clear. Use any 3rd party software to enlarge them after you crop so you can show detail. Remember that resolution provides how much you can enlarge the shot before distortion on an individual pixel level occurs. The higher the MP the greater the resolution. I personally use a nikon 6.1 MP D-100 with an array of lenses, close up lens as in 1,2,3 and 4T normally with a 105mm or 60mm f 2.8 Nikor lens.
That does the trick...

Good luck..

RickieB

 

Hope you dont mind my input but all I use is a Kodak Easyshare cx6330 on the closeup setting with a 10 loupe magnifying glass on the lens. Works wonders for coins. cheap camera (well cheap enough) and a $5 loupe. lol

 

Hey Hammerhead.. thats great.. your camera has a close up built in.. or what is refered to as a built in macro. Using the loop to magnify the coin still allows for focal distance adjustment because of that cool feature...whatever works...well is just that, it works..nice going!

RickieB

 

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/5094/wheats0101ue.jpg Does ok for under 200.00 I'm sure their are better ways, but I'm saving money for coins.

 

I too use a Kodak Easyshare (CX7430).

RickieB is correct that it has a built in macro setting. The most important thing I've found is to use a tripod. Mine was a free throw-in with the camera, but could be purchased for about $5. (it is about 5" tall and is just 3 flexible legs with a screw that goes into the base of the camera). Once it is in macro mode and on a tripod and focussed, then be sure to use a timer delay to make sure that there is absolutely NO camera wiggle.

Beyond that it is all about proper lighting, and that just takes some practice and trial and error. (use GE Reveal bulbs, for the most accurate coloring).

 

I just bought some macro lenses for my dad's Sony Cybershot (the 8mb version). It doesn't do very well close up. Hopefully these will allow me to back off and get more light on the coin and a sharper image.

 

You have to decide what's acceptable. Hammerhead's shot is close, but much of the picture is out of focus, and what is in focus looks out of focus due to poor quality. Technically, it's a very bad image (various reasons), but... it might be good enough for what you want

mrbrklyn's shot is BIG, but other than that... not in focus (again, if it is, the quality is so poor that you wouldn't know). He actually has some better shots on the site that look like they've been done with the same setup, so that wasn't the best example.

Mind you, I'm not trying to insult anyone, nor their pictures. I'm just talking technical.

To do quality macro work on a budget you need a decent lens. Some of the point and shoots actually have pretty decent lenses (for being so small), but most often you'll get better results with a larger lens. The DSLRs are really coming down in price and you can pick up a DRebel or Nikon for under $700 (with a starter lens which actually is quite decent). That gets you in the neighborhood, but "close focus" and macro isn't quite good enough for coins. It's close, but it's not that close. You can crop if the resolution is high enough, so for many this will probably work.

If you want to go beyond that though, you need an extension tube. If you've never seen one and buy it, don't be too shocked when it comes. It's a hole, nothing more. There's no glass, it extends the back of the lens. You can also get some screw on magnifying filters in various sizes (1.5x, 2x, etc.) which will get you close, but is the cheap way to do it. Results often are fair. A combo of an extension tube and those filters and you'll see lines you never knew were on the coin.

Just keep in mind a few things... judge a lens on performance, not price. There are decent lenses for under $200, despite what some people think. An extension tube will yield better results than screw on magnifying filters or shooting through a loupe, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper. Echoing what was said before... tripod and release or self timer. When you magnify things, every vibration is also magnified so these items are not optional.

If you see images and wonder why yours don't look like that, don't worry. It's very possible that the image was taken using $5-10K worth of lighting equipment and a camera and lens that cost more than your car. The most expensive lens I've ever owned cost over $6K (for a Hassy), and that was just one lens.

If you enjoy photography (mabe flowers and that sort of thing), then I think you'll find extension tubes and those cheap filters to be a good purchase.

 

http://www.mrbrklyn.com/coins/barabara_1915_D_obverse_very_clear.jpg
http://www.mrbrklyn.com/coins/dsc00026.png

 

The 2nd one is probably about as good as you'll get with whatever you're using. To tighen it up more, you'd have to invest in some better equipment. The first one is just big, but it's not sharp, similar to the other one you posted. Unless you have a real need to get something better than this, then it's fine IMHO.

One more thing to think about... lighting tends to look the most natural when coming from the top (more like the first picture in the above post) as opposed to coming in from the side. You'd reflect it to give it side lighting, same as you'd do a person in the studio (expose for the face, top/back light should be a couple stops over).

Sadly I sold all of my expensive equipment (and 99.9% of the cheap stuff) many, many years ago and don't have camera, lenses, or lighting to post something. I'll be trying to do it on the cheap as well, as I have no urge to get back into that business, and thus won't be buying any of that again. If you're in Brooklyn though you could rent some things out for a day or two and play without having to shell out loads of cash.

 

Well, the first one has so much detail that it exposes things which are not visible to my naked eye! I personally can't see how it can get more focused, but I an not a professional.


Its possble that what you see as lack of focus is actually a double die

Ruben

 

I can also whip out my weapon of choice, my Cannon AE-1. I wish I could strap a digital scanner to it. Now that set of lens are the boss.

Ruben

 

Historically Canon digicams have owned the best macro features in the business. Even the less-expensive PowerShots are capable of taking perfectly decent coin pics - my teenager's elderly PowerShot A60 does a fine job, except I can't pry it away from him very often. :smile

I'm currently using a Minolta Z2, purchased for the opposite end of its' capability - long zoom and telephoto - and it still does OK:







These are all downsized to approximately 25% of original, and in sharp focus at full size. As important to successful photography as a good camera is, lighting is equally important. The weapon of choice for lighting seems to be the GE Reveal bulb. I use 2-120w Reveal R40 floods in homemade rigs involving circular-shield clamp lights wired with dimmers, and I play with location and angle depending on how I want the coin to appear.

Your camera wants to have adjustable aperture up to the 8.0 range or so, adjustable exposure time, and preferably a custom white balance function so you don't have to correct for that afterwards. As you go smaller with aperture (higher number), you also need to lengthen the exposure to get enough light into the shot. The advantage of this is that you get better depth of field with smaller apertures, allowing you to tilt the coin a little to avoid reflection from the lighting. Most of my shots are at f8.0 and about 1/2 second exposure. I'd get the same brightness at f3.2 and 1/60 second, for instance, but the coin would have to directly face the lens and in very tight shots you'd still run the chance of the depth of field not catching both devices and fields on the coin - that screws me up when trying to get a sharp shot of a coin with die cracks.

The bottom pic above was taken at f3.2, sharply focusing the leaf while blurring the background. f8.0 would probably have focused the whole field, but at the cost of lengthened exposure which might have cost me a sharp pic of the leaf since it was moving in the wind.

I personally have my heart set on a Canon S2-IS. It's got an incredible macro capability, being able to sharply focus a subject which is touching the lens, while having a 12x zoom and image stabilization for me to use at NASCAR races. You can get one for $400-ish.

 

It was the case that you had to adjust the time for light conditions and apature for film. How does this translate for eletronic camera?

Ruben

 

I don't own a film camera. Any decent digicam has the same adjustability. All my pics are digital.

 

Hey Ruben...
Set your camera to Manual mode and you can set the exposure time and shutter speed. If you have a light meter..meter the face of the coin. With any metal object you must keep in mind the angle of reflectance. In other words if you light strikes the object it will reflect off of it at the same angle. Knowing this, you can eliminate glare or hot spots on the metals surface.
Good luck!

RickieB

 

You guys are missing the issue. With film you use a light meter and adjust the shutter speed according to the ambient light, amputute and the ***FILM SPEED*** in order to get the necessary exposure or the proper development of the film.

The question is, "How does a filmless electronic camera translate the light expore equations traditionally used in film?"

Ruben

 

BTW my cheap camera has no manual mode

 

Hey Ruben... Let's not get excited now...LOL here is how it works. With film you have an emulsion on the film plane. The light coming in through the lens reacts with that emulsion to burn an image. The emulsion is what is light sensitive and therefore rated by ASA or ISO numbers. The lower the number the more light it takes to react with the emulsion therefore the more intense the colors as in the Fugi Velvia ISO 50 film. AS with aperature setting, film ISO doubles as well making it easy to understand. A 400 ISO film speed is for fast action and a 800 ISO is really sensitive to light and is used with candle light and other night time photography.
The digital camera has a CCD thats it sensor. It also has a built in meter that provides a wide range of light metering scenes. The light enters the same thru the lens and strikes the sensor and is recorded in the pixels in RGB (Red, Green and Blue) the primary colors. Some digital cameras (high end) have a CYMK setting for commercial printing, however, RGB Adobe 1998 works well in 95% of applications. Either way you go, a film camera can be set to manual and you can increase or decrease your parameters (you are in control)! With a digital camera, when you set it to manual mode you are over riding the camera functions so you basicly use your light meter (hand held) to determine an ISO for you. Simply put say you want to have a sensor speed of 250 ISO, set that figure on your meter, face the meter toward your lens (at or next to the coin) fire your strobe or what ever lighting you have and look at the suggested f stop for your lense. Thas it..now aint that easy?

RickieB