Decent camera to take coin pictures

Piece of cake. So then you are electronically setting the ISO of the camera's sensors (asuming I'm sure that your within the capability of the hardware) so that the light meter readings continue to use the same ISO settings as they would if you had film: ie: they made the sensor backward compatable to the old film standards for sensitivity.


Ruben

 

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To Gemstate. Have you noticed that you asked a simple question and look what you started. I believe you said you presently have a Fuji digital camera. However, it is not real great at close ups. My suggestion to you is to stick with a camera you already know a little about. Just upgrade to the S5000 or better yet the S7000 Fuji. The S7000 has two Macro settings and will take massively good close ups. The S7000 is good for up to 6.3 Megapixels but as someone alread noted you only need about 1 or 2 for coin photos. Not sure about your model but the S5000 and S7000 have 2 card capacities. One is the XD card and the other is the Compact Flash. No need to carry a spare card in case one fails. With a 512KB of each you can take virtually thousands of photos. Both take 4 AA batteries of either recharge or Alkalines. Both have a 55 mm filter ring for additional filters and lenses. Both have built in and add on flash capabilities. No need to buy additional lenses and have to change them all the time. The best thing is the prices have dropped substantially since Fuji came out with the S9000. Not sure about the S5000 but even the S7000 is now really cheap.
As I said though you are already familiar with a Fuji so I suggest stick to that brand.
If you want to just check out some great camera stuff I would suggest B & H. Thier web site is www.bhphotovideo.com They are probably the world's largest photo organization.

 

Everyone has responded with a wealth of information... I have tried everythign that was suggested and my photos came out still looking ... well just not as crisp, clean and close up as the beautiful ones that have been posted in this thread. I have a Sony Cybershot (i think) 7 mega-pixel. In the end, i think it goes well beyond just the camera when trying to take a good picture - alot, a very lot depends on the knowledge of the person operating the camera. PHD's (push here dummy) cameras are easy for family photos, but to get good pictures of coins and their details, the operator needs to have an 'eye' for what is needed. So like in my case, if the directions given in this thread dont get you the desired results right off, i wouldnt advice you to think that a new camera is needed, just practice.

BTW .. did i mention what awsome pictures everyone posted... beautiful pictures of nice coins!!!!

 

I have this exact camera. get the tripod. Put it over the coin, very close. Make sure you press the rose or flower symbol on the back of the camera where the thumb control is. turn OFF the flash (the lightning bolt). Hold the button down half way for a second and let the camera focus on the coin. Then press it all the way.

Ruben

 

If you don't have a tripod or some other means to hold your camera, you'll probably never get great clarity in your photos. Some people I know have actually built a stand for the camera to sit facing face down with slightly adjustable legs for height. Another thing is always sufficeint lighting. If the weather is decent where your at try taking photos outside. Put a coin on a dark object such as a bar-b-que grill (unlite) or a car hood. If your car is not dark, use a neighbors car. Just don't get caught. Try not to take the photos in direct sunlight. If you hold the camera in your hands, take a deep breath, hold your breath and take the photo. The reason for holding your breath is that if you are breathing, your chest is expanding and contracting and moving your arms also. This reaction continues to your hands and even people that have steady hands will get some movement from breathing.
If everything you'll read here still fails, then I would suggest a few Martinis. That will not improve the photos but you won't care as much.

 

http://www.mrbrklyn.com/coins/dsc00032.jpg

 

JustCarl,
Wow... what you said.... I'd like to thank everyone for their input on this. I hope that this will help me make a good decision. Thanks again all and include more info and tips if you have them.

Gem

 

I've learned a heckuva lot from this thread. Great stuff.

The only other advice I'd give is, when you settle on a camera, play! Take a bazillion pics. Play with every possible setting - run through a range of aperture and exposure. Log everything, so you can see what settings give you what effect in the pic. Different coins photograph differently - copper photographs differently than silver, and silver coins have differing degrees of reflectivity depending on grade and finish. I don't use the same settings for a circulated Morgan as for a BU one, and die cracks/errors require yet different settings.

Along with the camera, get more than one memory card, and a card reader for your computer. That will allow you to review pics from one session, while keeping the camera set up and operational. You don't need humungous cards - a couple 128's or 256's will suffice for this process.

Another consideration for someone who takes a lot of pics is a backup process. Do you have a CD or DVD burner? If not, it's time to get one. Back up your pics regularly, based on how much work you're willing to have to repeat if your harddrive crashes. I have all my images in two places on my home network, separate harddrives on separate computers. Most are also duplicated on my laptop. I burn two identical backup CD's a week (well, now they're DVD's because of the size of the data) of my important stuff, including pics.

Many of us are using our computers for significantly-important aspects of our lives - I pay almost all of my bills online - and don't spend a lot of time considering the ramifications of losing all the data we've accumulated. Keep it in mind.

 

Ruben, the AE-1 is a great camera (still is). I started with an A-1 (the AE-1's big brother) many, many years ago. Still have it actually, and a few lenses, but most of the set up I built before I starting doing it professionally was sold. I can't recall the last time I used film and only recently bought something other than a point and shoot. I think it might be fun to go back to what I used to do (just have fun with cameras).

I had a close look at what you posted above and have come to the conclusion that, for the most part, it is focused near the top and you simply have reached the limitations of the equipment. Here's a *really* quick shot I took to try to get a comparison.

Camera: Canon DRebel w/ cheap $100 lens, manually focused
Tripod: Snoopy stuffed animal and shoe box
Lighting: Office window
ISO: pushed to 400

Image is cropped and I focused on the same place you did, and the lens gets you to just under 11 inches, so it's close enough for this, but not close enough to get any more detail (parts of a coin, etc.)

http://www.hosthideout.com/images/other/morgans.jpg

Ultimately, if you want better images, you're going to have upgrade the equipment (as opposed to getting filters, etc.)

 

<<Image is cropped and I focused on the same place you did, and the lens gets you to just under 11 inches, so it's close enough for this, but not close enough to get any more detail (parts of a coin, etc.)

http://www.hosthideout.com/images/other/morgans.jpg

Ultimately, if you want better images, you're going to have upgrade the equipment (as opposed to getting filters, etc.)>>


Wow - great detail, very crisp. That particular photo that you picked for some reason focused on the label on the face of the slab instead of the coin. there are some of the Barbara which are clearer. There is a double die on the bottom of the Barbara which was drivin me crazy until I finaly looked at the coin under my magnifying glass to discover - Low and Behold! It was "out of focus in real life as well!". then I realized it was a mechanical doubling on the date and on other parts of the coin as well

Keep in mind that I have nothing personally at stake with this. I have nothering at stake with my camera - its just a point a click jobbie that I brought. The Camera was about 4-6 inches from the coin in many cases.

 

It's the camera I think I did just about what you did (as far as set up, lighting, etc.) It was just a 3 minute photoshoot, heh. I'm not sure what the problem is. You posted one (the peace dollar one) that was pretty good. The rest have been really furry (and the label isn't in focus either so I don't think that's it). Maybe you're too close. For better cameras (SLR types), they make magnifying viewfinders which is really what you need when doing close up work (that any everything else that people have talked about).

Check out that Peace Dollar one you posted on page one. that one is 100x better than the Morgan image, etc. I'd try to replicate that, but like I said, the above image was taken with a relatively inexpensive DSLR (first gen DRebel) and if you like your AE-1, then I think you'll like one. You can also buy a cheap adapter ($40) that will allow a DSLR like the Rebel to accept your FD lenses. Not that sticking crappy quality glass in is the best option, but it's a cheap option to buying EF lenses. Canon makes an adapter as well, but it's $250-ish.