Figured I post this as a new thread. I'm not a camera guy, different field, but as far as lighting goes: use filters between your lighting source and object. A par-can or directional work shop light w/clip works well and they're relatively cheap. Don't use fluorescent bulbs. You can get special bulbs from a camera shop. Some flood lights and regular incandescent lights are not very efficient. That said, I have gone some what steam-punk on my approach. I use old fashion Edison bulbs that I bought on line. Their soft glow is really nice and I hardly need filters at all. Here's some pics: FerroWatt 1910N, Edison Bulb from 1000bulbs.com Par Can Light
Here's some more pics: Work Shop light w/clip Diffuser (I forgot to mention this guy) You can buy lighting gels or white diffusion fabric to keep the glare off. Kind of like in a supermodel photo shoot to reduce glare from the nose, chin, cheek and hair. Same concept except we're photographing hot babes and stud emperors on coins.
If you really want to get into photographing your coins, take a community enhancement or college course on photography. I plan to this summer. And of course, buy a good camera.
I like the post jblonde, but I have to say that many many of the best numismatic photographers around use compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. I personally use LED lighting for direct lighting and CFLs for Axial lighting images. As long as the light has a decent coverage of the spectrum, you will be fine as long as you pay attention to your white balance. What you can't use is a colored light bulb like red, green, purple, etc. But most all standard lighting methods (CFL, incandescent, LED, halogen, Ott, etc) can be used successfully for coin photography as long as you know what you're doing with your camera settings. Can you post your coin images in this thread too so we can have them here all together for posterity?
You are right on the money! The choice is what looks good as a catalogue pic and what looks good as natural in hand or an artistic pic. You're correct, CFL and LEDs give a good total quality look and are excellent for cataloging, but for aesthetic or artistic pics you need to experiment with different lighting aspects. Every coin is different and different combinations of lighting are needed for each coin.
