I tried searching, is there a definitive thread on how to photograph coins?

I really expected this would have been in the FAQ section, so apologies for my ineptness at finding such a topic if it exists. I have good camera equipment (mid to high-range digital body, 105mm and 200mm macro lenses) but so far my attempts at taking coin pictures have failed miserably. I'm looking for the definitive "how to take coin pictures" topic on this board, if such a thing exists. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

And if there is a good topic, might it be a good idea to move into the FAQ area?

 

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Having a tripod helps keep the camera steady, which allows you to take long exposure shots.

But I think most people have a flatbed scanner that they use. It seems to work the best.

 

I have a tripod. I have several, actually, much to the chagrin of my budget process. With macro (also known as "micro") lenses it's almost imperative that a tripod be used simply because of the depth of field issues. Then again, for a coin picture the depth of field should not have to be too deep because coins are for the most part fairly flat. You only need a very shallow depth to capture the entire coin.

I also have tried a scanner but I'm not happy with the way they come out. I have an older HP flatbed that does a good job when I'm scanning my cover art for my music collection, but on coins so far I have not found the right tweaks or settings.

 

Try this..........

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/numismatic-photography-2nd-edition-mark-goodman/1015967004

Chris

 

There is a tremendous amount of information describing how to take good coin photographs. You may use the search feature at the top right of this page & type "photo" or "photography", etc. I suspect that you will be overwhelmed with the amount of good data.

If you send me a PM, then I will gladly give you my cell phone number & we can talk about taking good coin photos. I am not an expert as some people at CT. However, we could discuss the basics in 5-10 minutes. Here are three photos that I took & posted at CT today:

 

Oh BTW, the trick is to make the coin in the photograph look like the coin in-hand. It is easy to make the coin in the photo look better or worse than the actual coin.

 

There is no definitive "How to..." for this. Read Mark Goodman's book, practice with literally many thousands of shots and then you may find a good working technique. Good luck.

 

love the Oregon Trail!

 

Frankly I did that, and read about two pages of topics without really finding the "definitive" guide. I am really quite surprised that there isn't one, given the popularity of this site. That's why I asked for help.

That's what I have, other than I have the longer focal length macro lenses from Nikon. I have had the 200mm Micro for many years, and got the 105mm for Christmas this past year.

I am solidly in the "suck" category right now.

Thanks to everyone for the help so far.

 

i am currently using my cellphone and 2 desk lamps. my pictures have been coming out quite well. the biggest thing as others have mentioned is the lighting. depending on the type of coin or if it is slabbed will determine lamp position. that is at least my observation so far when taking my own pictures

 

I'm getting some good info from the thread "Pictures Are Frustrating Me". Check it out. :yes:

 

Perhaps I should comment for the OP on how these particular photos were taken.

Camera is a standard Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS point & shoot which was set up as follows:

Flash: off
ISO: standard 400
Timer: set for 2-seconds
Lighting type: set to Fluorescent
Zoom: none
Resolution: large 12 MP 4000 x 3000
It is not necessary to manually enable the macro feature on my Cannon point & shoot camera. I've got the focusing system set to automatically focus on the center of the field of view.

The coin slab was set on my desk at a slight angle (~10-degrees). The ceiling lighting is about 2 meters above the table. The ceiling lighting consists of a few fluorescent light fixtures. No other lighting (Tungsten or day light) was used. As a rule you should not mix lighting types when taking a photo.

The camera was hand-held & positioned about 0.4 meters above the table. The shot was essentially straight down onto the coin but positioned so that the glare from any one of the ceiling lamps was only on the plastic (and not affecting the slab label or coin areas). My elbow(s) were touching the table in an attempt to steady the camera. When the camera was positioned where the image looked nice, the shutter release was pressed (slowly). By pressing the shutter release slowly, the camera automatically set its focus onto the coin prior to taking the picture. Since the timer was set to 2-seconds, the camera delayed taking the photo a couple seconds when the camera was being hand-held as still as possible. I only had to take one photo because the image looked good in the camera's view finder. Often with copper coins, I find it necessary to take 2-3 images with different lighting reflecting from the coin & then later determine which one image does the coin justice. [If you're seriously taking photos then you may hook-up a laptop & really review the images while you are setting-up the shot].

Once the image was taken, it was edited using Microsoft Picture Manager. Picture Manager was used to rotate the image and crop it to the dimensions of the slab. Picture Manager was used to compress the file size to something less than 270 K. Sometimes, the photo editor is useful to correct the color, saturation, and compress the image file. When extensive photo editing is required I personally use a different photo editor purchased from Adobe. You can use whatever photo editor you have available. If your colors look odd, then try the "instant fix" feature in your photo editor or you can adjust the lighting settings in your camera.

There are several nuances & sometimes significant changes to this procedure that work well with certain coin types. Adjust this process for proofs, cameos, toned, dull, shiny, copper, silver, etc.

 

Thanks for the detailed notes, much appreciated.

 

You and I both sir. Reading your posts makes me think I wrote them. I have a digital SLR, a copy stand, remote controls for the camera, etc and am solidly a suck photographer as well.

Its so bad I am begging our ancient coin club to have a presentation on coin photography. If I actually learn anything and maybe get an "aha" moment I will be sure to pass it along.

Us "suck" photographers have to stick together.

 

A photo editing program to try is Irfanview. It has some nice filters and color adjustments if you need it. It is a step below the indepthness of Photoshop and GIMP but a bit beefier than the standard editing programs. And it's free!

 

Link to the topic:

Pictures Are Frustrating Me

 

My set-up is a Canon Powershot G10, tripod, and a fluorescent desk lamp. I crank the camera down as close to the coin as possible without blocking the light, use manual focus, turn off all the lights in the room, and move the lamp around so the contrast on the coin isn't too wide or too flat. I use the smallest aperture on my camera (f/8) because the manual focus preview isn't perfect so I want a wide depth of field, and because fluorescent lamps flicker a bit and I want the white balance to be as good as possible. As for the exposure, I use center-weighted metering and usually the meter is spot-on. With some coins I'll also take a back-up shot at 1/3 or 2/3 stops underexposed, especially if I'm having trouble with blown-out highlights, and then adjust during processing. I don't have a remote shutter release so I use the 2-second timer.

 

I'll take a photo of my set-up at home. It is a little bit nicer & more stable than the free-hand process described in post #13.

 

Another on-going discussion on coin photography:

http://www.cointalk.com/t222171/