I don't understand what the problem is.

I don't understand what the problem is. Just before I take the photo the entire area in the preview window is brightly lit. Afterwards, the photo ends up dark. The background is as white as the background at CoinTalk. I have plenty of light. This problem is really annoying me. Any suggestions?

 

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? Sorry I can't help.

 

See what I mean though, right?

 

If your camera has a manual setting, try that. You'll have to play around with shutter speeds, f-stops, etc. Right now, the camera's meter is registering that the image is too bright and is adjusting accordingly.

 

As far as shutter speeds go, do I want them fast or slow? I don't even know what f-stops are. I am very new at taking coin photos. I've always used a scanner.

 

As TIF said, play around with the manual settings. Don't forget the white balance either - it's not adjusted properly which is why your camera is seeing white as pink.

 

What sort of camera are you using?

 

I use an old point and shoot, but once I discovered that it had some manual settings, the pictures started quite a bit better. The white balance and something called exposure compensation were the only things I really needed to pay attention to (the latter probably because I rely on variable sunlight and not an indoor light source).

 

Nikon Coolpix 8800. It's somewhat old I guess, 2005 it was new.

 

I use a Coolpix as well. I'm not familiar with the 8800 though. Does it have different modes? My camera as an AUTO mode in which I can select WHITE BALANCE in the menu. There are different settings there like daylight, incandescent, etc. I choose MANUAL, in which case the camera prompts me to take a picture of my background, which it then "learns" as white.

 

Oh you need to turn on flash

 

I've been playing around with the white balance settings and it's improved quite a bit so far.

 

Gil...also, the actual images of your coin are quite good - good enough to use with a little bit of editing. I use Paint.NET, which is a FREE open-source editor. Just google it and you'll find downloads. I took your pics and edited them the way I edit mine. Some of this sounds complicated but it really isn't once you've learned a few tools in the software.

First, I used the CURVES dialogue to suck some of the red out of your pics since the white balance wasn't properly adjusted...


Next, I used the CURVES dialogue to brighten up the images by increasing the luminosity...


Then I cropped the images, increased the contrast by 10 points and combined the obverse and reverse into one image. Then I used a paintbrush with white paint to simply paint over the entire background. I then resized the image to a width of 1000 pixels, and since downsizing an image causes a loss of resolution, I used the the SHARPEN tool, 1 point.

All of this took about 15 minutes. Here is the final result. If you want to use Paint.NET to edit your images, I would be happy to talk you through every single step - it's easier than reading the manual, trust me...

 

Good to hear that! And fun coin collecting!!

 

I always use a black velvet non reflective background, a plastic light tent and set my 8 year old Canon to Auto.
Then crop and combine to finish.

 

No. Sorry Andy, but the flash is too much light. It simply floods the entire coin and washes it out. You need lighting sources outside of the camera that you can adjust with the proper angles to take a good pic.

 

Thanks for the lesson..

 

Your camera tries to adjust the overall image so that it's not to bright, not too dark. Since your background is pure white, it dims the whole image, making the coin very dark. This will happen whether you're using a flash or not.

If you use a black background instead of white, the coin will be brighter, possibly too bright.

You'd get the best results by using a grey backdrop that's about the same "brightness" as the coin itself.

The pinkish background tone comes because the camera is trying to set the white balance based on what it sees. If it sees a mostly-neutral-white background with a greenish coin, it'll shift everything a bit toward pink in an effort to compensate.

If your camera has a setting for "exposure compensation", you can set that higher to brighten the image. Most cameras have this setting, but it may be hard to find and use. I think even my cheap cell phone has it, but it's enough of a nuisance there that I rarely bother with it. When I'm shooting with my DSLR, I use it frequently.

Many cameras also let you set a custom white balance by shooting a gray or white object under the same lighting conditions before you take your actual photo. I rarely use that feature in-camera -- I prefer to shoot RAW images, then set their white balance during post-processing -- but you may have it available. If nothing else, you might be able to select a preset white balance corresponding to the kind of light you're using (daylight, incandescent, fluorescent).

 

that's quite an improvement JA!
it may be easier to edit the photos you take with you current settings. i have bad camera and am a bad photographer, using gimp i can usually edit the photos up to mediocre quality pics.

 

There may be a few reasons, could be the camera setting or the lighting setup. the camera should be on macro and flash is off. The f stop should be higher if your photos are coming out too dark and you can also check for the white balance.