What scanner to use

I'm seeking some guidance as to what scanner(s) to purchase and techniques unique to coin scanning folks may have experienced? Thank you.

 

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Better to choose an affordable point and shoot camera with macro capabilities than to rely on a scanner for taking pics........we are talking coins, correct?

 

Oh, and you left out the 'O' in NY and W.......

 

Scanners will only work for straight on ob/rev shots but I use my Epson V37 for this purpose. It has lot's of bells and whistles to make good photos with, including lighting corrections and lots of other stuff. Of course, as stated above, a macro capability is excellent as is a good scope. I just don't have the camera technique nailed down yet.

 

I prefer just taking photos, even with a cell phone, to a scanner. You get a better representation of the coin with a camera of some sort. Scanned photos also tend to lack luster and make coins look more lifeless.

 

No. It's part of a free-lance proto model rail line New York & Western that is the Tri-State Gateway around NY City: http://www.trainsarefun.com/nyandw/nyandw.htm

Sorry to digress folks, but being "nit-picked" on this is nonsense.

 

Yes coins... But I have quite a few and stamps, paper, etc.

 

I'll take the advice on the camera approach with 16M lens I have. Super, thank you.

 

A scanner does not create lifelike images of a coin. A decent scanner (most of them) combined with appropriate technique (the sharpest results a scanner will give you are usually not at its' greatest optical resolution) will provide a very nice illustration of a coin's technical details. What it cannot do is correctly capture the look and feel of the surface - luster, color, reflectivity.

Quality photographic images of coins require far more complex technique and knowledge of photography. A few point-and-shoot cameras do rather nicely, but modern rigs with big zooms and high megapixel counts are at their worst where we require quality. You'll get better results from a 10 year old 5MP Olympus.

If you've an iPhone - 5 or older, I don't know about the 6's yet - you already have a camera as good for coins as any point and shoot.

 

You may have a tough time capturing luster with a scanner.

I use my phone to take images of the whole coin, and a Dino-Lite to take micro photos.

 

Was thinkin' more NY, Ontario, and Western..... Old Women......

 

Sorry, excuse me......you are blocked.....

 

You nitpicked him on his nick and then blocked him when he called you out? On the subject of blocking, I won't be seeing any more of your posts. You're part of the problem.

 

Well. you won't see this but you are blocked too......

 

And I could care the devil less.....

 

Being very new here, what does this mean? With 25 years on blogs, Compuserve, AOL, etc...

 

How did this thread get so far off the mark of the original OP? Kinda' sad.

 

If anyone could give me a few quick tips I would certainly appreciate it and sorry, not meaning to hi jack this thread. I have a Nikon Coolpix L100 and have only used it for scenery, my digs, barns, trains and such.

 

Thank you. My OP was about "guidance as to what scanner(s) to purchase and techniques". Folks have advised that the camera approach is superior as noted above. My member name created the "nonsense", I guess, not on my end.

 

While a camera is the best way to go, it also requires a bit of work.

I used to use an HP Scanjet 3970 Scanner until Windows Vista came out. HP no longer created a driver for it for Vista or Windows 7.

I have it hooked up to an older XP System but the bulb is getting very tired.

I used that scanner for the following images:



No way the scanner would repeat this since, as I said, it's fairly old (2004).

I've shopped for scanners but it's kinda hard to test drive one that'll do coins. From what I understand, it needs 3d capabilities or else the images (especially in slabs) are out of focus.

I'm afraid that a good quality scanner would run me between $1700 and $2500 and I just don't have that kind of money to blow on something which may or may not meet my needs.

Here's what the scanner does today:



Notice the horizontal streaks? This slab was scanned sideways otherwise the streaks would be vertical and really obvious.

I purchased an Epson V33 which I hate as the scanning bulbs create what looks like an artificial luster which I have no idea on how to correct.



The image above was lightened a bit sooo, I hang on to the HP 3970 which gives (or gave) reasonable out of the box images.