I bought a digital camera today for $99 at walmart and the lady told me the fact that it is a 5 zoom it would be great for taking pictures of coins. Well I tried for a few hours today and the pictures basically sucked. Specifically, I'm trying to take a picture of the side of a doubled lettered Adam's Dollar. Does anyone on this forum know if it is just a piece of ..... camera or am I doing something wrong??? In addition, is there any recommendations of what I should look for in a digital camera to take nice close up pictures of coins??? Thanks
First search the board there are several post on taking pictures. Mine still aren't the best, but it took me alot longer that several hours. First see if the camera has a "macro" mode to work with - then get a tripod. Mine got a whole lot better once I got a cheap trip(between 15-25 at circuit city. Then it becomes a matter of playing with the lighting to get it as best as you can.
Like previously stated, Macro Mode and a tripod. as for recommendations, a camera that's capable of focusing while close to the subject. Many "pro-sumer" models have a threaded barrel to attach a close-up set (filters). A close up set will allow you to move the camera much closer to the work. More expensive "professional" models have interchangable lenses - including close-up lenses. (but they're spendy.) Personally, I don't recommend buying a camera for a specific task (like shooting coins) unless you intend to do a lot of that task. Basic "consumer" models are intended primarily for snapshots-for-the-family-album type thing, but they often have enough functionality to allow decent pics of close-ups. before plopping down more money for another camera, check for Macro. It allows the camera to focus much closer than the snapshot mode. Your camera may already be able to do what you want.
Macro - tripod-autofocus I have a Sony Mavica CD-350 camera - takes great close up pic.(I use a 10X eye cup, fits on lens perfect.), if the lighting is right. Also this camera has a resize/trim feature after you have taken the pic. Pop the CD in computer - open Windows Phot Gallery, adjust quality - upload to ImageShack - download to site.
I do agree with adelv_unegv, and if you're not going to be shooting many coins, then you should just get one that does everything you want it to do, and is capable of a few coin shots. I'm not sure what to recommend though, as you didn't mention your price point (is it $100?). There could be a half dozen reasons why you were unsatisfied with the pictures you took, but keep in mind that a photograph is only as good as the glass (the lens) and @ $99, it's probable that the glass... isn't worth much. I used to shoot with lenses that cost over $3,000 (just for the lens). I needed to snap a quick picture of a Morgan the other day and this was taken by holding the coin in one hand, with the camera in the other hand, in low light (on the wrong setting with no correction), manually focused, and... it still came out sharper than 90% of the pictures people post with point and shoots and/or closeup filters...
I use a Samsung digital camera that I got from WalMart. If there is a macro function, I havn't found it yet. To get decent results, I take the picture through the large lense standing magnifier that I have. If you have one of those, try it out. Good Luck
Macro might do it (really, it should), and then you'd crop the image. If I pull out ~600x800 piece, you get the image below (same image, just cropped and I got rid of some of the orange). This shot was taken on *the lowest* resolution for this camera. If I had bumped up the res., then I could have cropped and gotten a smaller area. $100-$400 point and shoots do a remarkable job, for the price. But to expect sharp and clear macro shots from $25 worth of glass (sometimes plastic), is just unreasonable (~$25 being the amount the lens is worth on a $99 camera). Even this lens is only a $100 lens, but again, for the price it does a great job IMHO. What is the model number?
It's a 6.1 megapixel camera that can focus down to 5 cm in macro mode. I saw a picture of a flower (bottom of the round navigator), but I'm not sure if you have to be in manual mode or if you can do it in auto. One source described it as "Auto Macro" which might mean that it decides to macro focus on its own (Lord save you). As for the manual, I've uploaded a copy of it for your camera, which I'll leave up for a week. Read it and it should tell you how to get into macro mode (if you have to) or how it works... samsung s630 manual EDIT: See page 23 and 24 for the different modes and what you can do and can't do.
i have an older digital camera and i dont really want to spend the $$$ on a new one. so i bought something like this. mine only has a light in it. it helps alot. http://cgi.ebay.com/5X-Donegan-Dome...9QQihZ012QQcategoryZ67678QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem this isn't quite it but close. marksman01
I also bought the 630, and it does have Macro which can pe used in either auto or manual mode. The macro button is at the bottom of the large silver control button. I haven't really used mine much yet because I want to set it up on my tripod and run it with an AC adaptor because of battery life. But I can't get confirmation from Samsung on what the current draw of the camera is. I strongly believe the specs in the manual have a typo. I find it highly doubtful that this thing draws two full amps of current from 2 AA batteries. If it does them I'll have to wire it up to an automobie battery charger. I have seen one other persons post of a coin picture taken with the 630, and it looked very good, so once you get some practice in it should work OK for coins.
I took some pictures with my camera. They were not bad when I used the macro function, but as I have no tripod, it gets me a bit difficult to get a good one. When I tried holding the coin in my hands, the coin as samjimmy showed, it appeared as it was moving. Would you recommend a scanner? I also made some tests, but the light and the colors were quite bad. Regards.
I have a very cheap tripod with a tilt arm - works great. That is all you need to take out the movement or blurr. Without that it will be hard to get good shots up close using the macro settings. Good luck Darryl
I hope you don't find this question stupid : Imagine I have a tripod. I suppose that I would need the coin to be vertically to the photo, wouldn't it? But if I need to put it vertically, then the tripod isn't a solution, as I need something else to hold the coin. I know there are some tools, to put the camera horizontally so that putting the coin on a table is enough, but I think they are too expensive just for a pair of photos. Maybe that is what you mean with "tilt arm" (sorry Darryl, but I don't know the meaning for that).
Thank you samjimmy ! I downloaded the manual. Thanks also to Conder101 ! I just really hadn't had the time to play with the camera much, yet. Also, I'm one of those guys that usually don't read the manual. Ego or laziness, eh ....
What you have to keep in mind with macro (and telephoto) photography is that you are magnifying the image. Thus, even small movements are amplified (so to speak) and blur often results. You might try setting the coin (propping it somewhere) and setting the camera on something (small pillow) and using the self-timer. As for using a scanner... well... a scanner produces a certain kind of photo, often pretty flat, straight on, without any hint of luster. It works but it's not ideal (IMHO). Yes, the tilt arm allows you to tilt the camera at any angle. The tripod shold be capable of tilting the camera down completely so you could take a shot of a coin on a table... BUT... you should realize that the height of the tripod may not work with your setup. In other words, it may be too far or close from the table. EDIT: I just realized you'd probably try putting the tripod on the floor and adjusting the height as needed, heh. I don't know why I envisioned you trying to put the tripod on the table with the coin.
