So for the longest time I have been trying to capture images of my coins without any luck. I have worked with a few of the best imagers from CT such as Robec and GBroke with limited success. Here is an image I took of my 1901 IHC: I think the image is ok, however when compared to some of the other images you see coming from lets say @robec or @jtee321 well lets just say I am not there yet. So today I am working and while on break I decide I am going to use my iPhone and a few inches of lift blocks and a cheap LED light that I received as a stocking stuffer 3 years ago and I take a few images. I send the images to myself and use Microsoft PowerPoint to edit the image and this is what I get: I can almost kick myself sometimes lol but instead I would prefer to ask what your thoughts are on the images above.
The images look fine. It's the color that bothers me. Which of the two pairs of images, if any, are closest to the true color? Chris
I would guess that the bottom photos are closer to the look of the coin in hand, but I like the top photos more. That said, I take all my coin photos on an iPhone or iPad.
Neither of the images had color adjustments done during the editing process, however the bottom image taken with the iPhone looks more like the coin in hand. I am assuming the coin went through a few cleaning and other nonsense but it was a cheap upgrade when I first started my Type Set collection.
Another point is that the top image was taken using two spot lights while the bottom one was a small LED light. Both types of lights will produce different results.
The top image taken with the Nikon was using a manual white balance. If that was set specific to your lighting, then it should be the one with the most accurate color. Any chance you set a white balance a while ago for something else, and forgot to reset it for this lighting? Also for having two spotlights on it, the coin has very little contrast. Do you have room lights or something else that might minimize the light from these spots? I would make sure the room is dark, and try lowering the lights a bit.
The images look fine. What's all the hub-bub, bub? Or are the images not relating what you see 'in hand'?
LOL its not anything in particular just the fact that I spent so much time trying to figure out how to take images and in 5 min I manage to take decent images with my phone, not even trying to implement all the teachings I received.
That's because - for whatever reason - Apple just_plain_nailed the firmware for their cameras with regard to coin photography. IPhones are good at imaging coins and easy to use, through the last 3 generations, and that's all there is to it. Both sets are a credit to the cameras which shot them. There's an upper limit to the quality available from either, and you are pretty much exploiting that limit, to your own credit. It's not easy to wring the best effort out of a P&S camera, especially a high-megapixel model like yours. But they do have their limits, and you can't expect to absolutely duplicate the results of someone like Robec who brings dedicated equipment to bear. You can provide sharp, gradable images online - as you did here - and that's about all you really need to ask of a camera.
SuperDave hit the nail on the head. If you're really wanting to go up to the next level in photography, then you need to invest in the proper equipment. It's sort of like taking your daily commuter vehicle to a drag race. Sure you might have a very nice car, but it's not tuned to the specific task you're trying to accomplish. You have to ask yourself, how serious are you about taking your imaging to the next level. Is it worth $500.00 or more to take the next leap? If your answer is yes, there are several people on here, including me who are more than willing to help you on your journey. You can contact @rmpsrpms about obtaining an affordable setup that will get you started down the road. But remember, the equipment is only half the equation. The other half is understanding the science of camera and lighting. You will need to learn the fundamentals of achieving proper exposure. The relationship of aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. How the aperture setting effects depth of field and how far you can push your depth of field before diffraction starts to creeps it's ugly head in. The effect of white balance and how to obtain a proper/custom white balance based on the lighting you choose. I had the fortunate opportunity to learn photography before I got back into coin collecting. When I came across images that I saw from @robec, @SuperDave and @rmpsrpms I was deeply inspired to put my fundamental knowledge of photography into a new direction. Prior to getting into numismatic photography, I was shooting landscape images and sports images. It was a fairly simple matter of applying what I knew and focusing it in a slightly new direction. My learning curve was fairly flat compared to someone coming from the hobby of coin collecting and wanting to start taking photographs of coins with minimal photographic knowledge. Don't take what I am telling you as words of discouragement, rather take them as something to think about. Your skills once you start down this road will develop (no pun intended) rather quickly.
