I've posted several pictures of coins on the forum. Most have been taken with my camera phone and while detailed, they haven't done well with representing the coins true color and characteristics. Because, I would rather spend my budget on coins than expensive photo equipment, I decided to take a chance on a light box kit which includes the light diffusion box, some different backgrounds, a mini tripod and a couple of really bright led lights that can be positioned around the box. Here are a few of my first pics using my point and click Panasonic Lumia. I took pics of common coins that everyone would be familiar with. The standing Liberty really came out great with the stars in the shield showing nicely even with a well worn coin and the 1937 S while cleaned (non abrasive and non acidic) shows the color well that came from a quite dull coin. What do you folks think, and I know don't clean coins! But ugly low values I do like to experiment with and I like this new cleaner. I have red, maroon and black backgrounds and haven't tried them yet but will soon! My thoughts are not bad for just a bit over 40 bucks!
Nice looking images. My suggestion would be to try and get directly over the top of the coin when photographing it. That way you are shooting straight down on it and it appears circular rather than oval. If you are not able to get directly over the top of it, then perhaps place a small object under the coin to tilt it. This is one of the most important first steps to getting a great image. The next part will be experimenting with lighting positions.
Nice. Considering the alleged quality of my photos, that's something I might have to try out. I'll look forward to seeing your experimentation
Echoing jtlee321 you really must get directly overhead of the coin. I use a tripod but I spent a lot less than $40 for my photos. Practice a lot. That will help. Heck, look at coin photography as a side hobby. It can be fun and gives you another way to play with your coins!
JTlee....Beautiful pictures! Thanks for the advice...without question you can call yourself an expert! Yeah I've been battling the overhead issue. My mini tripod is a bit tippy and it's hard to get proper non glaring light when the camera is so close overhead. Though maybe a slightly taller mini tripod would work. I've been working on angles to try to get the best direct picture. I notice that in macro mode even a slightly less than direct picture can cause fuzziness on the far side of the coin. That said, I am very happy with the way the actual color of the coins have come through so well. With the cleaned coins you can see that there are patches of tarnish remaining and the coin while not retaining mint luster, does have a nice color and shine which shows that no acidic solutions nor anything more abrasive than a cue tip was used. And again the cleaned coins are for my own collection and if I ever did sell them in a lot I would indicate cleaned... To just have a system to work with makes the 40 bucks more than worth it! Will share more pics as I explore.
Check out the goodwill shops for a cheapo tripod. I'm assuming you're using something 'light' like a point-and-shoot, or cell phone, so the tripod doesn't have to be all that sturdy. I've run across many in my travels, but not something strong enough to safely hold my DSLR. I do enjoy looking though.
Actually I think calling it a light box may be misleading. The box is basically a foldable translucent white box 16" X 16" with bright LED tripod lights that can be positioned around or above it. The lighting is diffused by the panels which takes away the shadows and harsh glare. So the light is coming from the top and sides in these pictures. The trick for me now is to determine the perfect angle where I can get a direct shot of the coin with the limitations of my current tripod (not able to position for direct overhead pictures. For these pictures I had the coin near the right side of the box with lighting from the top right and almost directly above (held the light and used the timer on the camera).
Well, that's what *I* call a light box. You don't use them to apply lighting, you use them to apply diffusion to your lighting. I'm not really a fan of them, but whatever leads you to better results is a good direction to go in.
