I'm new to the board and am clueless about photo techniques for coins, although I've posted a few. I've had my wife do the photos for me, as she is a retired commercial artist, knows how to use our old digital camera (a Canon about 7 yrs. old) and has knowledge of how to tweak the photos using Paint Shop Pro. She tries to make the pics look as much like the original coins as possible but the results have been hit and miss. Some coins come out great, some don't. Copper coins with nice mint red or red/brown come out faded & lackluster, looking nothing like the original. Toning on silver coins is another problem. A few pieces come out very close like the 1928 Peace dollar I posted on the US coin thread, others not so hot. I'm thinking that lighting may be the problem. She takes the photos on our dining room table with the overhead lighting on. She mentioned something about building a "light box" to help but before she goes through all that work, I'd like to get some ideas from the other members on how to make the photos better. We have VERY basic cell phones for emergency use, but neither one has photo capability. Any help would be appreciated!
Lighting is almost always the problem. The most sure-fire method is to use a pair of lights, one at around 10-11:00, and one at 1-2:00. The lights should be at as high an angle as you can make them without having the camera/lens block the light from hitting the coin. Light type doesn't matter so much, since you can adjust white balance in the camera or in post processing, but the two lights should be the same type. Point the camera straight down at the coin. You can give the coin a tiny bit of tilt to help with lighting. Lift the bottom (date) side of the coin to tilt it a little toward the light. Not too much or it will be tough getting the whole coin in focus. If you have too many "hotspot" highlights on the coin, add some diffusion over the lights to spread the light out more.
I currently use one of two methods to photograph coins both with using my cell phone. I get passable photos which suit my needs. I built this from watching the youtube video. It took a while to build and there was a lot of guesswork on the measurements. The photos come out OK. I also use this technique which I also found on youtube. The photos come out surprising good for such a simple setup. I'll probably get hammered by the pro coin photographers but it works well for me. I only use my cell phone for the photos.
The Canon model is Power Shot SD1100 IS, 8 megapixel capacity. She probably bought this 8-9 years ago so it's an oldie. Thanks for the tips so far-will try them out next time a have a group to shoot.
I started out with a Canon Power Shot SD1200 IS and achieved favorable results. Lighting, lighting, lighting is the key. RMP gave you some excellent advice. White Balance is also a key factor, so if you're shooting with those over head lights make sure that the white balance is set at 'tungsten'. Welcome to the mix dear fellow.
How close are you from the front of the lens to the coin? If you are very close, then getting lighting in there will be difficult. I have a few tricks you can play but you will need to bring out your craft skills (paper, glue, scissors)...
