I am wanting to take some pictures of the coins and paper money I inherited . what I need to know is what type of camera give's the best close-up picture.also what type of back ground ,white? any help will be greatly appreciated thanks Pete
Hello. All I know is that you will need a camera with a "Macro" lens. I'm pretty sure they make scanners that can take really good close ups of coins but not positive.
Pete..several things to consider here before taking photos..you should ask yourself these questions; 1. Since you can post pics with lower resolution for the web usually at 72 dpi, what MP camera should I use? Answer any or most. 2. Its not the camera that takes the image..it is the quality of the lense. True close up are done with a Macro or micro lens usually with a 1:1 ratio or lifesize. These are expensive around 500-600 USD for 105mm f 2.8 Nikor 3. Lighting..most point and shoot digital cameras do not have white balance adjustments..the 4 to 12 MP cameras usually do. Understand the color temperature before using lights..all light is not created equal. 4. Digital means the ability to do high levels of post processing that film labs do with chemicals..photoshop is wonderful at this. 5. How much money do you want to spend to post pics? Are you willing to spend big buck to get better than average shots? If so the buy a 5000.00 Nikon D2x with a 200mm Micro for another 1800.00 and you can go into business. 6. If you have a digital SLR with interchangeable lenses then you already know all of this. I would suggest a low res jpeg with post processing software for good results. Use a good support device if you have shutter speeds of .5 sec and slower...shuch as a tripod. Camera shake is very hard to control at slow shutter speeds. Remember metal is reflective...the family of angle's take front seat here..in other words the angle of incidence is proportional to angle of light striking the object...if light strikes the coin at 45 degree angle.. then it relfects at the same angle...best shots are taken from directly above the coin with light at a 45 degree angle from above with soft light source. Meter the light by selecting the desired f stop an ISO setting for the correct exposure. Bracket bracket bracket!! Good Luck!! Rickie B Innovative Exposures
Rick, I have a Sony DSC-P50 Cyber-shot digital camera. What type of lens should I but to take better close up pictures of coins? Thanks.
Tips for taking pictures of coins Check out this previous thread on taking pictures: Tips for Taking Pictures of Coins There are good tips here.
