WE all know that good lighting is critical to getting good photos of our coins. My question is how important is the color temperature of the lights? I have read and been told that they should be between 5000 and 5600 degrees Kevin. What would happen if you used lights that were 6000 degrees Kevin? Wghat adjustments to the camera settings would you need to make, if any? Could you addjust for this in post processing using photoshop or other similar package? Thanks, G.E.
Most digital cameras today have several settings for various lighting (and temperature) conditions, along with the preview screen to show you what the end result will be. Just pick the one that gives you the result in the preview screen that most closely represents the original and that's it. My cheap Canon SD1000 has an automatic preset, five lighting presets and a custom setting where various aspects can be adjusted. And, as you suggest, the end result can always be adjusted with photo processing software. Don't overthink the "problem."
If you want the true color of the coin under any lighting, just set your custom white balance under the lighting you're using and then the color temp won't matter. In the aquarium hobby, it's known that a 6000k bulb is like a midday sun, or yellow in color. 10,000k is white. 20,000k is blue and 14,000k is in the middle. If you used 20,000 k over a coin, it will make it look blue, for example. If you set your custom white balance under that 20,000k, it tells the camera that this is real white under this light, the camera will adjust and you can take a picture under that light and still get the real color of the coin. To do this, you select custom WB on your camera, put a white sheet of paper or something pure white under the full lighting. Fill your camera's viewfinder with the paper and hit set, or ok. Just remember that your camera is now set to that light until you switch back to auto or change the custom setting again. If you try it, I think you'll like it. I don't know what benefits color temps really have on a coin unless you're trying to make it look different from what it is. I think I'm getting Numismatic Photography by Goodman for Christmas. Maybe I'll be more educated then.
