If I need to take pictures of coins, which do you suggest, and what power? Also, what should I expect to pay? Thanks a lot.
oh yeah. Its very difficult, I don't have a loupe so I stick the lense right up on the small, more powerful part of the magnifying glass,with the "super macro" mode on. The pictures turn out ok, but nothing to be proud of. And its hard to do. And I'd imagine it would be quite funny to watch also. Im somewhat embarrased to admit this. I would get a loupe if i were you,don't know what size though. I would like to get one soon. Good luck-mike
Mike - you shouldn't need to add in a magnifying glass with the camera's "super macro" feature engaged! Bizarre (or it's just a cheap camera or somehow you're experiencing "operator error" )!
the_man12, Separate the two -- 1). If you want to take photographs of coins, there are many threads on this site that can give you pointers on how to do that. You will need a macro lens in order to do it justice so you can get up close, but the lighting will be the particularly hard part to get right depending on whether you are photographing a blast white silver coin or a darker copper coin. Don't try to photo through a magnifying glass and certainly not through a loupe. 2). If you want to get up close and personal with your coins, not for photography's sake, but to see the details, then I would suggest a loupe. I tried for quite a while to use a large magnifying glass, but it just didn't allow me to see the detail in the coin clear enough ... certainly not enough to attribute varieties and see all the die breaks, doubling, etc that I wanted to see. I went with a wide view loupe which allows me, in the right light, to be able to see all the detail I need while still seeing the whole surface of the coin. I went with a 10x loupe, but I know others go somewhat smaller. The loupes are not expensive in the scheme of things. Hope this helps. John
I thought that it was wierd that I needed the magnifying glass with the s-macro engaged, but with-out it they just don't turn out. I've spent hours alternating camera settings and lighting and everything. In not a fan of the camera, its an 8 megapixel Olympus. I don't think its me, but it very well could be. I'm a lernin
This is Mark Goodman's site. http://www.coinimaging.com/ I asked basically the same Question last week. This link was given to me by a CT member and it is very helpful.
That depends on what you want to do. If you want the entire coin in the pic then you need a larger diameter glass like the ones here - LINK - If you want closeup details of just part of the coin then you need a loupe 7-10x. But in all honesty, you would be far better off just getting a new camera that has the macro function.
I have both a loupe,it was quite cheap really,about 10 bucks and a larg magnifying glass,its probably about five inches wide and pretty think, but i havn't tried taking at picture of coins through it,i use the macro feature on my camera and stand back,that usealy works really well.just try not to stand close or it will come out really blurry
I don't have the macro feature on my camera. I have a magnifying glass that works but it has scratches all over it so the pictures come out bad. I was just wondering if a loupe would do the job better before I go out and buy another magnifying glass.
hmmmm... I'm not sure. And since I also have a camera without macro, I'm starting to wonder about this too...
I use a 10x and I just bought a 30x, and I would advise Bausch & Lomb Hastings Triplet. The 10x should be enough to do the job...but I haven't tried my 30x yet = )
