Ok I give..lol...these scans are really no good. What kind of camera should I get? I am willing to spend about $85-100 for one. I know nothing about them though... I want a good one for nice big images to see the coin close up Also...I am leary of buying something like this off of fleabay, so it will probably be Best Buy, RadioShack, or something. stainless
Anything with a decent macro and 5 or more megpixels should do......they have really became affordable recently, BUT, even the best camera will REQUIRE a tripod and some decent lighting, keep those in your budget as well. Try for something with an adjustable white balance, and a decent zoom.
Stainless, I cannot be of much help but here is a reference for your search. Dino Lite advertises to get good photos of coins plus other small objects. They look good on the advertisement but I cannot attest to how well they work. There are many different versions of this camera. You will need all the functions and equipment as noted by Arizona Jack. Personally I have thrown a lot of money at this and still I am not satisfied with the results. Good lighting, proper color and the ability to capture closeups is a must. I need to be able clearly capture Attributes of coins to be used to define VAMs. They need to have enough capability to clearly see Die Doubles. So far this has been a major challenge. I have just purchased the OptixCam Summit Series 3.0 Megapixel [OCS-3] to add to my Microscope. It will come in next week I will let you know how it works out. I think your budget may be a little low, but you have to start somewhere. Just be patient with your selections. Check out this YouTube Demo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vo4...mZ350122882815QQihZ022QQcategoryZ48741QQssPag Here is an URL for someone selling these on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/Up-to-330X-Zoom...ryZ48741QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Good luck
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235168465&sr=8-1 Nice camera. Turn off IS.
You can get a Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS ELPH for $180. We got the new consumer reports today in the mail and it was rated the best in the subcompact category. One that I think may be better for you was rated higher and is cheaper than the first, plus it was rated consumers reports best buy for the category. The Canon PowerShot A590 IS costs $140 and has 8 MegaPixels, weighs 8 oz, and does 4x optical zoom. I recommend you go the book store and pick up March 09's Consumer Reports magazine.
I'm 13, lol My Mom and Dad get consumer reports and I saw that on p. 39 they had an article on best digital cameras.
My wife has a Nikon D300. It's a 12 Mpixel camera. Now THAT'S a serious digital camera. I'm allowed to look at it if I don't look too hard. Touch? No way. I, on the other hand, take my coin images with a Nikon Coolpix 995. It's a 3.2 Mpixels. It's got maco capability and manual mode. You can get one on eBay for under $150. And unless you want to count the hairs in Lincoln's nose on a Memorial cent, it will do the job.
Here's a good thread from January with some examples of photos that were taken with particular cameras: http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t46901/
I suggest you do the following: Go to Radio Shack, Best Buy, Kmart, Walmart, Sears, etc. Ask the people at each which they think of is the best for closeup photography. Almost none of them will really know. They are just usually hired of the streets. However, you may just accidently find someone that knows what they are talking about. I don't know where you live but around the Chicago area there are massive electronic stores such as one called Frys or ABT. Many, many others as well. Make a list of the ones that are mentioned the most, right down the prices. Note the return policies on places like ebay, amazon, etc. At any decent store no matter what you can always return almost any product, no postage, no restocking fees, not insurances, etc. Remember asking which anything you should buy will usually get people telling you what they have. For all you know they have no idea of what you need or want and may also not really have that camera. I presently have 5 digital cameras. And here is my thoghts on them. DXG 5 Meg camera is about the same as a kids toy. Should be selling for about $25 and at that overpriced Sony Mavica 88 is outdated but a great camera for tuffness. Used to cost a lot buy now worth about $10. Cannon S410 is fun since it makes noises when you turn it on and take pictures. Lousy close ups. Kids like the noises it makes. Sells for about $100 Samsung L73 is a great camera if I ever can figure out how not to press the wrong things. Purchased for $75. Fuji S7000 if my favorite. Up to 12 Megapixels, has a XD and Compact flash card and at the same time. Two different Micro settings. Used to be a $250 camera. Now looking for a Fuji S9000. Should be about $200 hopefully.
