Introducing the one of Many DoK~U~Mint Almost Free Lunch, Tripod like, Self Color Correcting Shake Eliminating Rig. One of my favorite heroes was MIT Prof Harold E. "Doc" Edgerton. He invented the strobe light and traveled around with a rifle, apple and strobe light to show what happens when you photograph a bullet passing through an apple when using high speed capture techniques. If you are not blind you have seen his work. Strobe lights have constant color temperature and high speed output. Here is how to use them: Even $20 digital cameras can be found with strobe lights these days. This Dinty Moore Big Bowls meal container with a hole drilled through the bottom became my light tent/tripod. I recommend “Chicken & Dumplings” variety. (No tomato stain to wash out and in spite of it being a tad high in sodium content pretty tasty) Place your economy strobe equipped macro capable camera over the hole and let the bottom support your camera. Let the camera use the bowl as a light diffuser and camera support. I notice a slight blue shift using this material but your camera may be different. Set to full auto macro mode and auto focus and be sure the flash is enabled. Place the coin underneath the rig line it up and fire away. Not quite professional results but capable of rendering Down & Dirty images in a repeatable fashion. Here is my 1st attempt at capturing a clan error on a quarter. What do you think......for the investment? (Images expand if you click on them)
Hi, This very good for what you had put into it, and you have given me idea's, I have been trying to take pictures of some error coins that I wanted to share, and just can't seem to get it right. The over sixty mode, just call me shakey. thanks for the info. Sam
I would think a bit more light would help. Or you could photoshop it to brighten the image. Problem with that is finding the right combo of contrast, brightness, etc. that makes it still look real.
you are correct You are correct. This is a work in progress that came to be on the spur of the moment. Literally. I just set everything on FULL AUTO. Phase one and every camera shoved over the stabilizer hole will have a different flash placement, algorithm, subject, ISO (aka ASA) angle of dangle, etc. I also have my screen set at BRIGHT levels so they may transmit to normal folks dimmer than I pre~view. So I'll try the +/- exposure feature next time.
Very interesting technique Dok! They turned out good! But as mentioned earlier.. More light. Maybe shine some lights directly on the side of the cup. Here is my technique: The results:
Great, only suggestion I have is more lighting, which has already been brought up. I believe you are really showcasing the details of the coin, and quite effectively... WAY TO GO! Can't wait to see more
2nd attempt Nice system Snaz! I was shooting for something with fewer moving parts myself. Anyway, I tweeked the over/under expose and dimmed down my computer screen so I get (I hope) something closer to what other may see. I was trying the "least hassle" approach to taking fast multiple photos for screening. Like this JFK grabbed my eye, I flopped the cup over the coin, took the time to dial up the menu to up the exposure and banged the shutter. In spite of the cheap cameras noisy image I was able to determine this damage is post mint and it took about 10 seconds. I think I'm getting better.
Some nice ideas, of course I now shoot with a scope so I don't have to rig anything up anywhere. We have a thread at LCR with some interesting user ideas and suggestions: LINK This image below I took with a an old digital camera on a tri-pod, a box light (similar to what everyone else is using but larger and brighter) and Photoshop editing. The depth of field is a tad shallow and the area focus doesn't match up between the reverse and obvers but I ma happy. BTW the coin is '55P DDO-002. This photo collage was shot through a scope and worked on in Photoshop for a while. BTW this is not a variety, just a new proof shot as an experiment.
Another attribute you'll need to consider at some point. Resolution. Basically how large can you make small features like mintmarks. Or doubled dies. This of course goes under the general label "macro". And this is closely ties to the Mpixel capability of your camera. In Goodman's book, a 4 Mpixel camera that's macro capable is considered minimum. Stupid me. I didn't know any better. I thought my 3.2 Mpixel Coolpix 995 was doing great until the book told me different. Actually for full coin pictures it worked fine. It was only when I tried to get real details that I found it limited.
Resolution~I resolve/you resolve/lets resolve I'll find out here shortly. Great point and I am looking forward to the consistency of a rig that fits in my backpack. Better yet is I don't mind throwing it there......from across the room if I so choose. 8^) jcuve! WoW. Thanks for the link! Wonderful stuff there.
