I've tried my smart phone and my USB camera in dull, medium and bright light but can't seem to find one that's just right. I can get a good picture but seems like I have to take several to capture flaws. The incandescent lighting in the room seems to make the coin too yellow and the LEDs in the USB camera make the coin too white. Should I mix in some fluorescent? First: smartphone medium light; Second smartphone bright light; Third USB camera dim light; Fourth USB camera bright light. It's not just that I'm not happy with the quality of the coin, just happened to pick this one because it's first in the stack. Maybe it's just that I'm looking for commercial grade photos with amateur grade equipment. Has anyone found quality off the shelf or should I expect to keep trying different lighting at different angles until I find one I'm happy with?
Try 2 lights high above the coin at approx 8 & 4 o'clock and one at coin level at 12. Make sure there are no other light sources in the room and then play with the distances of light to coin. Also place the coin on something to raise it slightly above the background. I use a slice from a cork
Ok this is a picture of my portrait studio. The left and right bulb are daylight LED. The center one is a daylight CFL. Both came from home depot and the clamp lights you can get anywhere. Obviously I had this nice shelf on the wall to clamp to. Your black background is one of the worst things you could have going on. I have attached a screenshot of my camera settings. You want the aspect ratio set to 1:1 and use your timer. Find something to prop your camera with. I actually have a dragon candle holder that works perfect until I want to do small coins. I'm going to get more white foam board to do the sides with next. You just play with the lighting angles until you get it right. The cfl CAN at times make a coin look cleaned. You have to pay with it more at times. That light can also make small scratches look like gouges.
You are getting some replies with good information. I've gone through the same journey of first having off color results, then honing in on what works for me. What was most productive was: A) having conversations with a couple experts who take the photos of coins for their firm's website (and learning to keep experimenting), B) buying a macro lens for my DSLR, C) adjusting the white balance/color temperature settings on the camera, D) experimenting with the background color (depending on shooting silver/gold/copper) and E) experimenting with the light sources. Here's something on color temperature: Digital Camera White Balance and Color Temperature - EASY BASIC PHOTOGRAPHY
This is great information. I always read threads on coin photography ,but they give technical information that I cannot comprehend. These examples are easy to use. As well as the photos for a visual guide. Thanks. I do enjoy this group.
I would do away with the florescent bulb. The LED type your using work well for me but natural light or a 60W incandescent works best IMO. I like the multiple angles to eliminate “hot spots” still difficult to get it just right. With Morgan’s and other silver I also use indirect lighting, behind a thin cloth or bounced off some white paper. Has worked for me. Good luck.
I'm far from any pro or many of you, but what coin photos I've played around with using my wife's smart-phone, I've taken with indirect natural daylight coming in through slatted window shades that I can open/close/adjust as needed/best. I have a corner kitchen table and windows on each wall at about 10 and 3 (or 9 and 3..?). Pretty decent results if I do say so, but haven't been able to focus to the extend demanded here...plus know nothing of uploading/downloading, attaching, whatever it is you do.
I have used the methodology from "Numismatic Photography" by Mark Goodman. He was (maybe still is) on the CU forums. The copyright date is 2008. I do not know if it is still in print, but a Google or Ebay search might glean some results. If you can locate a copy, I highly recommend it. I used a Nikon DSLR with a 60 mm macro lens and a lighting setup similar to @Two Dogs one. I use a gray card (you can get one online or at any camera store) for the background as it was a simple matter to obtain accurate color through photo editing software like Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, etc. As I love black backgrounds for most coins, I used photo editing software to grab the coin and move it onto a new file that was just a black background. I hope this is of some help to you.
The first 6 pic's look okay to me but the last 2 are questionable. All Morgan's are collectable to me, I keep them all. Thanks for the show-n-tell.
I use a CD spindle with a Velcro dot on top (the soft fabric side), a table top tripod, and 2 gooseneck lamps with diffusers. The Oakley cloth is to have a dark background and to take away the shiny black from the CD holder and have something soft if the coin falls off the spindle.
Some pretty high-tech stuff. Thanks for all the recommendations. I've been trying and liking different combinations with low level supplemental light in conjunction with the USB camera LED light. Also finding some coins like different lighting more than others. Thanks for the feedback.
Great idea on the cd spindle Razz, I'll have to play with that. To elevate the coin from the background I use a cheap set of sockets ranging from ten to 19mm. If I need a larger size, I use a larger size socket which I have plenty of in my tool chest. To prevent damage to the coin, I use painters masking tape. My camera of choice is a Canon 70 D with a 60 mm macro lens. Make sure to use To shoot down and dirty I have been using cell phone cameras for a quick image The best photo software was from the former Nokia phone which actually used a Zeiss lens. They were bought out by another provider, there went a very good thing into the high tech graveyard. Attached is a photo of my "studio". As you can see I do use swing lamps, minimum two and sometimes three . My light sources are 1000K daylight (white light) bulbs. To the right of the slab is one of the sockets with the green tape on top. The two other photos are of arrangements I use as well, they are not my photos as I downloaded them from another posting on Coin Talk, I'm sorry I don't remember his nom de plume. I first learned of the technique at Cone Camp. The coin of Constantine VIII (Byzantine) is from my collection is the reverse of an Alexander the Great tetradrahm of 35mm. So that's all I have for now. Learn by playing, making mistakes and keep pressing on. Have some fun.
I use GE Reveal or Sylvania "Daylight" full spectrum bulbs. These have become scarce since many states have a limit of wattage at 40 or 60. Lowes or Home depot was going to do so here a decade or so ago, and I bought 2 cases in Ariz, and they were about $2 for 2. Now they call them "Grow" lights and they are hard to find even at $7-15 a bulb. They get hot due to wattage, but the light is close to sunlight. They give the best color , IMO Jim
