Almost two months ago rmpsrpms (Ray) posted a thread about an original roll of toned 1941-D Lincoln's he had just bought. This caused quite a frenzy among Lincoln and toner collectors attempting to pick and reserve their favorites. I was able to pick one, which I am very happy with. I'm sure there are others who were able to pick a couple or more. In case you missed the thread it can be seen here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1941-d-toned-roll.270000/ I sent mine in for grading towards the middle of November and received the results late last week. PCGS graded the coin MS66RB. If anyone else sent theirs in for grading please post your results in this thread, or if you don't have any results and don't plan on submitting yours post the coins you were able to acquire. The first photo is a picture of Ray's original photo of my coin (#35-#36 from his original thread). The second photo is his axial photo showing a different view.
@robec Thanks for posting this, Bob. I noticed a difference in the "temperature" of your photos compared to the PCGS photos. I've always liked your photos, but can you explain to the novices (like me) how this occurs? Chris
It's all in lighting technique. I don't know what apparatus Bob shoots, although it's obviously top-end and the difference isn't there. What he has that PCGS lacks is the ability to fine-tune his lighting to that which best suits the specific coin, when PCGS is on more of an assembly-line status (like Heritage with their imagery). Their images are excellent because their equipment and procedure are excellent, but nothing beats being able to vary the lighting angle and diffusion carefully over two or three takes to bring out the best in the coin under the lens. This is vital with toners, because the apparent color changes so drastically with just a few degrees of lighting. I'd like to know his technique too.
I know that the color profile is the same, both are set to sRGB IEC61966-2.1. Some use Adobe RGB (1998) or Apple RGB. There are others, but these are probably the most used. Each of these give the photo a little different look. Since we both use the same one I can only assume either our camera settings are different or post processing. Phil's seem to have had more of a pinkish cast than mine do. With my camera I can set color temperature by degrees according to the light source. I'm using LED lights with a temp of 3000º. Daylight color temp is between 5000º-5500º. I'm not sure what lighting Phil uses. That may make a difference if white balance is set wrong. Bottom line is I really don't know what makes the difference. I try to make sure the settings are as they should be and the photo looks as close to in hand as possible.
You hit the nail on the head Dave. Phil shoots over 300 coins per day, probably more now since he has a helper. I have the luxury of spending as much time as I want, where Phil takes less than 30 seconds. I'm constantly fiddling with light placement, coin rotation, etc. Phil uses basically the same setup for every shot, probably only adjusting his deflector to different locations. Considering the time Phil has per coin his shots are miraculous. Even without considering the short amount of time his shots are phenomenal.
I'm already at the point where one tweak and a few seconds are enough to nail it on the second shot with 97% of coinage; you quickly learn the specific slight differences between metals and finishes and it has you in the ballpark instantly. When you know what you're about, as Phil does, and you have the ability to assemble a system dedicated to producing good pictures fast, you can seem like you're head and shoulders above the competition when in real life you're just getting paid to do something that's a blast anyway. A guy over at another forum was lucky enough to tour Heritage's imaging department a while back. They've a room full of Canons (half a dozen at least) aiming 180mm Macro lenses, each workstation equipped with variable screening and a ton of light. I can't describe it without falling into X-rated language.
@robec @SuperDave Thanks, guys! I just though I'd pose this question because I figured there would be a lot of others thinking the same thing. Chris
You have better control over the environment than he does, and therefore better command of contrast. He's in a larger space, with many more potential reflective surfaces to throw spare photons at the lens. Any reflection whatsoever into the lens (anything with line of sight to the front of the lens could do it - a polished floor 20 feet away could reflect into the lens) reduces contrast, and the effect can be pretty subtle. He'd have to blanket the room in black to avoid it. Even a small sudden variance in lighting elsewhere in the room (turning off a table lamp 10 feet away) can then have an effect on white balance, if a preset - custom or not - is being used.
