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<p>[QUOTE="SuperDave, post: 2401789, member: 1892"]I've been known to hold forth occasionally (um, every <i>possible</i> occasion, appropriate or not) on the topic of inexpensive coin photography. The work of rmpsrpms a few years back converted me from an "expensive dSLR/equally expensive macro lens" shooter to a "cheap dSLR/bellows/duplicating lens" photographer, and I haven't looked back. </p><p><br /></p><p>In a nutshell, without getting too technical: An inexpensive, earlier-generation Canon dSLR - Canon because of their Electronic First Shutter Curtain eliminating shutter shake, and their free bundled Tethered Shooting software - in conjunction with a bellows for variable magnification and easy focus, using an older film-oriented duplicating lens, is a combination unbeatable for price and professional-level image quality. Older dSLR's with smaller (in megapixels) sensors are more forgiving - the larger pixels on the sensor help hold off the onset of diffraction, which is an enemy trying to defeat our quest for sharpness.</p><p><br /></p><p>The "sweet spot" was, back then, and still is, the Canon Rebel XS (1000D). It was a 10MP, slightly down-market version of the 12MP Rebel XSi introduced in 2008. It forms the basis of what we publicize as the "$400 photography rig," a minimalist combination of pieces - purchased mostly used - which combine to provide results as good as an expensive camera wielding a $500+ bespoke Macro lens.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of that $400, approximately $175 was budgeted for the purchase of the Rebel XS, because that's what they cost used back then. The camera I'm about to show you (and used to shoot the images posted here) cost me $84 from Adorama a few weeks ago....meaning the "$400 rig" is now closer to the "$300 rig."</p><p><br /></p><p>So here's the setup, with the new piece of kit which caused this thread mounted:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]495066[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, my workstation is cluttered with stuffed animals. Sue me. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie7" alt=":p" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The stand upon which this rig mounts was custom-built for my by rmpsrpms, and would break the $400 budget, but you can achieve the same capability with anything from a $20 tripod (sacrificing ease of use) on up.</p><p><br /></p><p>I was casting about for a lens more suitable to the smaller coins (mostly Lincolns) I'm acquiring these days, meaning I could get away with a shorter focal length than the 75mm we usually use for Crown-sized coinage. The goal is to fill the camera's sensor with the coin; a Morgan, for instance, is about 0.42x magnification (which is why I chuckle at USB microscopes offering "200x magnification.") That means a 38.1mm Morgan has to be a little less than half-size to fill a 14.8mm APS-C sensor. A 19mm Lincoln, therefore, requires a magnification of about 0.78x to fill the same sensor. Technical reasons aside, this allowed me to consider 50mm lenses. Now....</p><p><br /></p><p>If you're actually interested in coin photography, open this website in a new tab and don't go to sleep until you've read every page there:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.coinimaging.com/index.php" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinimaging.com/index.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinimaging.com/index.php</a></p><p><br /></p><p>That's Mark Goodman's place. You're not as good a coin photographer as he is, and neither am I. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Over the last few years he's gotten into testing various lenses for their suitability to coin imaging. He's amassed a large number of lenses tested, in many focal lengths applicable to coin photography, among them the finest (and most expensive) nontraditional optics on the market. We <b><i>know</i></b> the Canon 100mm Macro (and similar from other manufacturers) are plenty sharp enough for our needs, but there are other choices as good or better, in most cases available for a lot less money.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here's Mark's "Hall of Fame" page for the lenses he's tested:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://coinimaging.com/hall_of_fame.html?" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://coinimaging.com/hall_of_fame.html?" rel="nofollow">http://coinimaging.com/hall_of_fame.html?</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I went there (do so yourself, to follow along), and looked at the higher-placed lenses optimized for 1x magnification. The Printing-Nikkors are, of course, at the top - they're kind of in a class of their own, and will set you back about $2000 for one - but also highly-placed is the Rodenstock APO-Rodagon 75mm 1:1, the "relatively inexpensive" duplicating lens considered the best of the ones which won't be the only toy you can afford that year. You can find them for less than $300 used, and at $225 buy one if you see it. </p><p><br /></p><p>But that kinda defeats the purpose of "cheap" coin photography, and keep in mind the <b>worst</b> lens on that list will still give you a rep as a "professional" in these pages. The El-Nikkor 75mm listed at #25 in the "Overall Ranking" is the recommendation of choice; you can usually find them (they're plentiful) on Ebay for $40-ish, well within the budget of the "$400 rig." I, myself, have been shooting with a $20 El Omegar 75mm, and haven't gotten many complaints. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I went through that list looking for the best of the bunch available for less than $100, and one stood out. It's #10 in the overall ranking, and posted a Sharpness score even exceeding the vaunted Rodenstock. That lens - the Schneider Kreuznach Componon S 50mm f/2.8 - is what you see attached to my rig above. I got it for less than $70 shipped on Ebay, and it was on my camera shooting images ten minutes after I walked in the door with it. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I couldn't perfectly duplicate the lighting situation for best comparison, as the working distance of the 50mm was almost halved from the 75mm, but I did the best I could. Here's the result. The first two images are from the 75mm El Omegar, and the second pair from the Schneider, same camera, same place, same two Jansjo lights. As usual, everything was shot tethered to the computer - I manually-focused at full magnification from what I saw on the monitor, made all setting adjustments and triggered all shots with the mouse.</p><p><br /></p><p>El Omegar:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]495069[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]495070[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Schneider:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]495073[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]495074[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Here's a comparison of the 100% crops, which are a hint as to the actual size of the original images this setup creates.</p><p><br /></p><p>El Omegar:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]495079[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Schneider:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]495080[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The difference is <b>marked</b>. To me, the Schneider is in a different league, while remaining affordable. If you throw the money saved on the now-cheaper Rebel XS into the more expensive Schneider, you've just <b>seriously</b> upgraded your capability.</p><p><br /></p><p>And keep in mind, with the bellows you can basically set the magnification wherever you want, and it's just as easy to acquire a microscope objective for well under $50 that will screw right on and give you all the magnification you could <i>ever</i> need for the tiniest of details. I wouldn't hesitate to double the magnification with either of these lenses and expect decent results. And with this rig, you can roll search to your heart's content, live on your computer monitor, at any of these magnifications. <b><i>If</i></b> what you see above isn't large enough for you yet. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The takeaway? You can duplicate what I'm doing here for $400 or less.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="SuperDave, post: 2401789, member: 1892"]I've been known to hold forth occasionally (um, every [I]possible[/I] occasion, appropriate or not) on the topic of inexpensive coin photography. The work of rmpsrpms a few years back converted me from an "expensive dSLR/equally expensive macro lens" shooter to a "cheap dSLR/bellows/duplicating lens" photographer, and I haven't looked back. In a nutshell, without getting too technical: An inexpensive, earlier-generation Canon dSLR - Canon because of their Electronic First Shutter Curtain eliminating shutter shake, and their free bundled Tethered Shooting software - in conjunction with a bellows for variable magnification and easy focus, using an older film-oriented duplicating lens, is a combination unbeatable for price and professional-level image quality. Older dSLR's with smaller (in megapixels) sensors are more forgiving - the larger pixels on the sensor help hold off the onset of diffraction, which is an enemy trying to defeat our quest for sharpness. The "sweet spot" was, back then, and still is, the Canon Rebel XS (1000D). It was a 10MP, slightly down-market version of the 12MP Rebel XSi introduced in 2008. It forms the basis of what we publicize as the "$400 photography rig," a minimalist combination of pieces - purchased mostly used - which combine to provide results as good as an expensive camera wielding a $500+ bespoke Macro lens. Of that $400, approximately $175 was budgeted for the purchase of the Rebel XS, because that's what they cost used back then. The camera I'm about to show you (and used to shoot the images posted here) cost me $84 from Adorama a few weeks ago....meaning the "$400 rig" is now closer to the "$300 rig." So here's the setup, with the new piece of kit which caused this thread mounted: [ATTACH=full]495066[/ATTACH] Yes, my workstation is cluttered with stuffed animals. Sue me. :P The stand upon which this rig mounts was custom-built for my by rmpsrpms, and would break the $400 budget, but you can achieve the same capability with anything from a $20 tripod (sacrificing ease of use) on up. I was casting about for a lens more suitable to the smaller coins (mostly Lincolns) I'm acquiring these days, meaning I could get away with a shorter focal length than the 75mm we usually use for Crown-sized coinage. The goal is to fill the camera's sensor with the coin; a Morgan, for instance, is about 0.42x magnification (which is why I chuckle at USB microscopes offering "200x magnification.") That means a 38.1mm Morgan has to be a little less than half-size to fill a 14.8mm APS-C sensor. A 19mm Lincoln, therefore, requires a magnification of about 0.78x to fill the same sensor. Technical reasons aside, this allowed me to consider 50mm lenses. Now.... If you're actually interested in coin photography, open this website in a new tab and don't go to sleep until you've read every page there: [url]http://www.coinimaging.com/index.php[/url] That's Mark Goodman's place. You're not as good a coin photographer as he is, and neither am I. :) Over the last few years he's gotten into testing various lenses for their suitability to coin imaging. He's amassed a large number of lenses tested, in many focal lengths applicable to coin photography, among them the finest (and most expensive) nontraditional optics on the market. We [B][I]know[/I][/B] the Canon 100mm Macro (and similar from other manufacturers) are plenty sharp enough for our needs, but there are other choices as good or better, in most cases available for a lot less money. Here's Mark's "Hall of Fame" page for the lenses he's tested: [url]http://coinimaging.com/hall_of_fame.html?[/url] I went there (do so yourself, to follow along), and looked at the higher-placed lenses optimized for 1x magnification. The Printing-Nikkors are, of course, at the top - they're kind of in a class of their own, and will set you back about $2000 for one - but also highly-placed is the Rodenstock APO-Rodagon 75mm 1:1, the "relatively inexpensive" duplicating lens considered the best of the ones which won't be the only toy you can afford that year. You can find them for less than $300 used, and at $225 buy one if you see it. But that kinda defeats the purpose of "cheap" coin photography, and keep in mind the [B]worst[/B] lens on that list will still give you a rep as a "professional" in these pages. The El-Nikkor 75mm listed at #25 in the "Overall Ranking" is the recommendation of choice; you can usually find them (they're plentiful) on Ebay for $40-ish, well within the budget of the "$400 rig." I, myself, have been shooting with a $20 El Omegar 75mm, and haven't gotten many complaints. :) I went through that list looking for the best of the bunch available for less than $100, and one stood out. It's #10 in the overall ranking, and posted a Sharpness score even exceeding the vaunted Rodenstock. That lens - the Schneider Kreuznach Componon S 50mm f/2.8 - is what you see attached to my rig above. I got it for less than $70 shipped on Ebay, and it was on my camera shooting images ten minutes after I walked in the door with it. :) I couldn't perfectly duplicate the lighting situation for best comparison, as the working distance of the 50mm was almost halved from the 75mm, but I did the best I could. Here's the result. The first two images are from the 75mm El Omegar, and the second pair from the Schneider, same camera, same place, same two Jansjo lights. As usual, everything was shot tethered to the computer - I manually-focused at full magnification from what I saw on the monitor, made all setting adjustments and triggered all shots with the mouse. El Omegar: [ATTACH=full]495069[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]495070[/ATTACH] Schneider: [ATTACH=full]495073[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]495074[/ATTACH] Here's a comparison of the 100% crops, which are a hint as to the actual size of the original images this setup creates. El Omegar: [ATTACH=full]495079[/ATTACH] Schneider: [ATTACH=full]495080[/ATTACH] The difference is [B]marked[/B]. To me, the Schneider is in a different league, while remaining affordable. If you throw the money saved on the now-cheaper Rebel XS into the more expensive Schneider, you've just [B]seriously[/B] upgraded your capability. And keep in mind, with the bellows you can basically set the magnification wherever you want, and it's just as easy to acquire a microscope objective for well under $50 that will screw right on and give you all the magnification you could [I]ever[/I] need for the tiniest of details. I wouldn't hesitate to double the magnification with either of these lenses and expect decent results. And with this rig, you can roll search to your heart's content, live on your computer monitor, at any of these magnifications. [B][I]If[/I][/B] what you see above isn't large enough for you yet. :) The takeaway? You can duplicate what I'm doing here for $400 or less.[/QUOTE]
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