Log in or Sign up
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Coin Chat
>
Advanced Coin Photography
>
Reply to Thread
Message:
<p>[QUOTE="J Erbes, post: 6587648, member: 118832"]The 'Upload a File' button is now visible for me. Thanks to whoever verified my email. I’ll repost this so my images are with the posting.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the spirit of getting back to the intent of the original posting of this thread, which was to share images, techniques and equipment, I’ll share my imaging setup and the results I am getting.</p><p><br /></p><p>I’ve been an amateur photographer for 60+ years but only started on coin imagery recently. As you read through this, keep in mind that my goals may not be the same as yours. My coin imaging goal is to sell off my coin collection on eBay. There are a <u>lot</u> of coins for sale on eBay. To sell coins, the images need to stand out above all of the others. Most of my coins are circulated, so I try to emphasize the 3-dimensional relief aspects of the coin while minimizing the wear and tear of circulation. This posting describes an alternate way of lighting circulated coins that, as far as I know, no one else thinks works.</p><p><br /></p><p>I’m using a Canon EOS 60D DSLR (18Mpix) from 2010 along with a Canon 50mm f/2.5 Macro lens. Since the Canon 60D has a smaller APS-C sensor, the 50mm lens effectively becomes a 80mm on that camera body. This is a very sharp lens from f/4-f/16 with the highest resolution at f/5.6-f/8. The lens will close focus down to 1:1, so for smaller coins you have to add one or more auto-focus extension tubes. The camera is mounted on an antique Kodak enlarger base inherited from my dad. As you can see in the photo, the coins are placed on a 4” clay flower pot with some black mounting board glued on, making the coin easy to rotate and position. I’ll switch to black velvet one of these days. The camera’s aspect ratio is set to 1:1 and gives a 3450-pixel square image (resized to 1600pix for eBay.) I always shoot JPEG, never RAW.</p><p><br /></p><p>The camera is connected via USB cable to a laptop and the shots are composed and exposed from the laptop using Canon’s EOS Utility software which lets you to zoom in and focus on any selected area on a coin as well as adjust exposure, sharpness, contrast, color saturation, and color tone. White Balance is custom set using an 18% grey card. You should never use automatic white balance. For dull, circulated copper coins, I set the aperture at f/8, underexpose by 1/3 stop, set the sharpness to +7, contrast to +4, saturation to +1 and color tone to -1 to warm it a bit. ASA is set to auto with 400 max. Those settings were used, along with a lighting angle of 8 degrees above horizontal, for the image of the 1855 Braided Hair Large Cent below. I don’t do any post-processing. Everything is done in camera.</p><p><br /></p><p>The way I light my coins is what makes my setup different. Instead of the traditional 10 & 2 positioned lights placed as high as possible, I light my circulated coins from just above horizontal to bring out the relief. To bring precision and repeatability to the process, the two lights are mounted on rotating arms such that the “hinge” of each light arm is exactly in line with the center of the coin atop the pot. As the lights are rotated up or down (with position noted by a pointer moving over a protractor scale) the lights are always pointed directly at the center of the coin at a constant distance. I have a different setup for axial lighting which I will talk about in a subsequent post. The lights are ordinary MR16-size 120V 50W-equivalent LED Warm White (3000K) mini spot lamps with a GU10 base. Sort of similar to Jansjo lights from Ikea but much brighter. Wires are soldered right onto the lamps and go to a switch, cord and plug. I suppose you could use 5000K lamps if you really wanted to, but it doesn’t really matter if you set up a Custom White Balance.</p><p><br /></p><p>The last photo shows the different effects that you get by positioning the lights at various angles from the horizontal. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1264862[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1264863[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1264864[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="J Erbes, post: 6587648, member: 118832"]The 'Upload a File' button is now visible for me. Thanks to whoever verified my email. I’ll repost this so my images are with the posting. In the spirit of getting back to the intent of the original posting of this thread, which was to share images, techniques and equipment, I’ll share my imaging setup and the results I am getting. I’ve been an amateur photographer for 60+ years but only started on coin imagery recently. As you read through this, keep in mind that my goals may not be the same as yours. My coin imaging goal is to sell off my coin collection on eBay. There are a [U]lot[/U] of coins for sale on eBay. To sell coins, the images need to stand out above all of the others. Most of my coins are circulated, so I try to emphasize the 3-dimensional relief aspects of the coin while minimizing the wear and tear of circulation. This posting describes an alternate way of lighting circulated coins that, as far as I know, no one else thinks works. I’m using a Canon EOS 60D DSLR (18Mpix) from 2010 along with a Canon 50mm f/2.5 Macro lens. Since the Canon 60D has a smaller APS-C sensor, the 50mm lens effectively becomes a 80mm on that camera body. This is a very sharp lens from f/4-f/16 with the highest resolution at f/5.6-f/8. The lens will close focus down to 1:1, so for smaller coins you have to add one or more auto-focus extension tubes. The camera is mounted on an antique Kodak enlarger base inherited from my dad. As you can see in the photo, the coins are placed on a 4” clay flower pot with some black mounting board glued on, making the coin easy to rotate and position. I’ll switch to black velvet one of these days. The camera’s aspect ratio is set to 1:1 and gives a 3450-pixel square image (resized to 1600pix for eBay.) I always shoot JPEG, never RAW. The camera is connected via USB cable to a laptop and the shots are composed and exposed from the laptop using Canon’s EOS Utility software which lets you to zoom in and focus on any selected area on a coin as well as adjust exposure, sharpness, contrast, color saturation, and color tone. White Balance is custom set using an 18% grey card. You should never use automatic white balance. For dull, circulated copper coins, I set the aperture at f/8, underexpose by 1/3 stop, set the sharpness to +7, contrast to +4, saturation to +1 and color tone to -1 to warm it a bit. ASA is set to auto with 400 max. Those settings were used, along with a lighting angle of 8 degrees above horizontal, for the image of the 1855 Braided Hair Large Cent below. I don’t do any post-processing. Everything is done in camera. The way I light my coins is what makes my setup different. Instead of the traditional 10 & 2 positioned lights placed as high as possible, I light my circulated coins from just above horizontal to bring out the relief. To bring precision and repeatability to the process, the two lights are mounted on rotating arms such that the “hinge” of each light arm is exactly in line with the center of the coin atop the pot. As the lights are rotated up or down (with position noted by a pointer moving over a protractor scale) the lights are always pointed directly at the center of the coin at a constant distance. I have a different setup for axial lighting which I will talk about in a subsequent post. The lights are ordinary MR16-size 120V 50W-equivalent LED Warm White (3000K) mini spot lamps with a GU10 base. Sort of similar to Jansjo lights from Ikea but much brighter. Wires are soldered right onto the lamps and go to a switch, cord and plug. I suppose you could use 5000K lamps if you really wanted to, but it doesn’t really matter if you set up a Custom White Balance. The last photo shows the different effects that you get by positioning the lights at various angles from the horizontal. [ATTACH=full]1264862[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1264863[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1264864[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
Your name or email address:
Do you already have an account?
No, create an account now.
Yes, my password is:
Forgot your password?
Stay logged in
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Coin Chat
>
Advanced Coin Photography
>
Home
Home
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
Forums
Forums
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Posts
Competitions
Competitions
Quick Links
Competition Index
Rules, Terms & Conditions
Gallery
Gallery
Quick Links
Search Media
New Media
Showcase
Showcase
Quick Links
Search Items
Most Active Members
New Items
Directory
Directory
Quick Links
Directory Home
New Listings
Members
Members
Quick Links
Notable Members
Current Visitors
Recent Activity
New Profile Posts
Sponsors
Menu
Search
Search titles only
Posted by Member:
Separate names with a comma.
Newer Than:
Search this thread only
Search this forum only
Display results as threads
Useful Searches
Recent Posts
More...