Okay, one more coat of flat black paint and I think my axial lighting system will be ready for a test drive. If it works, you'll get to see the first pictures. If it doesn't work ... axial lighting system!? What axial lighting system?
It was not worth the effort, in my case. I hope your results are different. Not knowing about your camera equipment, I think a better investment would be in a tilt & shift lens or a longer macro lens. Obviously, they are much more expensive alternatives when compared to an axial light setup but they will typically lead to quantum shifts in the quality of numismatic photograph, in my experience and opinion.
My camera should not be a problem. It's a Nikon D90 and I have a Nikkor 60mm Micro lens attached (Micro is Nikkor's term for a Macro lens). All along lighting has been my problem (or at least that's where I've laid the blame). For less than $50 and 5-10 hours of work it won't be any big loss if this lighting setup doesn't work. At a minimum I hope it will work for proofs and shiny MS- coins. They've ALWAYS been my biggest problem.
Kanga, If you are struggling with proof coins or lustrous coins, and are using a 60mm lens, it's the length of lens yeilding a working distance from the coin too small to allow flexibility in light position. If I were you, I'd look to at least a 100mm lens, and preferably 150 or more. It will get you farther away from the coin, allowing a more flexible (i.e. higher angle of incidence) light position and result in MUCH better coin shots, in my experience (having owned/used a 60, 90, 105, 150, and now a 200mm macro lens). I think you will find axial lighting doesn't work well with non-raw coins (i.e. the slab reflects the axial lighting causing a general lack of contrast in the resulting shot). Regardless of my preconceptions, good luck with your experiments, and please do keep us updated on your results...Mike
I'm also getting ready to try out a new axial lighting device this weekend, for photographing Conder Tokens. A fellow member, Larry Moran was kind enough to make it for me. It would be interesting to see a picture of your set-up, Kanga. Good luck!
Okay, here's the first test. First, my setup: And the first test image. This is a proof-like dealer's token: And Leadfoot is correct. Slabbed coins are going to be a REAL pain. Reflections off the holder will be difficult if not impossible to eliminate. But raw coins look like they'll work well. Too bad most of my coins are slabbed.
The one area where axial lighting really shines is raw mirrored proof coins (or PL/DMPL coins) -- think proof mercury dimes. Otherwise, not so good, IMO.
I haven't gotten to playing with the camera settings yet. Still working with the lighting. I found a setup that eliminated about 80-90% of the glare off a slab. LOTS more testing and experimenting to do, but maybe I'm on to something.
Slabbed coins are a PITA with the axial setup, but I think it does great with raw copper and toned silver.
I always have some ghosting of the legends around the rim with slabbed coins. Will this type of lighting set up eliminate my problem? I'm using two 50watt Halogen floods with diffusers. Would adding a third light source help?
It will, but it will introduce another problem (loss of contrast) which looks worse to most people. The optimal solution to your problem, IMO, is one of two things: (a) getting a longer lens that will allow for a "higher" light position (i.e. the light rays as close to perpendicular as possible). (b) adding a second light (I like to use two lights, one at 10 o'clock and another at 2, but you can experiment and see what works best for you). Hope this helps....Mike
A 200mm lens works excellent as stated and seems to be the best to use. 60mm too short, 100mm is not bad - it does the job but there can be issues. How is the testing going?
Today I tackle the "slab reflection" problem. I'm going to try tilting the slab and seeing what happens. I know the resulting image will be elliptical BUT using my software I can differentially resize the image and (hopefully) restore it to circular. Not sure how good the shadows around the devices will look with this technique. I'm probably re-inventing the wheel but I'll give it a shot anyway.
Okay, PCGS slab. 50% reduction of original image. NO tilt. Yes, I know I still have to adjust my camera settings. The intend here was to see if I could do a reasonable job with slabbed coins. The only difference between the two images is that one is lit from the left and the other from the right. Opinions requested: - overall lighting? - lighting angle? Right lit. Left lit.
Try lighting it from the top (or slightly one way or the other). IMO, it will look more natural. Happy photography...Mike
FYI, using axial lighting on a tilted coin is not axial lighting any more. The same effect can be had with a camera and a light shone directly on the coin.
