Coin Photography Tips?

Nice and very helpful (and envy-creating!). What is the contraption you have that holds your camera? Looks like the top of an old overhead projector unit?

 

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No offence, but save yourself some money and follow Dougsmit's advice.

 

It doesn't take much to take some decent photos. I took a nice picture of my Aelia Flaccilla budget coin by using an RX100 camera mounted on a selfie-stick, which was mounted on a small metal sturdy tripod. I stacked a bunch of books high up to within the minimum distance for my camera to focus, and I placed a piece of white paper on top. Using flash, I shot the picture. I then upped the brightness and contrast in GIMP.

It's not the greatest photo, but it was my very first photo, and it shows how, with a decent point-and-shoot or even a phone camera, you can take an acceptable picture of your coin.

 

My contraption is the frame retrieved from a Durst M600 enlarger which I bought while in college c. 1966. The head and other parts bit the dust years ago but the frames from old enlargers are not hard to find because they are the last part to break. I have owned, in the past, iron frames from cut film enlargers that would serve as an auto jack. I do not recommend you go searching for one of these because a full, working unit would be an antique and most people threw out the uprights when the lights, etc. broke. There are several on eBay now but most are priced way over what I would pay especially if all I wanted was the baseboard and upright.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...+enlarger.TRS0&_nkw=durst+enlarger&_sacat=625
Of course there are many other brands of old enlargers available but people who sell them tend to overlook that there is not a lot of demand for film accessories in this era of digital cameras.

For simplicity and rock solid camera support, I still recommend building one out of scrap lumber.

You do not need adjustable height or fancy features. It is much easier to fix the camera solidly to the wood and have several different heights of posts on which to rest the coin. It is also possible to slip a book under the support to move the support closer for smaller coins. If you use a little thinking, you can solve most problems without buying expensive toys. I have owned my stand 51 years and see no reason to throw it out but I would not replace it if it broke.