How make those extremely Closeups of Coins

This is what I can get from my USB micro. On the 85 mint mark it looked like an RPM until I zoomed in and revealed itself to be a stain. The fg in the first pic took a hit. From a distance it looked like a possible DDO. Under close magnification it's just smashed.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Those do a nice job of staying in focus with good magnification. what brand of usb is this?

 

You are more in need of tethering than anything else, so you can focus on your monitor. No viewfinder is large enough to see the kind of focus we need.

 

I am using tethering now but it obviously is not set to allow the fine closeups I am looking for

 

That is a nikon d5300 w/ 105mm macro lens. The original picture was zoomed and screen shot was taken on my phone. Not the best but i was not trying all that hard. Auto focus and vibration reduction were used. This is a 1959 proof franklin i just took out of the flat pack yesterday. I might add I am an extreme novice with dslr's and I could probably set the camera up better, settings and iso and such, but I have to do my homework on those subjects first.

 

Correct. .. the hardest part is keeping the lens still. I had a cheesy stand that came with mine. Even tightened down it would still move around. Now I set the edge of the tube on the table next to the coin for close shots. With the focus all the way in I tilt the lens until the detail I want is in focus, everything else nearby is out of focus since the field is so small. I evaluate the lighting and may have to take pics sideways or upside down then flip them in Windows Photo Viewer. I take a lot of them and keep the best. The light in the room makes a big difference. from about 9:00 AM until dark I can't take good ones. To much light washes out the pics. At night I can get good ones.

 

Lighting from my room is all I have going for me now .. no windows and just light that I turn off with exception of my computer screen light. I have the view finder on the camera covered so no outside light to it. That is what was thinking yesterday when speaking to @rmpsrpms and I ordered those LED lamps. Still waiting on those .. Attempting at this time to focus camera with tether software but not successful so far .. this camera even has a mirrorless mode for these type of issues but have not figured out how to set that one up yet ..

 

There are some exposure settings on that cropped image that are a bit odd. It is taken with:
AV
f/20
1/60th sec
ISO 250
-3.3EV

While I agree you've got three larger issues right now: 1) Lighting 2) Focus 3) Practice, you should also look at these at some point. Most any lens will get worse past about f/8 because of diffraction, and this is only magnified with macro type photos. So I'd suggest F/8. On your presumably very steady copy stand I would use ISO 100 and a longer shutter speed for better quality. The -3.3EV, which presumably you've had to dial in to adjust the exposure, is a result of using AV and spot metering on the coin. You can do it this way, or you can meter against a gray card, shoot in Manual, and be closer to right from the get-go.

 

The lens is ~8" from coin when focused

 

did you mean AF?

 

Aperture Priority mode. Sorry that acronym comes from Canon, I don't know if Nikon folks use he same one.

 

Ask Alan@ coinzip.com here. I have a Dino-lite AM2111 usb microscope/MS 35B stand they are superb combo.

 

The F/25 was because the coin was shot at a slight angle to redirect some of the reflection which created EV in parts of the photo. All the settings seen here are from the shoot of a BU Lincoln .. I did not fine turn these to display my shot of this coin because all I was attempting to display was the max unfocused shot I could obtain with this coin shown ... Sorry for the confusion

 

You can't get good results from that lighting, and your lens cannot achieve focus that close to the subject.

 

Unfortunately I have to use manual focusing

For macro photos I think manual focus is the only option I have .. I use tether software to crop minimum area needed but I'm unable to get good enough focus .. this make me think I may need an extension or Bellows to get close enough to coin

 

Tethering software is used with Live View to manually focus the shot while you look at the coin on your monitor in real time. You make all adjustments to the shot parameters, and trigger the shot, with mouse and keyboard. Once set up and squared you never touch the camera again except to rotate the focus ring. I will never shoot a different way again.

 

I am using Live View with Nikon's Capture Pro 2 Tethering Software and cannot rotate the focus ring with enough precision to focus with the extreme close up. Computer is used for all setups and triggering of shot

 

I am thinking there must be a way ... just haven't stumbled on to it yet
That is what amazes me when I see your photos

 

Tethering is on my 'to do' list, but till then, I can see my subject in 'live view' (camera) and have the ability to magnify the image on the screen to really get close. That way I can make minor adjustment with the focus if necessary.

 

Tethering is the only way to make good macros ... IMO