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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;benveniste, post: 1487097, member: 25547&quot;]Coin photography, especially coin photography for the web, is more about getting the lighting and camera support right than what camera or lens you choose.&nbsp; I can&#039;t think of a camera system with interchangeable lenses for which the currently offered macro lenses aren&#039;t at least excellent.</p><p><br /></p><p>I use a Nikon D800 (having upgraded from a Nikon D200).&nbsp; The lens I use most often for coin photography is a 105mm f/2.8 VR, but roughly the same comments would apply no matter what macro lens you used, or even if you use extension tubes or accessory close-up &#039;&#039;filters.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>For camera settings, I start with aperture priority mode.&nbsp; Normally I start at f/11.&nbsp; If I&#039;m making a very large print, I&#039;ll drop down to f/8 or perhaps a bit wider and if I&#039;m photographing a high-relief medal I may stop down to f/16.&nbsp; Smaller apertures are more forgiving when it comes to precise focus, but this comes at a cost in both diffraction and exposure time.</p><p><br /></p><p>When setting up the shot, you want to keep everything as stable as possible.&nbsp; A tripod is the most common approach, but it can be awkward when trying to position the camera with respect to the coin.&nbsp; I prefer to use a copystand.&nbsp; These come at all prices, and you pretty much get what you pay for.&nbsp; For a heavy camera like the D800 (or my Pentax 645n), a new copystand can easily run twice the original poster&#039;s $250 budget.&nbsp; To minimize camera shake, I use a remote release.&nbsp; If you&#039;re shooting with a dSLR without flash and it supports mirror lock-up mode, consider using that as well.</p><p><br /></p><p>I find there&#039;s no one lighting solution for coins.&nbsp; Sometimes, I want direct lighting, and use a ringlight or the Nikon R1 system.&nbsp; Other times, I want more diffuse light, so I use a couple of full-spectrum fluorescent bulbs at a 45 degree angle to the coin and add diffusers as needed.&nbsp; Choosing a background can be tough as well.&nbsp; Recently, I&#039;ve started using the dark blue outer holder from a proof SAE, which seems to work pretty well.&nbsp; I recommend setting white balance manually instead of using your camera&#039;s auto white balance features.&nbsp; If you want to get fancy, go ahead and use a gray or white card to preset white balance, but I&#039;d rather get close and do the final tweaks on the computer.</p><p><br /></p><p>Focus on coins, especially in a slab, can be tricky.&nbsp; Especially with old copper, there may not be enough contrast for the autofocus system to find a reasonable solution.&nbsp; Give it a try, but don&#039;t be too surprised if you have to focus manually.</p><p><br /></p><p>So once you&#039;ve got all that set up, take a shot and see what shows up on the screen.&nbsp; Depending on how bright or dark the coin is, you may want to use exposure compensation, or even switch to manual mode.&nbsp; Again, as long as you are reasonably close you can make the final edits on the computer.&nbsp; Tweak focus as needed and repeat until you are satisfied with the result.</p><p><br /></p><p>If all that sounds hard, I&#039;m sorry.&nbsp; It&#039;s actually more time consuming than difficult unless your physical support system isn&#039;t up to the job.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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