Lighting in coin photos

One of the best free sites I ever downloaded. It comes with a lot of features, been using it for nearly 3 years now.

 

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Great, Thank you! I will check that out too!

 

Great! Thank you!

 

Perhaps try using those Ikea Jansjo lights? Here are a few set-ups I've tried that I saw over at coincommunity:


and


You don't need that adjustable camera "copy stand" thing, but you DO need a way to keep your camera/phone steady when shooting images...

 

Late last night I was trying to find the white balance on my phone and couldn't find it, but I tried my work phone, which is newer and a better model, and I found the controls there. Keep in mind I did nothing to set this up to make it a great photo and all I did was change the white balance toward "cooler." I think the difference is huge. The second photo shows the kind of luster I'm trying to capture.

Before and after adjusting white balance:

 

A big difference. Also you got to keep in mind that in image one the coin is surrounded by dark color, image two the coin is surrounded by light color. Makes a big difference to your settings requirements because of the amount of light being reflected back up to the camera lens

 

The best lighting is lighting you can control. You need to control location, diffusion, and color temperature. Lamps than be easily lifted, held, posed, and moved are the best. To control diffusion, add a tissue or deli container lid, assuming the bulb is cool enough. You could also use an additional piece of white paper as a reflector for diffuse fill light. To control color temperature, use all the same bulbs and shut out other light. The light coming through your window is the worst for all of these and is especially ineffective at night.

 

LOL @ Captain Obvious.

 

I just used a led lamp over a coin and a 50mm lense on a sony zv e10 turned out really good. I was standing back a ways too. suprised me

 

here is a NGC PF68 with a flashlight almost right over it. Im using a LAOWA 100mm macro lense on a canon 7D with a tripod.

 

1931 S buffalo nickel PCGS MS64. LED light and 100mm laowa macro lens

 

I know I am a very mediocre photographer, but I ran across these coins and thought I would post the photos I took...first a word of explanation. I was trying to clean some copper coins by dipping (don't remember exactly what I was using...maybe citric acid) and not doing so good. I had a 1943 zinc lying there and gave it a try in the same solution. I was surprised by the results, so I decided to make the set - P, D and S. The lower right is just a nice steelie.