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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;WingedLiberty, post: 1723646, member: 26030&quot;]Hey Gbroke,&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I have a lot of experience getting TrueViews and also having coins shot by a top notch private photographer (robec).&nbsp; My experience is on raw coins (no slab) is that robec can often beat the TrueView -- however keep in mind that almost all TrueViews are shot in about 10 to 30 seconds ...&nbsp; while robec would often take 20 minutes to an hour or more and take many more shots at many more angles.&nbsp;&nbsp; Most TrueViews, of colorfully toned coins, are shot in basically one way -- to max out the color -- and this often sacrifices the luster on unc coins and the mirror/gloss on proof coins.&nbsp;&nbsp; I personally like photos more when a photo captures at least some of the luster and/or mirror and/or gloss -- and TrueViews generally don&#039;t (unless you ask specifically for that).&nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>In any case, I think this &quot;time spent&quot; difference is why robec can often beat the TrueView.&nbsp;&nbsp; The TrueView photographer shoots hundreds to sometimes thousands of coins a day ... while robec generally can shoot 3 or maybe 4 on his best days -- so there is a big time spent difference.&nbsp; That being said I still&nbsp; LOVE the way TrueView photos look in almost every case.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Now if you are talking about photographing a coin already behind plastic (slabbed) -- there is no substitute for a PCGS crackout, an out of the slab TrueView photos, and a reholder at the same grade.&nbsp; Private photographers will always be dealing with slab glare when shooting through plastic and will typically have impairment, especially when trying to max out the color. </p><p><br /></p><p>There is one other little trick I wanted to share about TrueView photos.&nbsp;&nbsp; If you post the internet optimized &quot;Large&quot; sized TrueView photos (1100 x 550 pixels) directly from their database, they will typically look a bit &quot;soft&quot; in the focus department.&nbsp; This is because PCGS uses a very aggressive lossy compression algorithm to reduce the file size of the Large images.&nbsp;&nbsp; You can &quot;make&quot; your own (better) version of that sized image by starting with their MAX sized image 5757 pixels in width, then cutting out the coins using a circular selection tool, then resizing to fit on the Large sized template, then saving using a HIGHER QUALITY compression setting (say 90% quality ... i.e. 10% compression).&nbsp; This little trick makes a huge difference in how sharp the coins look at the web optimized size of 1100 pixels wide.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is a nice example of how Robec having more time to shoot allows him to capture more &quot;looks&quot; of a colorfully toned coin. </p><p>This row of 6 photos below were shot at six different lighting angles.</p><p>Note how GLOSSY and MIRRORED shot #1 looks!&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; And how shot #6 captures some color and some glossy mirror.&nbsp; While shot #2 basically maxes out the color and minimizes the glossy mirror. </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://mindstar.com/cointalk_photos/1991s_6xComposite.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Now compare that with the TrueView photo which was shot in a few seconds and basically maxed out the color -- so it looks more like Robec&#039;s shot #2 above. </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://mindstar.com/cointalk_photos/27588572_Large.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The upshot is most toned coins have a whole slew of various looks and some might appeal to you more than others.&nbsp; It makes perfect sense that if you are shooting your own coin and have hours to spend with it, you will find that one shot that &quot;sings&quot; to you personally.&nbsp;&nbsp; While the PCGS TrueView photographer doesnt have that luxury and needs to crank these through (can you imagine having a backlog of 1000+ coins that you need to photograph in one day? wow)&nbsp; ... so they are shot simply to max out the color (which is what most (but not all) colorfully toned coin collectors like).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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