Alright, I've been having a problem photographing my coins for quite some time. I'm usually at a loss at how to get the correct angle and lighting for coins. I've been using my smartphone camera for the most part but what do you all think about a tool like this? TOMLOV DM101 Digital USB Microscope Camera 500X See Entire Coin Taking Photo/Video, Inspection Endscope with Adjustable LEDs, Windows/Mac OS/Linux Compatible https://a.co/d/0AG7Wnr It seems to be a microscope/camera with certain light settings designed for photographing coins. One of these days I want to start photographic and documenting all the coins in my collection.
Looks neat, but we had some discussions before about digital microscopes. I don't remember the consensus, but I seem to remember there was a lot of negative remarks. If you get one of these, please keep us informed of your efforts (in other words, I'll let you be the guinea pig).
Some things to bear in mind. Any of these USB microscopes need to be a minimum of 5Mb or else they can pixellate quite badly. The internal lights are generally not much use as they are directly overhead and can wash out minor details. Unless the support is of sufficient height getting an image of the full coin (larger coins) is not possible.
My coins have been photographed by two different photographers using two completely different systems. Ae 25 of Trajan from Caesarea Maritma 115 AD Obv Head right laurate Rv. Emperor togate and veiled standing left sacrificing over altar RPC 3955 11.61 grms 24 mm Photo by W. Hansen This individual uses natural sunlight though usually it is slightly cloudy. The camera is hand held The coin is on a small plinth with a blue background. This coin uses indoor lighting with two lights on an angle that are covered with tissue. The background is a white colored glass. The camera is set on a fixed stand which can be adjusted up or down. The coin is on a small plinth.
I think the OP probably made a judgement call not to purchase the said item. There are too many cons and not enough pros. Modern day smartphones have a very good camera system. Mine has, in the camera settings, further choices of Pro or macro. Macro is good but with the phone body at a maximum of 5cm from the subject, getting correct lighting to the subject can be a challenge. The Pro setting allows you to manually choose the ISO from 100 to 800, adjust the white balance and the brightness before you take the shot. Means a lot less post processing to make the image represent how the coin actually looks in hand. This, with the Pro setting, needed no post processing apart from cropping away uneccessary background, looks exactly like in hand
Thanks for the responses. Well, I guess I'll be a guinea pig then. The Tomlov DM101 and DM201 (10") both supposedly can capture whole coins. I'll probably try the $70 DM101 first and see if it meets my needs. It produces 1200x1600 images, which I think will be fine. I am mostly looking for something that I can use to photograph my collection to store in my PCGS.com inventory manager and for occassional ebay sales. I have both a DSLR and newer iPhone, which I've been using, but it's not so much a matter of quality for me, but a matter of convenience. I want to be able to rip through some coins, without needing to set up a tripod, and not have to import photos, etc. It will also be a nice plus to be able to look at a zoomed image on my computer screen if searching for errors, though the more expensive DM201 has a built in LCD screen that would probably be better for that. I plan to order this week. I'll share some images when I get it.
@ForTozs be a guinea pig and post your results. I have a microscope as well but without being able to adjust the critical settings you will probably have to do some post processing to make it look natural. This can take more time than just importing a finished image and cropping it. Also, the more magnification, the more pixellation and un-natural your image becomes. One further point regarding your comment on ripping through some coins. One set up is not the same for each coin. Size, texture, composition and toning etc, requires a different lighting set up each time. The built in led's on a microscope have the effect of washing out the finer details because they are situated directly above the coin. These were my observations from my usage of a microscope, because I prefer my images to look like the real thing. It was not something I was able to achieve. I hope you get more satisfaction from experimenting with yours. Good luck
Can't remember the brand of the top of my head, but I've switched to a digital microscope for my coin pictures. I'll attach a couple of the results below. I'm actually pretty happy with the results usually. I don't use the light that came with the scope, its an absolute disaster for these pics. I do use a fairly cheap 4" ring light from amazon for the lightning. The hardest part for me so far has been getting th efocus right. In some of the pics I've taken not all of the coin has been in focus. I've also had some trouble with ambient light throwing the color of coin. Most have been OK, but a couple of my silver coins have come out looking pretty in pnk in the pics. ** I just did a little dive through my Amazon history, its a 5mb Mustcam Digital Microscope
I have received the scope and posted a preliminary review in this thread. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/reviewing-the-tomlov-dm101.399648/
