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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;rmpsrpms, post: 2770455, member: 31773&quot;]Canon gives you free tethering software, and a vibration-free shutter when in Live View mode. You have to pay for the software for Nikon, and only the high end Nikons have vibration-free shutter. I would recommend getting an older-model Canon for these reasons.</p><p><br /></p><p>The choice of lenses comes down to the size coin you want to shoot, and if you want to shoot any details of varieties and such. Here are a few options:</p><p><br /></p><p>A) If you are only doing full-coin imaging of larger coins, then the macro lens approach is the easiest way to go. A Canon 100mm macro is an excellent choice. You&#039;re talking perhaps $600-$800 new or $300-$400 used for the lens. Such a lens will give you auto-focus as well so you can shoot faster.</p><p><br /></p><p>B) If you want to do details shooting, up to perhaps 2:1 magnification, then you can add a 2x teleconverter to your macro lens and get pretty good detail shots. This adds another $100-$200. You get good speed as well if you buy a teleconverter that preserves the auto focus of your lens.</p><p><br /></p><p>C) If you want to do variety imaging at higher magnifications (3x and up) then you have a few choices, depending on quality level desired:</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; 1) A separate system for varieties like a USB microscope, or trinocular microscope. The USB microscope quality is not great, but they are very convenient and inexpensive. The trinocular microscope has a little better quality, and also gives you the convenience of an optical microscope for variety searching, but is much more expensive. Neither approach can take the place of a DSLR for high quality full-coin shots, so this is in addition to the DSLR system.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; 2) Adding a reversed wide angle lens in front of your macro lens will give you a good quality image. The magnification depends on the focal length of the lens. If you have a 100mm lens, and add a 24mm lens to the front, you will get about 4x magnification. This route adds another $100 or more depending on choice of front lens.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; 3) The bellows approach gives you the most flexibility in terms of magnification range, allowing full-coin imaging all the way up to high magnification variety imaging in one system. The tradeoff is speed, since bellows are inherently manual. There is no &quot;fast&quot; solution for shooting at high magnification, but going with this approach will force you to do manual focus for your full-coin imaging as well. The bellows will cost you ~$75-$125, while a lens suitable for full coin imaging will cost perhaps $75-$125. A lens for variety imaging will cost another $50-$75.</p><p><br /></p><p>Any of these approaches will require a copy stand of some sort to hold it all steady. For full-coin imaging a standard copy stand works well. For varieties, fine focusing capability is needed, so either a copy stand with fine focus capability, a focus rail, or other approach such as a modified microscope stand is needed.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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