I noticed that a lot of members are really skilled in taking pictues of coins. I am a pretty decent photographer, but lack the skills in photographing coins. Mainly lighting is the problem. i like to use lighting other then a flash, but then they are either too reflective. What are some of your tips? i am shooting with a Nikon D50, 18-70mm DX lens. Sometimes i use macro filters on smaller coins (although i notice some distortion on outer edges). Any tips, tricks... Specifically lighting. Thanks in advance, Jeff
Look into "Ring Lights" and "Axial Lighting". Ring lights wrap around the outside of the lens. They provide light that reflects off the coin at a very steep angle and from all directions. This works well for most coins that don't have a mirror finish and for small coins. Axial lighting provides light from directly above the coin, as if the light source was inside the lens. This effect is created by placing a sheet of glass between the coin and the lens at a 45 degree angle. A light source is positioned to the side. It's light reflects off the glass and down onto the coin. That light then reflects up through the glass and into the lens. In scientific applications a piece of glass used this way is sometimes called a "beam splitter". Search for those two terms ("Ring Light" and "Axial Lighting"). There are plenty of web sites with much more indepth descriptions. Good Luck, Tim
Found this on the web. Looks useful http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/coin_photography.htm Cheers. rich.
Personally I just put the coins in a natural light, or bright lamp, on my "super macro" setting. I get nice pictures doing that
I have a desk lamp that mounts to the desk and is on an arm. Theres like 3 spots that the arm bens and the head of the light can swivel. Its a bright flourescent bulb. Its a circular bulb with the magnifying glass in the middle. I dont use the magnifying glass, but being able to move the light however I want is big. I can find the perfect lighting for all sorts of coins. BU Silver, BU copper, Dull Silver, Dull copper, etc. Anyhow, I think my lighting is the most important part of my setup that gives me great pictures. Im sure you could find a light like mine, and as a guess Id say it would cost approx $20 to $30
Another approach is to use a diffuser box which is made of translucent material (like white fabric) with bright lights on the outside of the box coming from at least two different directions. The light is diffused by the fabric to it doesn't create harsh shadows or reflections. The tabletop studio link in the previous post shows an example. http://store.tabletopstudio-store.com/12microezcube.html.
http://dougsmith.ancients.info/photo7i.html Also there are a bunch of threads here on the forum that will help, they can be found using the search. The biggest things are a tripod or copy stand, good lighting (multiple sources), and a good macro mode on the camera.
Great idea! I'll give it a try. After looking at the stuff in the coin photo kit, it seems to me that all of it could be made pretty inexpensively from objects found at home. I have a tripod and a good camera with a macro lens. That should do it.
wow, thanks for all the info. Yeah, I the best thing would be some sort of desk lamp and tripod, I hate using flash so a tripod is a must. The coin photo kit is awesome, but not worth it to me since i wont be taking too many pictures of them, just ones i want to sell here and there. Thanks for your advice, Jeff
