This is the best I've done -- so far. The coin is in an NGC slab. And in hand there's no question that it's a proof. VERY mirror-like in the fields. But I can't capture that look. The camera is a Nikon D90 SLR. The lens is a Nikkor AF-S Micro 60mm 1:2.8 G ED. The light is a single OTT-LITE with a white light tube (color temperature ~5500K) Suggestions, please.
I get good results with just a cell phone camera and a 20x loupe. A little distortion around the edges but I don’t mind
I find three lights best for slabbed coins. One overhead and two adjustable brightness lamps either side. Play with the brightness and position of these two until you get the image you want. This is in an airtite capsule
What mode are you using? What ISO? What aperture (f/stop)? What shutter speed? I usually don't get very good results with only one light bulb. Depending on the coin, two or three get me the best results.
I tend to use a minimum of 3 lights. Proofs can be a real pain to shoot, especially if there is no cameo on the devices involved. Unless a proof coin has gorgeous toning, I typically shoot it so the fields go black. To do this, I aim the lights at the coin at a low angle, that way the light reflects way from the lens. Now if the coin has no frosty devices, such as you find with the 1950 Dime you have above, then I light the field so that it gives a strong black and white contrast, indicating the mirrored fields and devices. Here is a 1950 Proof dime just like the one you posted in the OP. But the key is multiple lights. The obverse had fairly deeply curved fields, so the contrast affect is much easier to see in the fields and suggests that they are very reflective. The reverse fields are very flat and reflect the light uniformly. Therefor they go almost white with a strong contrast to the areas of the devices that don't reflect the light, again, suggesting very reflective surfaces. Here is the Franklin Half from the same set. And the Washington Quarter. To achieve this look, just adjust the angle that the light is projected down onto the surface of the coin. A higher angle of light will light up the fields. You can very easily see that these coins are all proofs and not typical business strike coins.
With all deference to the previous posters, I am personally not a fan of the universally bright white fields. To me, they're overlit and can't even begin to show the condition of the coin. While it's almost unavoidable to have bright spots, with proper light placement you can limit that to show both the contrast of the coin, the details of the fields, and the texture of the devices. Keep in mind, I don't really own any proof coins and these are both prooflike (business strike) examples. However, the surfaces are similar. Both of these coins used 3 lights.
I have to agree. After that experiment with lighting I won't be repeating it. Even though it does separate the fields from the devices, the end result is not remotely close to the actual look of the coin.
Try playing around with some of these settings. Your camera probably has an "aperture priority" mode. Try using that if you aren't already (as opposed to full manual mode). Your ISO is *extremely* high compared to what most coin photographers use. Try bumping that down to ISO 200, or even 100. Somewhere around f/11 is usually what I use - and the advantage of using aperture priority mode is that it selects the shutter speed (that might be what you're using already). If you have enough light on the coin, shutter speed is going to be around 1/16 to 1/10 of a second. So, biggest things I'd recommend based on your settings: add *at least* one more light, and knock that ISO down a good bit.
Thanks. I'll give changing the ISO setting a try. The 1000 works well with ordinary toned 19th century coins. But I knew proofs are a whole different story. And I'll add a second OTT-LITE.
Also make sure you keep your light sources very high and close in near to your lens. From the lighting in the OP, it appears your lights may be quite low - possibly even below the height of your lens.
