What is the best USB Microscope to purchase for taking pictures of coins?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by fred13, Feb 18, 2012.

  1. fred13

    fred13 Junior Member Supporter

    Hello,
    Up to now my coin "pictures" have been limited to the use of my iphone 3gs. It is of no surprise that all the snapshots I have take under all sorts of lighting have been flat out horrible.
    -Now I am pondering is a usb microscope capable of conjuring good coin pictures?
    If so what is the best one to purchase at a relative price of course.
    I have seen some on ebay that are 2 megapixel and are 26 dollars which is reasonable.
    Can anyone post me an ebay link of one they would recommend?
    Thank you
     
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  3. Hunt1

    Hunt1 Active Member

  4. fred13

    fred13 Junior Member Supporter

  5. Hunt1

    Hunt1 Active Member

    Well, i've seen the same model on other websites for well over $100. If 310+ sold though they must be good, plus technology is consistantly changing.
     
  6. fred13

    fred13 Junior Member Supporter

    I suppose, thank you for your input and advice
     
  7. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    If you intend to get a microscope for full coin images, you can forget it.

    Chris
     
  8. GreatWalrus

    GreatWalrus WHEREZ MAH BUKKIT

    What do you mean cpm? They don't get all of the coin?
     
  9. fred13

    fred13 Junior Member Supporter

    I'm sorry but can you further explain your post
     
  10. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    There have been a lot of threads about these. I have not seen one that takes good images of the complete coin. I have seen some great closeup images.
     
  11. zach67005

    zach67005 Active Member

    I just upgraded from a vmicro off eBay to a celestron from Amazon.com. I gotta say the Celestron blows the other one away, & has far superior build quality. The only con is that the LEDs don't turn off.
    Good luck btw, mine shoots the whole coin & has adjustable resolution so you get great pics from many zoom ranges.
     
  12. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    At the lowest magnification, you might be able to get a full shot of a Lincoln cent, but for anything larger, you're SOL. You would have to move the microscope far enough away that you would lose most detail.

    Besides, most of those cheapies are made in China, and if you need replacement parts for anything, you'll be very lucky to get them.

    Chris
     
  13. mackwork

    mackwork Caretaker of old coins & currency

  14. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Well-Known Member

    A good camera is best for coin shots.
    A USB Microscope will take a photo of a whole coin but the quality is not as good, they are after all a microscope for looking at and enlarging areas of a coin ie, Mintmarks, die cracks, etc.
    I just took these at my desk with my VEHO Scope and they show the whole coin.
    q.jpg k.jpg
     
  15. pennsteve

    pennsteve Well-Known Member

  16. JRM43

    JRM43 New Member

    I wouldn't use a microscope for coin shots, given that they aren't super expensive, I would rather use a camera with a macro lens.
     
  17. GreatWalrus

    GreatWalrus WHEREZ MAH BUKKIT

    Thanks for the info everyone
     
  18. pennsteve

    pennsteve Well-Known Member

    You don't need to get something expensive. Just get yourself an aiptek like I have. It is a camcorder, 8 megapixel digital camera, mp3 player, etc all in one. They are cheap cameras and don't take the best pictures or videos, BUT, with a little ingenuity it can be a nice macro camera. In the photo you can see there is a macro switch on the side. The macro on the camera isn't very good, but if you get a 10x loupe like the one in the other picture and just tape it onto the front of the camera, put the camera on a steady tripod, set the timer, then zoom in and move the tripod toward or away from the coin until it's not blurry....then push the button to take the picture and just wait for the countdown. This way you won't get a blurry picture from pushing the button. The camera in the picture isn't mine, but it is exactly like mine except for the color. The coin pictures are ones I took with this camera.

    Edit: The tripod I was using wasn't a very good one and I had to take the pictures a couple of times, so you'll want a half decent tripod. The one I used was one I got at dollar tree for a dollar. No good at ALL. lol Oh, and those aipteks are really cheap. You can get them new for probably 40 bucks or so, but I haven't priced them so they could be a little more or a little less.

    Edit again!: I forgot, if you do this, make sure the switch on the side is set to macro (the little flower symbol).
     

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  19. koen

    koen New Member

    i have a VEHO 200x
    I can take pictures with it from coins up to a nickel.
    Anything bigger is not possible.

    pics taken with the VEHO:
    Lincoln Memorial 1960 D Small date.jpg

    Indian Head 1903.jpg

    Liberty Nickel 1900.jpg

    Westward Journey Nickel 2005 D.jpg

    for bigger coins i use my digital camera without falsh and use the lightsource of the VEHO in stead
     
  20. pennsteve

    pennsteve Well-Known Member

    Here are two more pictures I just took with the camera zoomed in to 4x with the 10x loupe taped to it. I took these without a tripod so they are a little blurry. This is the front and back of a 5 dollar bill. I didn't even know there were words on the purple 5 until I zoomed in. Not bad for a cheapo camera and a cheap loupe (bought a set of them for 2 bucks at harbor freight).
     

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  21. desertgem

    desertgem Senior Errer Collecktor

    I wish I could say I have been impressed with any usb microscopes. I bought one when they came out, but I don't use it for reasons given above, coverage area, lighting, most have lenses made of plastic, some use the lens cover ( plastic) as a 0.5x accessory lens to try to increase the coverage area, and especially the low resolution, 1.3, 3, or maybe at the best 5 mp. Not very usable for cropping and enlargement. A microscope should be a life time investment and it will cost some money. You may have young eyes now, but in 40 years, you will be happy you bought a professional binocular zoom microscope, as you may even read the small print with it by then :eek:. I have use microscopes professionally before retiring for 40 years, compound scopes with or without USB cams, dissecting scopes, TEM and SEM electron scopes, and I have poor eyesight from birth and not getting better. Watch for surplus sales of lab scopes, or find some companies that sell new scopes to universities and take in their solid old AO, B&L, etc. You will think you might rather buy a very nice coin, but if this is going to be a life time hobby, you won't regret the investment.

    I used for 30 years ( and it was surplus then) a B & L stereozoom that goes from 0.7 to 3.0 magnification. With a pair of 10 X eyepieces, that gives 7x-30x continuous. I also have a pair of 5x eyepieces which produces ( 3.5X-15X) and 2.5X eyepieces ( 1.75-7.5X ), so I can cover the complete range. I use an old Canon 590IS digital camera to take photos through the eyepieces. The IS stands for image stabilization, and it does help with getting sharp photos. If you are naturally shakey, they have camera holders for eyepieces that are used for astronomy, but work well. The camera can handle slab photos, etc with the macro setting.

    Too often we see photos where we can't blame the person as they are doing the best they can with the equipment they have, and they spend less than a hundred $, hoping they can take full photos of their Morgans and they can't. There are no cheap wonders in optics, you get what you paid for. IMO.

    Jim
     
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