Yet another camera question

I bought a camera last week that I have since sent it back because I think it was a dud. It would not focus on anything within 2 feet of me, mush less a coin in its face. My question is I am looking at an Olympus FE 12.0 MP w/3X optical & 4x digital zoom. Is this the feature I should be looking at to get those great pictures everyone posts? Or is it the macro feature? This one has a "super macro" setting good for 0.2"-infinity. Is that what I'm looking for? Just looking for an inexpensive camera to post decent pics with. I have never needed a camera before I started coin collecting and this would be the only thing I would use it for, so I don't want to put hundreds of dollars into it (I'd rather put it into coins!). Any advice or recommendations would be great.

 

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cheap and macro usually don't go hand-in-hand. maybe a flatbed scanner would suit your needs. a point and shoot camera with a macro or close subject setting will help but you have to understand the lens still has a capability range. with those you may not be able to be right on your subject, but need to be several inches away from the subject to get the auto focus to focus. read each camera lenses specs that you are considering very carefully. post the models you are thinking about in your budget range and maybe others here can point you in the right direction.

also check dpreview.com for very in depth camera equipment reviews.

 

Ditto!! A good quality scanner will usually do you very well with out putting
Out alot of cash!!

 

And a scanner will greatly help this new coin collector when they venture into currency (notes).

 

What type of lens specs am I looking for? Here is what the above camera has:
Focal Lengthf=6.3 – 18.9mm (36– 108mm equivalent in 35mm photography) Aperturef/3.1-5.9What does this mean to me?

 

"Ikandiggit" posted a good technique in another thread with pics. Check it out.

http://www.cointalk.com/t82099/

 

Your on the wrong path sort of. The Aperture is the the size of the opening for light to enter the camera. Nothing really to do with how close you can get. The 36-108 mm is the type of close or distant image sort of. This means if 50mm is standard, the 36 is rather wide angle and the 108 is a sort of telephoto of about 2 power or double the image used on 35mm types of cameras. Your digital equal is the 6.3-18.9mm. Nothing here really tells you how close you really can get to the subject.
What your really looking for is simply the closeup ability which is noted as Macro. Some even reaonable cameras have more than one setting for Macro. I say reasonable, not cheap although basically the same.
One thing you could do is simply take a coin out of your pocket at the store where you are planning on purchasing a camera. Ask if you could check out the Macro abilities of a camera. Some stores like Walmart, Kmart, Best Buy and many others have numerous cameras out on display and many are testable right there. See how close you can get with those cameras. Almost any digital camera allows you to see what you can take a photo of.
For an example of a decently priced camera I nomally use a Fuji S7000 which has two Macro settings and can get to almost the lens touching the object. Also, is 12Megapixels, has two different cards, will take any Compact Flash and XD card. I also have a Cannon, Fuji S9000, several Samsungs, a Sanyo and few others and so far, none cost to much.

 

Thanks for all the input, I'll study and read up and see what comes up.

 

Except I don't think you can scan U. S. Paper money.

 

Sure you can, its done all the time, but results will vary due to anti-counterfeiting measures, as to what level of detail you will see.

 

Get a stereo microscope with a USB digital eyepiece camera. You will never regret it, and it's the only way that you can see your coins 'magnified' in 3D...as long as you have two eyes that both work. You can look at a hundred coins and take a pic of only one if you want. I don't understand why everyone doesn't have one. Get 'em on the cheap at eBay. I've got about $1200 into mine, and it's a once in a lifetime purchase. I'll be enjoying mine every day for hopefully a long, long time. lol

 

I suspect you missed the original statement that said
Just looking for an inexpensive camera to post decent pics with. I have never needed a camera before I started coin collecting and this would be the........
Not sure why but so many ask this question and get everything including suggestions to purchase a Leica, Hasselblad or large format Mamiya.
Nothing like spending thousands of dollars when your budget is about $100?????

 

Stereo microscopes w/usb cameras are as cheap as he is lookin' at, if he wants any quality whatsoever...when did you become his spokesman???

 

Can you recommend a stereo microscope, the few I have searched have been in the comma range like you mentioned earlier.

 

Many point and shoot, low end cameras will focus very close but only if you set the camera to macro mode. That usually causes a small tulip shaped icon to appear on the display. You may have sent back that camera for no good reason if you didn't set the tulip. The problem with most cheaper cameras is that they only focus close at the wide angle end of their zoom so you have to be so close to the coin that no light falls on it because of your shadow.

The feature to seek out is one that has a macro setting at both the long and short zoom settings. I don't keep up with current cheap cameras but a real salesperson at a real camera shop could help you.

...and there is nothing wrong with using a scanner as long as you learn to use it. No $100 camera I've seen can outshoot a $100 scanner but this changes as you move up in price.

 

Thanks dougsmit, yeah I had it on macro, had the tulip, and was able to get a couple of shots with my loupe held to the lens, but they still weren't all that great. It was a refurbished camera, and I still don't think it was quite right. I couldn't take a picture of my coffee cup just 2 feet away. It would only focus on things that were pretty far. So, rather than guessing what to replace it with I thought I would ask here. I would appreciate any recommendations for a scanner or a stereo microscope.


Thank you also krispy for the dpreview link. There are some great tips there for me to experiment with, if and when.

 

Look for the camera with macro function. Important information is the minimum focus lenght. Generally closer you can focus, beter the result of macro photo. You can also buy special macro filter, which you screw to filter place. They let you get a larger macro scale.

 

Macro focus range on the Olympus mentioned earlier:
Wide): 7.9" – infinity (0.2m – infinity)
(Tele): 23.6" – infinity (0.6m – infinity)
Super Macro: 0.2" – infinity (0.5cm – infinity)

Will this do the job?

 

It should. Try in super macro function. In 0,5 cm the magnification should be really big.

 

It will probably do it but I doubt it will do it well. You have had several opinions given above but none IMHO worse than what you seek is something that can get really close. 0.2" is really close. My wife's $125 point and shoot only goes to half an inch and the sample here is what you get (uncropped but reduced to fit here) of this cent size coin (AE3 Roman) at that distance. You have no freedom to light the coin since there is no free space in which to arrange lights. This uses a halogen light from the top and a reflector on the bottom. The light is harsh and uneven.



To make this easier, what you need is a camera that can fill the frame with the coin not at a half inch but at six inches. Then you can move the lights around and get what you want. Even at a half inch this one takes in a field big enough to shoot a half dollar. What matters is not how close you can get but how big a picture you can make from how small a subject. Take a penny to the store and find a camera that will fill the frame from the greatest distance, not the closest.