Coin Photography

Not that I'm getting obsessed with silver but........

I'm a very amateur photographer and I've seen some great photos of coins on this site. Just out of interest, what sort of equipment are people using? Camera body? Tube flashes? Macro lenses? etc...
I think the dark background is perfect for silver coins but generally my photos don't come up anywhere near as shiny and clear as some I've seen. Any advice?

Szag

 

Hello Szag,

Regards COIN PHOTOGRAPHY - read the following

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=87392

and as much as you can from here

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=81


after you have read these, and if you have the equipment than you can go PRO

 

A nice light box and a macro lens is a must, imo. I built a decent light box using some scrap wood, white undershirts, and white paper, it works great. Still looking for a cheap macro lens, they are quite expensive.

 

all you need to take good photos is a camera with full manual setting and an external flash.
Nothing else is needed. use your house walls and paper to bounce light and black cloth to block light.

I took this photo with a 6 year old compact camera and external flash. i just pointed the flash to the wall in my house, this gives a nice soft light.

[imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/339_pamp.jpg][/imgz]

 

Excellent photo !!

flash to the wall is a great idea too. It diffuses the light and all the rays that hit the bar/coin reflect in all the different directions

 

Do you have any shots that I can see? Set up pics and examples of photos taken? This is what I'm talking about.......
Thuycidide's forum link went to some serious shyte. I'm very tempted though.

 

That is amazing. I tried my D300 with a bounce flash but got nothing of the standard that you achieved. Your shot is
f-awesome. I'm going back to try again! I'm inspired. The choice of a PAMP was excellent too. Beautiful bar.

 

Thanks.
if you want i can take a photo of the setup so u can see the distance i had my flash to the wall. I think the biggest thing is not to overexpose the photo. You want to keep the grey tones to give shape.
Its helps to have something dark on the opposite of the light source.

 

Leo's picture is pretty awesome.

Here are a few pictures that my brother took with my light-box, I suck at photography so he takes all my pictures for me. I'll take some pictures of the set-up when I get a chance.





I don't have proper lighting though, I held a lamp above the box while my brother took the pictures.

 

Great stuff. I'd love to see the setup.
I think ideally yours is better for different types of photography and that might suit me because the crazy setups can be quite dedicated. I want to take photos of other things as well

 

ok this was more or less what i did.

I then clipped the blacks in Photoshop.

[imgz=http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/339_light_setting.jpg][/imgz]

 

How did you fire that 580exii with the G5 ?

 

Nice work Leo..

I would have thought the bounce would illuminate some of the black cloth that the bar sits on (cancel that, i just read the photoshop bit)

 

i got a wireless flash trigger off ebay. They are cheap and work great.

Its not on the camera in the example photo as i just brightened the wall in Photoshop to illustrate a flash.

 

A camera with manual exposure is a must, preferably a DSLR.

Good lighting is the key. Bounce flash works but it may take a number of tries to get the image you are looking for. To adjust lighting real-time a softbox would be useful. As a beginner you can get cheap ones off ebay for under $20. To adjust the lighting you can just move the lamp(s) around before taking the shot. Try not to use ordinary lightbulbs that leave an orange tint.

Some DSLR lenses can focus very closely even if they are not marketed as macro lenses so check the specs if you are looking to buy. Zooming in with a fixed lens works as well.

Or do what Leo did...

 

Thanks I use wirelss also, I just thought there may have been a setting I overlooked

 

Looking on Ebay for equipment now. I'm very overwhelmed here. Thanks for the info people. Any additional suggestions would be appreciated...

 

Yeah. Those guys are hard core.
I'm researching a macro lens with a lightbox or a full setup with a copy stand and bellows.
I'm liking Leo's set up though. I already have a camera with a wireless flash but I've tried it. I think my issue is light and also my lens. It's not really for macro. (75-200mm)
I do have a 50mm however.....hmmmm. that might definitely need bellows however.