A Beginner's Coin Photography setup

Not bad pictures

Hi LOBBY, I am surprised that no one has mentioned the Vivitar 55mm macro, in M42 mount, to you. You can buy it for about $100 on eBay, like I did. It is a sharp 1:1 macro that will far exceed your current set up. M42 to Olympus adapters are also cheap on eBay. The lens and adapter work fine in program mode on my Oly 510.

M42 lenses can also be used on Sony and Canon cameras. It you want make your old Oly sing with your regular photography, then buy a nice old Carl Zeiss (East German Jena) lens with manual focus for about $120 on eBay.

Hi Lobby, the M42 mount was an early mount used for years. The Vivitar 55mm macro 1:1 lens was made in several mounts. The M42 is very versatile because it will fit modern Olympus, Canon, Sony and possibly Pentax Dslr cameras, but not Nikon. They can be found at auction on eBay for about $100. Be patient and you will get one. Be sure that the lens has an M42 Mount. The M42 lens adapters for these cameras are abundant on eBay and can be had for $10 to $20 or less. Search for M42 lens adapter to OM mount. Take your time to buy the right equipment and you will save money in the long run. Good luck.

If you go with a dedicated macro lens, I'd recommend 90mm or longer. Working distance with a 55mm lens is pretty short so it's difficult to get lighting in there between coin and lens. It is possible, but you'll go to great lengths to get lights at high enough angle to properly illuminate the coin. And being so close to the coin changes the perspective as well. Of course if you get that 2x Macro Converter, and put it with the 55mm lens East recommends, you'll have a wonderful 110mm SuperMacro lens...Ray

East...You make a good point, since even though the actual focal length of the lens is not changed, it requires less magnification to fill the sensor with the coin and thus a larger working distance. My recommendations are based on experience with an APS-C sensor, not full frame, so the factor is not 2x but the trend is the same...Ray

Hi Lobby, I was surprised by your move to buy the automatic extension tube. Most of my macro work is fully manual, therefore an expensive extension tube is not necessary. I just bought a full set of M42 extension tubes for $6. Your Olympus kit lens will never be as sharp as a good macro lens, which will work fine on your camera in Program Mode. With a manual lens you will have the ability to select your f stop, which controls your depth of field. The magnification filters you use actually degrade the sharpness of your lens. The extension tube will reduce your depth of field, but give you greater magnifiction.

I noticed, when I looked at your photos that they seemed soft and flat with very little 3D look to them. These are all greatly improved with a sharp lens set up.

On my Olympus 510 to get the 7x magnified view, I turn on the live view screen and then push the OK button once. I also use a cheap $20 focusing rail for better focus. You will see why when you turn on the magnified live view. You will be amazed how unsteady your camera actually is. I also recommend using the 2 second timer or a remote shutter release device. If you do all these things your photos will be greatly improved. If you don't already sharpen your jpegs after you shoot, you should. By the way, I learned most of this advanced stuff by reading this forum. Good luck and good shooting

This place is just blasted amazing!

East: I'd noticed the lack of sharpness in my coin pics, and I'd attributed that to the cheap magnifying filters I've been using. Thanks also for the camera settings advice. I'll play with that.

Ray: I prob need to bite the bullet and get a full bellows arrangement with a good prime lens to take the quality pics I want. But for that I'd need a good copy stand.



I'll probably proceed that way in the short term future.