Here's My Dilema!

Every Lincoln Cent will require a bit of adjustment in the lighting ,, the camera may be able to be left at a set distance ( I have found 4 to 6 inches to be most suitable),, but all copper is not created equally ,,and what works for one coin will not work for the next .

Illustration ,,notice where the shadow falls on this photo .lighting from the bottom low and from the right .



and to get the same illumination on a coin that is slightly toned and pick up the color ,, from the top medium angle and to the right

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and saw that small tripod for $16 and bought it.

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Is it the one that has the telescoping legs, or just 8 inch height maximum? I had bought an even cheaper one a while back, but my camera is actually too heavy for it, so it wouldn't stand on its own with the camera pointed down. That's why I went with the one I mentioned here. I think you will notice a big difference once you can get some light onto the coins. Well done Mr Merc. Now figure out the best settings for me will ya?

I like it. But not as much as the pics you posted!! How come we don't see more of your examples? Not trying to hijack Mr mercs thread, but those are some nice pics. Is that with the tripod fully collapsed? What kind of camera?

Got back from the coin show and I didn't get what I went there for but found a nice Liberty Head large cent and a nice lightly toned Peace dollar. I will experiment with the Peace dollar to see how close I'm getting to true colors of the coin, it has a light gold toning overall. As far as the tripod yes tights24 its the one that extends to 41". It's been a long day but I did take a pic of the large cent, using the 2,40 watt desk lamps, camera in super macro about 5" away but this time I placed the coin on top of a plastic cap from a nickel roll holder. The actual color of the coin is a chocolate brown. I'm going to post to the grading forum next. Thanks guys!

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Mr Merc, try cropping out all of the background with your original. I lost some clarity by doing so with your current images, but you can see the difference in size and I'm still under 100kb limit for non gallery images.

Here's a pic of the large cent in super macro with white balance adjusted in one touch white balance mode.

Bravo, Mr. Merc! Nice pics. Lighting is even, white balance is good, focus is good. You're getting close to maximizing your equipment. Feels good, doesn't it! It's time to dance!

Yes, thanks to everyone!