Dream Lens.....which Is Better?

@rmpsrpms. It would be interesting to know where it is written that tamron is the best money can buy at 100mm macro.

I was a nikon's user. I changed to canon just because I wanted the best for coin photography. Canon 100mm is the best by far and made me change to canon.

I spent a lot of money experimenting in various lens and finally, canon 100mm gave me the best results. There is one problem though. It is a high price lens. For me, it worth it.

Thanks Ray. As the OP, I appreciate all the input from you and others. It'll be a few months before I take the dive, but I want to be sure.

Ford....all I can say is WOW!

Ford...would you mind posting some pics of your lighting and camera/stand setup?

Also, please provide the specs on your lights, i.e. brand, flourescent, led, etc with temps. How many? What positions/height relevant to the lens/coin? Diffused or not? Diffusion material?

Your results in the pics you provided thus far are what I'm striving for.

Thanks in advance.

Well you will find my setup Basic but functional, some might say cheap, but it works.

The copy stand is a leftover from the 1970's but is built like a tank.

Lighting I use :-

Compact Flouro Placed at 10am and 2pm
2 X Desk Lamps, cheap as I could find, the globes cost more.
2 X Philips 13w "Cool White" 5200k Tube type.
or
2 X Philips 13w "Cool White" 5200k Globe type.

No difusion used on flouro lamps, the Globe Type does have a little more Direct lighting ability and some coin surfaces appear to prefer this light type.(Mint Bloom Copper for one)

LED's Placed at 10am and 2pm, for some coins an additional at 12pm.

3 X Jansjo Desk lamps from IKEA.

Difusion consists of cardboard tube and single layer of tissue which slides straight on LED head. A second set has dual layer tissue fitted if the single layer dosn't provide the "Look" I'm trying to capture.

The Setup Prior to shooting


The Setup while shooting, Lights will be moved closer to lens barrel before image is taken.


What I see in Canon "Live View" before snapping the shot.
3 X LED no difusion


The Shot Cropped and resized.(Minimum is usually 800X800)


What I see in Canon "Live View" before snapping the shot.
2 X Flouro at 10am and 2pm


The Shot Cropped and resized.


This shot is a Deep Cameo Proof Silver.
(They are a pain to image and this one is still in it's capsule)
3 X LED's with Double Difusion.


Happy Days

like your setup ford. like the idea about lots of light. mark goodman, say has said lots of light. fast shutter speed very sharp image. you have it all covered. very well done.

Same software I use Ford....I use a 1960's Testrite copy stand that I have modified
to my liking with an up/down left/right slide rail and 5200K lighting as needed. Works great....In my case I shoot on a white background because Amazon requires a pure white background on product images. Like the setup...your getting great pictures...