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 Replies: 20 / Views: 4,818 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10038 Posts |
A does not seem to show the details of the others.
B looks good (details) except the yellow overtones make it look unnatural to me and some of the scratches shown in the other pics are not as visible.
C shows the fine details (all the minor scratches show up) but looks a little too light in color.
D makes it look lik a more worn coin than the other pics show it to be.
E shows details but makes it look like it is made from lead.
Overall - B
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Valued Member
United States
424 Posts |
I'm inclined to agree with Earle. Be easier if the same coin were used for the different lighting situations.
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Valued Member
 United States
380 Posts |
Agreed... The same coin would make this much easier.I kinda threw you all a curveball with that one. I might have to try them all with the same coin again, unfortunately I throw them all in a 2x2 after a brief photoshoot. Sloop I'll just have to get another Morgan to try this on...
A. Is direct sunlight (low in the sky)
B. Is lamplight directly above the coin right next to the lens. (this coin has a very yellow tone to it, and it's a great representation of the coin in hand)
C. Is diffused sunlight.
D. Is lamp lighting from each side.
E. Diffused off camera flash.
A,C, and E are all actually the same coin!
Thanks for your input! I'd love to hear more if you guys have any...
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
it may be better to judge if you used the same coin in every picture and just changed the lighting, that way we would be able to judge which one shows the coin best instead of trying to pick from different coins
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Valued Member
Denmark
69 Posts |
None of the above  I would have loved to see the 1878 coin with the lighting used in B. Have you tried axial lighting? I find that I get the best results using axial lighting, especially with gold and silver coins. I have never really had much luck with dark copper coins thou. |
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Valued Member
United States
266 Posts |
C looks the most natural.
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Valued Member
United States
266 Posts |
C looks the most natural.
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Valued Member
United States
266 Posts |
C looks the most natural.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3076 Posts |
I would be happier in evaluating the differences in pictures for one coin instead of 3 with different settings from the post....
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Valued Member
United States
380 Posts |
Just got a ring light to play with! Check these out...   |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4038 Posts |
Ringlights do give nice even light. They are touted as being "shadow-free illumination". I use them for most of my viewing with the stereo microscope, and for most of my high-mag imaging with the MonoZoom7. And clearly from your pictures they do well with circulated silver. My experience is for full-coin images of MS coins, they tend to give too few shadows and no luster. But no one lighting works best for all applications, and ringlights definitely have their place as you have shown here.
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New Member
United States
1 Posts |
Howdy, I saw your post and wanted to reply so I became a member of your fine forumn. I have always had problems dealing with coin problems and I still do. A couple of days ago I was at coin chat site and the subject dealt with proper lighting. It was stressed to use Halogen lighting. I have a few coins that were not encapsulated and were labeled as "Details". Anyway using a 45 watt Halogen light bulb I was able to easily see my coins that were wizzed or improperly cleaned. Why I even have a 1909 S I graded as MS 63 Plus which came back as a fake. for years I used a 45 watt desk lamp and a 10 power Bausch and Lomb triplet and I didn't see the problems. The 09 S was slanted due no doubt to a misaligned welding job. Again sorry for the long note but I though it might help someone. On your pictures I choose "D" as I can clearly see the details over the other photos. Did you use Halogen lighting? Been in the hobby over 60 years but I bet 99.9% of your entire membership know a heck of a lot more about coins that I ever will.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3076 Posts |
I would hope to see the same coin under the many types of lighting so I can truely see the difference...Different coins and different grades and under different lighting conditions, really don't help me at all...to see the basic lighting ideas, the advance lighting techniques when they are all from different coins and grades and lusters....Luster alone is a huge influence in how you will light the coin...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
Halogens are good for Counterfeit Detection because they are pinpoint sources and under high magnification this gives the best detail resolution. Larger sources that provide more diffuse lighting reduce local contrast and this makes detection harder. I have not used halogen for a while since converting to LED but it looks like I need to do a lighting study to compare Halogen and LED for detail rendering. Unfortunately, what's good for high magnification Counterfeit Detection is not necessarily what's good for photography of the overall coin...Ray PS: welcome to the discussion kepifred Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.comEdited by rmpsrpms
08/24/2011 06:50 am
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Although I have plans to change the habit, 95% of my shooting to date has been using the same 50w Halogen MR16 bulbs, for the reason rmpsrpms has stated. They're picky about placement, and will easily wash out details, yet their small size makes them highly adjustable and they bring out details like nothing else in my experience will.
The tradeoff is an image of a coin which will likely grade lower than the same coin lit by diffuse lighting.
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Replies: 20 / Views: 4,818 |
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Posted 05/25/2011 9:00 pm
