Best I Can Get On A $400 Budget? Help

I'm looking into building a rig based on the list given to the OP. I just can't get what I want out of my P&S Nikon.
Once all the parts are together, what are the limitations on coin size, if any, that can be photographed? Largest I'd be doing are silver dollars. Please advise and thanks.

I've been plugging away, but now have to get serious. Here's a rundown on what I have and need:

Canon XS camera, body only: $175
EOS-M42 Adapter: $5
M42 focusing helicoid, 17-31mm: $30
M42 extensions, 2 sets 7/14/28mm: $15
M42-M39 adapter: $3
M42-RMS Adapter: $15
Nikon 75mm EL-Nikkor Lens: $40
Nikon M5 or Plan4 objective: $30
Tripod: $30
IKEA Jansjo LED lights, two: $20

I would be very happy if someone could post a link to examples of the final two items, so I know I'm ordering the correct thing. I have a suspicion I will want a copy stand and will likely need to contact Ray for that, hoping he has one available (I've been looking at the systems on his sight).

I still have to try and download the Canon program and am hoping that won't be a problem.

I thank you ... I'm excited that I'm getting pretty close.

Well, that's embarrassing. I didn't even realize I had the parts to for full-coin shots yet. I'm planning on a mix of both, but will work at getting the full-coin part working (while waiting on the other parts, hopefully). I think I managed to download the software, so I just need a bit of time to play (won't be tonight, but hopefully this weekend). Thanks!

The cone type adds a significant extension of around 53mm. This can be a good thing for the <$400 setup that uses fixed extensions to adjust the magnification. However, if a bellows is used, the overall extension can be too long and minimum magnification can be beyond the rated magnification of the objective.

As an example:

Canon camera, with register distance (distance from lens mount to sensor) of 44mm
EOS-M42 adapter with 3mm of extension
Cone adapter with 53mm extension

The total extension of this system is 100mm, well below the typical 150mm for most RMS objectives. This gives you flexibility to operate the objective at lower than rated magnification, or to add extension and achieve any magnification you wish.

If a bellows is used, it will add typically 45mm of extension to the system. This would bring your minimum extension to 145mm, nearly perfect for most objectives to achieve rated magnification, but won't allow use of the objective at lower than its ratings. This is not such a bad thing, you just need to be aware of it. You also need to be careful to ensure your bellows doesn't have too much minimum extension, and that you don't use any additional adapters or extensions when mounting the camera that would push the total extension beyond the rating of the objective.

The 4x lens is a cheap Chinese type, not the Nikon type recommended in the thread. Some of the Chinese objectives are excellent, while some are not. I have not tested this specific one so can't comment.

In interest of full disclosure, the M5 you linked to is an auction of mine. When I first recommended the M5 in this thread going on 3 years ago, there was an ebay seller who had many of the M5 objectives available at $27. Turns out he and I were the purchasers of the last stock of Technical Instruments when they closed up shop about 4 years ago, and we both ended up with a good quantity of these excellent objectives. In the last 3 years he has been selling-off his stock, but I have not seen a listing from him in a while so he might have sold them all. I have been incorporating them into coin photography setups and not selling them individually, but I do have quite a number of them and decided to list for sale.

To further the life of this thread, which I believe has made great inroads in making high quality coin photography available for a bargain investment, I will give members of this forum a discount on these objectives to match the original $30 estimate. If you buy one, just send me a note and I'll give CCF members a $15 discount from the $45 auction price.

chequer....I originally bought the Plan4 objective thinking I needed it to make everything work. Honestly, I don't use it for what I'm using the set up for. If you ever want a Plan4 objective for your set up, let me know.

Your full-coin photo is really sharp, to show that much detail when zoomed in.

In my case, the microscope objective with stacking (especially the 10x) can show a lot finer details than a zoomed-in full-coin shot.