Best I Can Get On A $400 Budget? Help

rmc your pics are always the best , great shots.

Thank you for the compliment but far from the best, I've seen some pretty amazing pictures in this forum from all kinds of different equipment and set ups. It is pretty cool though that people think some of my pictures are good enough to publish because 2 years ago when I first asked for help, I couldn't take a picture of anything. What's truly amazing is when I asked for help, you guys were tripping over yourselves to give me any info I needed....I never understood a word anyone said, but still lol. Than Ray dumbed down all that info for me so I could understand it and away I went. I still don't have a clue what you guys are saying half the time but I got what I need from you guys and for that I am grateful, thank you!




Yes...All I use is a used Canon XS camera and used 75mm Nikon lens that I picked up on ebay. Also, I picked up a old stand for $60.00...very sturdy and IMO very important.


Its embarrassing but I had to borrow a camera to take a picture of my camera.

@rmc: How about using your smartphone to take a pic? Most phone cameras are actually ok for shots like these. They're still nothing compared to SLRs, but not as bad as they were a few yeas back.

I actually am a tad jealous of your setup. I wish I had a nice camera stand for this kind of photography. I have my regular tripod, which is aiming for horizontal picture taking, not much vertical, so virtually useless for coin photography. :) But with a lot of (indirect) light and proper work with shutter time, it can be taken from hand as well. I have a Nikon D5200 myself (had it for years) and it allows me to take proper pics of coins.

I'm the same as you rmc, I just got my first cell phone 2 weeks ago still learning how to use it.

What are you talking about, what are these?

lrbguy....I wish lol. That picture was taken when I first got the set up, I don't think I even tried to take a picture with it at this point. I use diffusers on the jansjos and a few other techniques that I found works very well

Im using 2 jansjos with diffusers and a telescoping arm desk lamp. There is no set position for the lights....every picture is a little different and may need some adjusting. BU pennies a the hardest coins to capture.

I also use a piece of picture frame glass set at a 45 degree angle between the lens and coin....I have the desk lamp pointing horizontal and at roughly coin level. The 2 jansjos are above but are diffused. Hard to explain...when I get a chance I will post some pictures.

I never had good luck with direct light pointing at the coin

Thank you for shedding more light on that, rmc. I'm not happy with anything I'm getting by direct light either, so I'm relieved to hear that there was more to it.

A couple of things not clear about your axial lighting setup. Do you use a snoot on the desk lamp (which I assume is aimed to reach the glass from below rather than from above)? Is the desk lamp close to the setup or set out a ways? Do you shield three sides of the glass setup or leave it open all around?

Thanks.