I Think I Found My Best Setup For Iphonography

Diffused lighting is fine but sometimes does not accentuate the 'all' of details of the coin.

I personally have better luck with a combination of what I personally label axial lighting and the diffused lighting. In other words, try removing only some (say 30%) of the ping pong balls thus leaving them uncovered.

Then, have these new lights shine upon the surface of the slab at an angle of 45 degrees upwards from the horizontal surface originating from both the east and west sides of the coin/slab.

I have successfully diminished glare using this setup. You can incrementally reduce diffused lighting by slightly increasing the amount of these uncovered lights.

Obviously, try to prevent these lights from entering directly into the lens opening of the camera.

Finally, having this type of lighting mixture will better highlight the undulations of a coin's surface and reduce the glare which may be one's objective depending upon the situation...

okiepb - from the very beginning my setup has been intended for RAW coins only, and I have found from my own trials and experimentation that it doesn't work well with slabbed coins. Sure, I can create a "glamour" shot if I have an accompanying TrueView image, but otherwise, the coins always appear too dark because of the diffused lighting. Using direct light on a slab with this setup is impossible. I'll give you an example. The first picture is an unedited shot. The second image is a glamour shot, combining the TrueView image with my shot of the slab.


I have tried doing close-up, raw-type shots of slabbed coins, but it just doesn't look the same because I can't have the lamps directly on the coin. The reflection of the lamp heads gets in the way. The Morgan dollar pics you posted look good, but I can't see much room for improvement, given the limitations of this setup. Again, this setup is best utilized for raw coins. That 1804 would photograph a LOT better if it was raw- same goes for the Morgan.

TrueView is an option from PCGS where they will take a professional picture of your coin and send it to you via email. It's another $10 in addition to all their other fees. You have to request it when you submit your coins for grading.

Don't pay it unless you want to donate to PCGS' employee retirement fund pool.

This is exactly why it 'ALWAYS' pays to call any TPG before submitting anything in order to find out if anything has changed since the last time a submission was made.

I followed my golden rule above and found out that PCGS' 'True View' is now included at 'no additional cost' for ALL submitted coins.

I also found out during that same call YESTERDAY that PCGS is now running a special VARIETY ATTRIBUTION promotion lowering the customary $ 18 per coin down to only $ 12 per coin.

A customer service rep. named Joe told me that info.

For eight coins requiring 'True View' and 'Variety Attribution' that was a savings of ($ 18 - $ 12)8 + ($ 10 x 8) = $ 128.

Wow, for a 10 minute phone call that equates to making $ 768.00 per hour. The only inconvenience I had to encounter was scratching out my previous figures on my submission form. PCGS said that it was fine to scratch out my original figures without filling out another new submission form.

fyi,
mdpmedia (Mark)

Can you link to that bit of info from their site? I just don't think that's true. I know the TrueView service is included if you elect for the secure gold shield holder, but it hasn't been included for regular slabs, unless, as you said, something has changed. I mean, they made Coin Facts available for free, so perhaps they are now including this. I need hard proof to believe it, though. I won't trust one PCGS phone operator.

Yep. This. Although, mdpmedia, I wish it was included for every coin. Of course, they would just add the fee in their other costs somehow. I emailed the TrueView photography department just for clarification. LOVE me some TrueView images, especially for Morgans and Ikes!

Ok. I just received a response from Phil (I believe he is the photographer) at PCGS, and here is what he said:

Hi Bryant
This is not quite correct. TrueView images are a part of the Gold Shield service (formerly Secure) and all coins submitted at the express level and higher must use the Gold Shield service.
Hope this helps.
Thanks
Phil