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 Replies: 10 / Views: 2,133 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Today I downloaded a trial version of Helicon Focus--here are a few results on coins. For these tests, I used my Nikkor 60mm micro lens. It has noticeably less chromatic aberration than my 105 as well as being sharper. And, for the technique I use, there's enough room for my lighting setup--which is just a single Jansjo LED light with diffusion. Something I really like about the technique I've developed--it really keeps highlights under control. For each shot, I've made a curves file for ACR (.xmp) and applied it to each focus increment. I get far more flexibility applying this to the native RAW file than fussing later with the curves for an RGB or LAB file. Each shot was made using Mup and EFCS. There is no sharpening done in the camera or with software. Each photo is 100% crop--you can enlarge to see everything.  Here's a repunched mm I found recently. This technique brings out every blemish. I don't mind because it shows everything--from flow lines on the die to little spots of corrosion, and of course the RPM.  I think high-grade silver coins really look good with this technique. Again, this really kept the highlights under control. I like it this way, it shows a lot of detail--you can see clashing, die scratches, repunched letters, and lathe lines too.  It also does well with copper coins that have some luster remaining.  Edited by DVCollector
12/05/2014 01:08 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3540 Posts |
WOW! Picture color versus in hand close?
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
10045 Posts |
Thanks--the color is pretty close to as seen. Of course, color is dependent on lighting temperature. |
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Pillar of the Community
2087 Posts |
INteresting I will try raw with my camera and see what happens
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Valued Member
440 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
Just be careful with how "real" your coins end up. The camera sees things the eye doesn't or the mind ignores. Most coins are an inch in diameter ± ½". You start looking at them at screen size (~8") and all sorts of stuff shows up. Suddenly your MS coin has a hard time making AU. Even the TPG graders generally use only 3x to 5x magnification, and then only when it's a close call. With your techniques I bet there would NEVER be an MS/PF-70 coin. But your images are very impressive. Edited by kanga
12/05/2014 08:11 am
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4591 Posts |
Yes, I've grown to love stacking. Especially as my coin of choice is the 14mm trime. I've posted this before, but here goes again. This is in a slab, and because of the split before strike error, there is almost no detail to focus upon. But with a middling deep stack (I think it was about 30 frames), all of the details pop out - and it can easily be enlarged to 12x12  -----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4037 Posts |
Really nice images. The lighting technique seems to bring out surface detail very nicely, and the D810 is giving excellent pixel-level sharpness. Plus focus stacking guarantees the entire surface will be in optimum focus.
Please remind me...are you using camera AF to do the focus steps for stacking?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Quote:
With your techniques I bet there would NEVER be an MS/PF-70 coin.  My technique is a good way to study coins--but it might not be the best for selling coins, such as that MS silver 1/2 Dinero. Quote:
Please remind me...are you using camera AF to do the focus steps for stacking? I set the lens to manual, and dialed in the steps by hand. It's pretty tedious--tethering will automate this process. That's a good use for stacking, BStrauss3!  Thanks everyone for your comments!  |
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Forum Kid
Canada
1074 Posts |
wow truly amazing, excellent! I would love for you to take some pictures of some of my coins!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
I could do that for you after the holidays--as long as you cover postage. As you can see by my post count, I've been here a long time. Of course, some coins work better than others for this technique--send me PM. Edited by DVCollector
12/06/2014 01:34 am
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Replies: 10 / Views: 2,133 |
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Posted 12/05/2014 12:49 am
