Photography True To What The Eye Sees

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thq Pillar of the Community United States 3342 Posts	Posted 05/22/2024 6:47 pm On-line coin photography is deceptive. Sometimes this is intentional, but more often it is because photos do not capture what the eye sees in-hand. Here is an 1884-CC MS64DMPL photographed two ways. First, to show a typical on-line photo. Second, to show the flaws by suppressing the field mirrors. This typical straight-on photo blacks out the reflective DMPL fields. The bust shows some flaws, but is mainly solid white frost. Once the dark field reflection is suppressed, the field flaws that the eye sees show up. There is light chatter that looks like Reeding Marks, along with several squiggle marks in front of the nose. On the bust, the flaws seen in the top photo show, along with irregularities in the frost. This is not an unattractive coin. The appearance in hand is more like the upper photo, with the high contrast beween field and bust. It was the best of five 1884-CC MS64DMPLs I looked at. But without seeing the coin in hand it was impossible to tell which of them was the least flawed. The eye knows best. "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire Edited by thq 05/22/2024 9:06 pm Report this Post to the Staff

rmpsrpms Pillar of the Community United States 4036 Posts	Posted 05/22/2024 9:30 pm The camera just records what it "sees". If you view the coin in-hand, then put the camera where your eye was and snap the shot, it will look exactly like what you saw in-hand. The problem is that people set up coin lighting and perspective to be different from how they view it in-hand, then complain that the photo doesn't match the "in-hand look". Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com Report this Post to the Staff
thq Pillar of the Community United States 3342 Posts	Posted 05/22/2024 9:47 pm When you examine a coin in hand, you look at it from multiple angles, using glancing light to see the defects. It was tricky to set up that second shot, to show flaws that are obvious to the eye. The mirror fields hide them in photos taken directly above the coin. Tipping the coin didn't work - it actually hid all the flaws completely. I don't know why the snow white frost on the bust took on a greenish tinge on the photo. "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire Edited by thq 05/22/2024 9:53 pm Report this Post to the Staff
rmpsrpms Pillar of the Community United States 4036 Posts	Posted 05/22/2024 9:55 pm Yes, some folks have automated the process and created animations to show what the coin looks like from various angles of the coin as well as the lighting. No single image can show all aspects of a coin. Also keep in mind that when we have the coin in-hand, we usually look at it with both eyes, so we get two views from different angles of the coin and the lighting, and our brain pieces those together into a single 3D image. There have been attempts to do this as well using stereo photography. I don't think any of the animated or multi-perspective methods were ever commercially successful, so we're stuck with single images to complain about. Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com Report this Post to the Staff
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