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First Coins For Collection Reboot, First Coin Photos With "Budget" Rig

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mercdude's Avatar
United States
18 Posts
 Posted 10/27/2025  5:26 pm Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add mercdude to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
The gear used: iPhone 14, $12 desk lamp (set to "warm"), $16 tripod with bluetooth remote, one white cloth glove.

No photo editing done except cropping and resizing

I could not get a visible micro "s" (last photo). My old Nikon is gathering dust and it needs a macro lens but that is not very high on "the list."

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Edited by mercdude
10/27/2025 5:33 pm
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Marv65's Avatar
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10472 Posts
 Posted 10/27/2025  6:34 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Marv65 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Not bad but the details of the pictures just are not "crisp". I don't know if it's over exposed with too bright of light or something else.
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scopru's Avatar
United States
5029 Posts
 Posted 10/27/2025  6:45 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add scopru to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Keep testing. I use my iPhone and it takes a bit to find the sweet spot and right lighting. Love to see mercs
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4036 Posts
 Posted 10/27/2025  11:16 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add rmpsrpms to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
How much cropping are you doing? Is the coin only taking up a small area of the photo? And how much did you re-size them?
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at:
http://macrocoins.com
Edited by rmpsrpms
10/27/2025 11:17 pm
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mercdude's Avatar
United States
18 Posts
 Posted 10/28/2025  12:14 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mercdude to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
How much cropping are you doing? Is the coin only taking up a small area of the photo? And how much did you re-size them?


Uncropped:3024 x 4032 pixels @ 300 dpi - roughly 10" x 13"

Cropped: 2359 x 2359 pixels @ 300 dpi - roughly 8" x 8"

The coins took up the upper half of the overall photo and 6.5 inches of the overall width (ie in the center).

I had to move the phone almost all the way forward in the tripod holder clasp to get phone lens(s) over the coin on a desk and I used a small level on the phone to level it.

The phone was 6 inches over the desk. Closer was blurry so I tried to get it as close as possible.

I had to resize a lot to get them down to ~300k from ~3 mb.

Edit: OK except for cropping, I didn't resize the image, I compressed it when exporting to .jpg files in the Gimp. The compression was down to 18%-22% (as close to 300k as possible, each coin was slightly different) and I used the subsampling from 4:4:4 (best quality) down to 4:2:0 (chroma quartered).
Edited by mercdude
10/28/2025 12:26 am
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Marv65's Avatar
United States
10472 Posts
 Posted 10/28/2025  12:30 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Marv65 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Did you ever look into a zoom/telephoto lens for your phone?
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mercdude's Avatar
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 Posted 10/28/2025  09:57 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mercdude to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
Not bad but the details of the pictures just are not "crisp". I don't know if it's over exposed with too bright of light or something else.


Marve65, can it be the compression which I had to do to get them down to 300k? Is there another "way?"

A zoom/telephoto lens for the iphone? No, I didn't think that was possible. If I get any more gear for photos, it would be a used macro lens ("micro" in Nikon terminology). I already have a good tripod and shutter release and a now ancient D50 but it still works like a new camera after 20 years.
Edited by mercdude
10/28/2025 10:07 am
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mercdude's Avatar
United States
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 Posted 10/28/2025  10:02 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mercdude to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
Keep testing. I use my iPhone and it takes a bit to find the sweet spot and right lighting. Love to see mercs


@Scopru Mercs are the greatest US coins IMHO. There is so much to unpack in such a little coin.
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Marv65's Avatar
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 Posted 10/28/2025  4:04 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Marv65 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
A zoom/telephoto lens for the iphone? No, I didn't think that was possible

You can get a set of lenses for pretty cheap.
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Andr...iews_0_image
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mercdude's Avatar
United States
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 Posted 10/28/2025  9:48 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mercdude to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
You can get a set of lenses for pretty cheap.

Did you buy them? Do they work?

My feeling is that it would be money thrown away but I have taste in gear beyond my means.

I could buy a few very nice mercs for $25
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Marv65's Avatar
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10472 Posts
 Posted 10/28/2025  10:22 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Marv65 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
Did you buy them? Do they work?

I used to use them on my Galaxy A11 with pretty good results - of course I also edited the photos thru "Pixlr" photo editor. I take a lot of pictures so for $25 it was a no-brainer for me to buy the package. I've since moved on to a Nikon Camera and a magnified coin viewer with photo capabilities.
Edited by Marv65
10/28/2025 10:25 pm
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triggersmob's Avatar
Australia
9352 Posts
 Posted 10/29/2025  04:32 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add triggersmob to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
"Budget" rig and iphone 14, is that an oxymoron?
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jbuck's Avatar
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187446 Posts
 Posted 10/29/2025  09:26 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jbuck to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Maybe not now that the 14 is already three years old.
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hfjacinto's Avatar
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7273 Posts
 Posted 10/29/2025  4:58 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add hfjacinto to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I barely use my iphone to take pictures, almost all my pictures are taken with a 24 MP full frame Mirrorless camera, and I upload photos to my iphone. Even saying all that you can use your iPhone to change the picture size, it does it automatically. When selecting a photo, select ... options
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Select Medium , Large also works sometimes.

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And then any picture will come in under the limit.

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Edited by hfjacinto
10/29/2025 5:11 pm
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hfjacinto's Avatar
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 Posted 10/29/2025  5:13 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add hfjacinto to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
On a computer, you can use Irfanview, resize to 800 on the shortest size and set a file size that you import any picture also.
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Edited by hfjacinto
10/29/2025 5:13 pm
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mercdude's Avatar
United States
18 Posts
 Posted 10/30/2025  01:30 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mercdude to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
"Budget" rig and iphone 14, is that an oxymoron?

Yes
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