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 Replies: 12 / Views: 3,453 |
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Valued Member
United States
293 Posts |
Hi all! I've been taking really bad coin pics and finally started reading this section over the last couple of days. I figured if others could get nice pics with inexpensive equipment, I could give it a shot too! This is my first attempt to get a "decent" pic...it's not perfect, but I'm happy already!  I definitely need to use a white / grey background and white balance my camera settings. But overall I was pretty pleased! Here's the setup I used:  It's a usb reading lamp, a small magnification lens, and the camera was my Canon Powershot SD750 Digital Elph. Nothing fancy at all, but surprisingly much better pics! Just thought I'd share...now I'm looking forward to photographing my collection! |
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Valued Member
 United States
293 Posts |
Quick attempt with a white background. Still need to figure out the white balance settings on my camera and the best light position so I don't end up with those hotspots.  Edited by bwbollom
04/12/2011 3:10 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
737 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
293 Posts |
Thanks! Just playing around with it, I found that I can even get decent pics with my cel phone camera (HTC Evo) using just that little USB light and magnifying lens. The Canon is better, but just that little bit of set up makes a TON of difference!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1388 Posts |
Nice pics  , what is that magnifying lense? I've never seen one of those...  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1166 Posts |
Well done!
These are the kind of pics I'd like to see instead of those tiny, blurry, poorly lit ones that some people post where it's even hard to tell what coin it is let alone trying to make a determination on it.
Good job, bwbollom!
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Valued Member
United States
293 Posts |
Thanks DA! I hadn't seen one either...my mom gave it to me last year when I was telling her that I wanted a loupe for coins. It says "CARSON" on the bottom...just googled that and I think I found it! It looks like this: http://carsonoptical.com/Magnifiers/Loupes/LD-75From their website: "LumiDomePlus™ - LD-75 The LD-75 LumiDomePlus™ from Carson Optical is a 3x power pre-focused polished acrylic ball Loupe with a transparent base. It permits ambient light to illuminate the subject for bright, clear viewing. The LumiDomePlus™ is great for viewing coins, stamps, photography and miniatures. Start seeing things in a different way with the LumiDomePlus™ Magnifier!"  I can't find a price on the website, but it couldn't have been much. My mom wouldn't have spent a ton, not knowing if it was even what I was looking for. But it does work pretty well! Also, thanks ikandiggit! Those tiny blurry pics are what I usually post :) Hopefully that will change now! Edited by bwbollom
04/12/2011 3:56 pm
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Valued Member
United States
459 Posts |
Now if we could just get ebay to require clear pictures like that. You made it look easy, thanks. |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Too cool for words, bwbollom.  That Merc is just a little bit of postprocessing from being dSLR-quality. This is proof that you don't have to throw stupid mmoney into taking pictures, as long as you're willing to invest the time into learning what works for what you've got. Coins like the 1834 will always be difficult. Try rotating the coin 180 degrees, and taking the exact same shot. You can always flip it later for presentation. |
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Valued Member
United States
293 Posts |
Thanks SD! I was sure it could be done with inexpensive equipment, I just didn't know what to do. Lurking around here for a bit gave me some good ideas and then I just TRIED. That was the key...not just breaking out the point-n-shoot and taking another bad coin pic, but attempting something to do better :) They're definitely not perfect, but it's a quick and easy (and CHEAP!) setup to get decent pics, so I'm pleased.
Good ideas on the 1834...I might have to give that a shot when I pull it out of the 7070 book again.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1064 Posts |
Thanks all for the photo tips; I've also been trying to take pics of my few good coins for posting, this is all very helpful!
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Valued Member
United States
362 Posts |
Nice budget friendly set up. We have a Casio Exilim SLR and I have not been able to get it to focus enough for crap. Can't find teh macro setting and white balance hasn't helped. So anyway I have coming a USB Microscope( Not an expensive one) that got good reviews. Hope to take some good picts this weekend!
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Valued Member
United States
293 Posts |
JackB: Just hoping to pass along what I figured out after all the help I've received reading the forums here. Good luck!
coinut: I don't know about the Casio camera...never had one of those. But on all of the pocket cameras that I've owned, there has typically been 3 main settings: a flower, a person (sometimes a tree I think), and a mountain. The "flower" setting is macro (or as close to macro as some get) and used for photographing things really close to you. Set it to the flower, use some sort of magnifying glass, set up some sort of lamp for lighting, and give it a shot!
Some of the older cameras I owned had a "flower" / macro setting, but still didn't focus very well up close...this could be the same problem you're having.
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Replies: 12 / Views: 3,453 |
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Posted 04/12/2011 3:12 pm
