Copy Stand Vs. Tripod

OK, I'm going to throw a couple fastballs at you.

First, White Balance. This is the ability of the camera to correct for the different "color temperature" of lights you can use. Color temperature is measured in degrees Kelvin, just like stars are. Sunlight at noon is about 5500-6000K. The average "standard" light bulb is about 3000K.

Different colors of light bouncing off an object make it return different colors of itself to our eyes. We learn to compensate for this subconsciously, and see the "correct" color of an object whether we're looking at it under sunlight or a table lamp.

Your camera isn't that smart. All it can do is capture precisely what it sees. Your coin images are tinted too far towards the yellow end of things for that reason - you've probably used standard Tungsten lighting, as that's the color I would expect an uncorrected image under tungsten lighting to take.

Your Pentax is a study in contrasts when it comes to White Balance correction. On Auto - which I'm sure you're shooting - it's really not that good. On the bright side, it is very good at correction when asked properly, and here's how you ask: on the bottom right of the back is the 4-way controller - 4 buttons in a circle, with "OK" in the center. Pressing the left-hand "WB" button brings you into the White Balance Menu. The top and bottom buttons go up and down to highlight a choice, and "OK" chooses and locks in that choice. Switch to the "Tungsten" setting under the same lighting you used for these coin pics, and see what you get.

Mind you, this is just a beginning. You're going to end up using Manual white balance settings, where you tell the camera specifically how you want it to correct for lighting color. But one step at a time.

Now, Point the Second. Just to the left of the 4-way controller is a stack of 4 little round buttons. The top one is a blue rectangle with an arrow in it. That's for reviewing images/movies you've taken. The next one down, labeled "LV," is what we want. That's Live View. In this mode, the camera will project exactly what it's seeing at the moment onto its' LCD screen. If you're not already using it, you should find it much easier to see your focus when you do.

If you haven't yet, I strongly urge you to snag an AC adapter for the camera, so keep you from going through batteries so quickly. Live View is especially abusive of batteries.



A couple of responses to things you mentioned in your last post: "75 ARD" is a lens, the Rodenstock 75mm APO Rodagon-D. It's the lens which Ray has been posting many of his staggeringly-good images from. I will be buying one for myself, soon - its' quality is head and shoulders above anything else available at a less-than-silly price.

"EFCS" is a proprietary function of Canon cameras to help reduce vibration during the snapping of an image; I won't bore you with technical details about how it specifically works. Yet.

Gentlemen,
Thanks for your expert advise.
I just can't keep up.
I feel like I'm waterskiing behind a 747.

It isn't so much the material we discuss as it is the other demands in my life. (Let me just say that there is no danger of an illegal immigrant taking my job) So please be patient.

Just so you know where I am in my studies...
I'm familiar with the Kelvin scale of thermal activity from Chemistry and Boyle's law, and from Mechanical Engineering and Thermodynamics.
I don't know how the naked eye subconsciously tricks me to see one color if it is an object and not if it is a picture of the same object, but I'll set aside that discussion for another thread.
What is important, is that I learned the camera is not a human eye. And thankfully, it can see things I cannot. But when I print the camera's captured image, it shows that it saw something other than what I did. Like the gold tones of the coin.

And you were so right in knowing it was due to the conventional tungsten lamps.
I got CFLs to reduce the effect of my hair catching on fire while working over a hot work area, but discovered my garage sale lamp holders were of poor quality, and did not want to risk a broken CFL bulb over my work desk.

Your suggestions on changing camera settings are greatly appreciated. And I'll try them later tonight, but not until long after midnight. And I cannot hope to post them before tomorrow.
Truthfully, I feel guilty letting you assist me in matters that I should be researching for myself.
If the information I need is in the Owners Manual, then that is where I should be getting it.
Still, your expertise greatly speeds up my progress in one narrow field of photography. Coin shoots.

I have knowledge of the AC adaptor, and must get one. It seems to be designed for desktop shoots, and maybe not so useful when chasing the migration of wild butterflies in a National Forrest.

Out of order, I'd like to address the anti-shake features. I'm supposing it might be wise for me to learn how to use the timed shutter release, before learning about the anti-shake features.

Then I would like to know more about the Rodenstock lens. It is talked about as though it is a foregone conclusion that I'll be needing one. That being the case, what is it, how is it used, and does it have any substitutes?

I gather it is a lens of fine quality used for Macro photography.
Does it attach directly to the camera? If so, then aren't there several models manufactured for other cameras (Cannon, Nikon and Kodak etc?)
Is it used exclusively with a bellows? Which I'll need if I get the lens.
If I guess correctly, Rodenstock is the manufacturer. Rodagon-D is a model -- that means nothing to me. APO is also an acronym that escapes me. And I think the 75 mm is the focal length, or the distance from the lens to the film or receptor.

Now, of course I just have to have one if you guys say it's good. And will as soon as I win the lottery, or my turtle ranch starts producing trophy breeders. But until then I'll be looking for bargains.

But of all the Rodenstock lenses I've seen on ebay, would any others do as well or better for my purposes?
I'll assume it must be a Rodagon (but don't know why.)
It might need to be a --D, and APO (and again don't know why.)
But are there other sizes (80mm etc,) that are as good or better?
On this issue I may need to take a long time looking before purchase, and would like to know if I am viewing a bargain of equal usefulness.

And Ray, I am in awe of what you can do with a camera. The value of your input is hard to calculate. Especially the advise about the Sorbothane. It converts the stresses from torsional to tensional. A good thing. (Anyone can use a bottle opener and tear the lid off a bottle of beer from one side, but how much greater must one pull to remove it straight off, as if pulling a cork from a bottle. It requires much more force.)

Just remember that I am like a puppy.
I want to learn everything, and can easily be distracted by anything.

At my stage, all learning is good learning.

Thanks for everything, and I must get back to work.

Kurt

Just checking in to let me know you havn't lost me.
However I'm having a little trouble "Gitten 'er done."
First I had to learn how to delete the images from my camera's storage. Not as easy as you might think with out dated software. I can up date it when I get a larger memory chip.
The shooting session went quickly, but I still need to use the shotgun approach. Even with "Live View" my eyes have a hard time picking up on the exact razor sharp focus.
And of course the images were about 1.8 MB in size. Using the onsight optimizer is good but slow. My two pictures took over an hour with my dial up connection. And when saved back on my hard drive, they won't upload to the discussion page. Even after renaming.
So , I've got my work cut out for a while. And have to depart from the work bench for a few hours to to visit with my parents.
When I get back, I'll pick where I left off, and make a little more progress.
In the mean time, does anyone know of a free downloadable program for image optimizing?
My computer is fast, but my connection is horribly slow.

Or maybe the problem is that after being optimized, the file is still too big. 140Kb
Send it through the optimizer again?

Hello SuperDave,
see there still are a lot of knowledeable people here on the site, been three years now and I'm just now getting around to that 100mm lens purchase. I'm not too sure about a used one off the Internet, I'm a little concerned about used phot equipment. I have a Rebel Xsi, haven't used it much, not even sure how to use it yet, but plan to use the software to take some nice pics of my Varieties. I just can't seem to capture them as well with scans and my QX5, the camera will allow me the angle and lighting I need to really display my variety coins.
I guess I'll be bugging you guys here now that I have retired, lot more time on my hands lately.


Later,

Now that is a good start! Your image has a lot of good features:
- It's in focus
- It's properly framed
- The white balance looks pretty good
- Exposure is good

How much room do you have between coin and lens in these shots? It appears you are using a single light at a fairly low angle. If you can raise the light higher and closer to the camera (without having camera block it) you will bring out more luster and color. If you can add another light you can illuminate the coin more evenly, though you're already doing well in that regard.

Good show!

Don't use on-line programs with laid-up.

DL the free foto program http://www.irfanview.com It's wicked fast, like a few seconds to crop, sharpen, and adjust colors. Save as jpeg and you should be ready to list.

Part of the problem with my last coin shoot is that the coin is a funny color. In hand, it looks like a lead slug. But I am trying to determine which VAM it is, and hoped the photo shoot would allow me to pick up some important point. It did. Will post a shot of it.

I'll try a brighter coin, and measure the distance to the lens (though I guess it was 4-6 inches.) Used two lights and got them as verticle as I could. Maybe 45 degrees.
And retry infraview. Likely it was something else causing the problem.
I do have some CFLs I can screw in and change the settings in the camera.

And I need to update my Pentax software.

We'll see how far I get.

Thanks All