Anyone Using Iphone 15 Pro Plus For Coin Photography?

Ok, I've got it figured out!!! Macro must be turned off and phone at least 7.5" above coin.
Macro is the default setting and must be turned off by clicking the little flower.
Next, position the phone on a stable platform overlooking the coin - minimum 7.5". I had been trying to use the same box as with my i7+, but it is 5". The i15 will not focus at that distance.
I'm quite satisfied with the results. Here are a few examples:
Bhutan 25 Chetrums 1975

Bhutan 25 Chhertum 1979

US 50 Cents 1995: 50th Anniversary of World War II

US 50 Cents 1992-S Columbus Voyage - 500th Anniversary

San Marino 5 Euro 2007: Equal Opportunity

Honduras 2 Centavos 1974
China 1 Fen 1937 (new photo)

CollegeBarbers, it took me almost two months to figure this out. Once you move the phone up away from the coin, lighting is no longer the problem it was.


I try to keep it below 5X - enough so that the coin fills the frame but also leave some wiggle room for rotating the image. At higher magnification, the images have strange squiggly pixilation. This is a problem with very small coins, so with those I go back to the macro lens up close. I put the phone on this contrivance - a power cube box with a carpenter's pencil taped to it. Lighting is still an issue, of course. Having the phone at this slight angle does help, however. I'm using a Voncerus LED goose neck lamp which is really nice - https://www.amazon.com/Voncerus-Eye...B5ZBT42?th=1

I just use one Voncerus - that's all you need. It has an integral diffuser, so you don't need to wrap it with a paper towel or piece of milk carton (like I've done with my other lights).
I set it on the "normal" light - not the warm and not the "blue". It's set at max bright or in the upper range but I change it as needed. But for each, it doesn't seem to matter that much - the phone automatically corrects for both. There are times when I wish it wouldn't, but haven't figured out the proper settings for that.
Proofs (especially silver) and other highly reflective coins (nickel-plated) are a real challenge. You're trying to take a picture of a mirror without getting a reflection of your phone. Also sometimes the coins appear black. Playing with the light angle and the phone angle often lets you get a good image. I also will hold a piece of white or black paper above the coin so that the reflection is lighter or darker as desired.

Great photos, Hondo. The proofs are especially nice.

CollegeBarbers, I have the light at the same level as my phone and perpendicular to the coin and phone. It's generally about 5" away from the phone, so it's about a 30 degree angle. I do move it back and forth or rotate it to get the picture to be the best representation of the coin.
When you get pictures of the liberated coins please post them and tell us about your protocol.

Looking good!

At 7.5", zoom is definitely required. I zoom so that the coin almost fills the frame - roughly 10% slack - because I invariably have to rotate the image a bit when processing it.
For some tiny coins, I will use 7X or more, although I don't fill the frame with them. Here's a tiny one - 15 mm.
British Virgin Islands 1 Cent 1981