Lighting

Matt - High intensity light is not going to alter the quality of light and shadow on a coin. Brighter lighting offers two advantages -

First it allows you to stop down the camera. If you are shooting at f8-f16 you are going to be getting a sharper focused shot. This is important in macro-photography. Generally I set my camera to AP (aperture priority) and force the camera to f8.

Second you can position the light further away and reduce an effect called "Fall Off" were the light is more intense near the lamp reduced to shadow further away.

Also, (though I should do some tests to demonstrate) you can diffuse a bright light by bouncing it or running it through a diffusion filter and this softens the shadows. If I am trying to highlight a specific mark on a coin I will get rid of the diffusion to enhance the detail. However, overall a little diffusion makes a GEM condition coin look more shiny.

That's a stupendous result for bounced light, Stunet. It illustrates the fact that differing camera/lens combinations work differently; this would be an uncharacteristically great result for my setup under diffused lighting, yet is reasonable for yours.

It is a great shot, but what lens, and focal length. My shots come out just as good until I have to convert them to something CCF will allow me to post. Most of the time I can't post anything over 450x450 pixels. Great idea about the umbrella, it warms up the image and you don't get flash bounce or glare.

Depending on the lens, you're not letting a lot of light in at F8 and it restricts the depth of field. Some lenses, relative to the apature, require a great deal of light just to operate on automatic cameras. Are you shooting with manual, or situational settings?

I shall continue my endeavor to persevere.

Okie Dokie, back to the drawing or should I say photo clip board. I shall continue to endeavor to persevere.

Thanks SuperDave. The information posted here is very helpful especially about the background colors to use depending on the coin. I am still learning alot about shooting coins and find it fascinating. Far from being a photographer, I can say that it is a challenge. The toughest shot I tried to do was the penny. It took a lot of trial and error but I can attest to the fact that in the end a white background helped me to get a better picture. As I continue to read these posts, I look forward to additional insight because sometimes you have questions but are not sure just what to ask.

I use old fashion 60W (4) over my kitchen table on a black matte cotton background ( a glove ). Grey works too.

IMO, always do the manual thing and play with it..
I use a 100 watt tungsten(normal light bulb) and the axial method.
white balance set to Tungsten. works like a charm with a 90mm macro lens on a Rebel.

Axial method refers to the camera as the axis of the shot. In this case the light coming from the same axis as the camera. The more common name for this is "fill lighting" because it fills all the shadows.

Generally one lights with a "key" light (a light placed at an angle off axis that throws shadows) and a fill light to determine how much of the shadows should be filled in. Technically photographers will talk about a key to fill ratio. Thus a lot of fill may be best for shooting a slab and presenting luster of a coin, a lot of key will emphasis a strong strike, surface scratches or a clash.