Tamron Af SP 90mm F2.8 Macro

The lens' ability to focus shouldn't change in either setting; that's about narrowing the range when you're shooting Macro so the lens doesn't have to hunt it's full range of focusing distances when you know the subject is close. Makes focus a lot faster. "Full" allows it to infinity focus if that's what you desire.

First constructive criticism: It takes a bit of a touch to get the CCF Uploader to provide large images, which are what we need for appropriate evaluation. You're likely getting very large images and having to downsize heavily to post here; what we need are images of at least 800 pixels in diameter (actual coin size) to be able to see what's actually going on with the photos.

Grab yourself a (free) membership at Photobucket, postprocess your images to 800-000px diameter, and post them here from there. Here's a tutorial for Photobucket posting:

https://goccf.com/t/53146

And her are a couple of pictures of an XF 45 1914 S Barber Half:



I used two daylight fluorescent bulbs with tissue paper diffuser (high tech.) for lighting. Advice please!

Congrats Jeff! Their great shots.... have you had a chance to use the tubes yet?

Holy smokes that's cool! Great detail! Love the die break along the bottom.

I'll try adjusting the lighting on the '07. On the '05 that's all the luster there is- original toning. All shots were done with the lighting in identical positions.

You, of course, have to be the ultimate judge of how close the image is to in-hand. Keep in mind, though, that you're going to need to look at the coin under the same light you're using to shoot it, to make that determination.

You're getting all the sharpness one would expect out of the lens. However, I don't think you're 100% square to the coin - the bottom of the Franklin looks a little out of focus while the top is super-sharp. Drop a pocket mirror onto the surface which holds the coin, and adjust the camera so the reflected image of the lens is exactly centered in the taken shot. That'll ensure you're plumb, square and level with the coin.

I've been practicing a bit with different lighting techniques (1 to 3 lights, angles, etc.). I think I'm getting better.

A shot from yesterday:



Any constructive criticism? I'm using daylight fluorescent lights- are they too soft?