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 Replies: 529 / Views: 85,230 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3076 Posts |
Very nice! I haven't tried any of the photo stacking myself..Post processings is one more thing in photography I have to find time to work on..  |
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Pillar of the Community
  United States
3935 Posts |
Brandon...Looking good! I actually prefer your single image to the stacked one. Keep in mind focus stacking software often significantly adjusts the image so you have to compensate with your post processing, or adjust the software to minimize the effects. I also don't see much of a reason looking at the single image that you really need to focus stack, and certainly not 5 images. If I stack a coin, it's only when I open the aperture wide open (or nearly) and then I try for the minimum number of images in the stack. So I will take one shot critically focused (but skewed slightly "high") on the lowest points of the coin (usually the field) and then another shot critically focused (skewed "low") on the highest points (tops of the features, rim, etc). The stacking software has a lot less work to do with fewer images...
I will often take more images in a stack than I need, and then remove the ones that don't seem to be needed. Step through your stack to make sure each area you want in focus is independently represented. If two images look similar, and have regions that are in focus in both of them, I delete one of the images from the stack. What you are looking for is each focus plane to be represented by an image. Multiple in-focus planes will confuse the software and end up degrading the image.
Now, if you tilt the coin a bit, you may very well need to stack 5 images or more. Also, if your setup is not quite flat stacking may help...Ray
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
627 Posts |
Thanks Ray. I agree, the single image is definitely my choice. I was more playing with the focus stacking software, just because I had never used it before. I can't get over how amazing an $18 lens works, and I know this isn't even close to the best of the enlarger lenses! I wish I would have come across this site a year ago, but better late than never!
Thanks again, I'll be posting some more "learning" shots soon.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
627 Posts |
Here's my second go at it on one of my favorite tokens. I'm using two semi-diffused Jansjo lamps, aperture closer down to 8.0, completely filled the frame with the token. The token is about 20mm, filling the ~16mm sensor, so magnification of approximately 0.80. I can't believe the level of detail!   |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
I'm feelin' all warm and fuzzy inside.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3935 Posts |
Super! We have yet another El-Cheapo convert...Ray
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
627 Posts |
Ray and Dave, This beauty came today! I maximized it to the sensor size, focused wide open, stopped down to 8.0 for the image, and used OttLite direct lighting from about 8-10 inches above the coin. I cropped to 800px for the full coin pictures, and also show representative images of the unresized image. This is with the same $18 Vivitar 75 f/3.5 lens! You guys are true teachers, scholars, and amazing photographers. I owe ALL of this to you! Cheers, -Brandon     |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
That's delicious. You owe it to yourself, down the road, to learn about axial photography for this coin. I suspect you'll be astonished at what you can bring out in it, lit axially.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3935 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3076 Posts |
you've done a great job! Not only in collecting equipment and ideas... your photo's are a great result!in your understandings well done... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
627 Posts |
I bought a Vivitar 75/3.5 as my first cheapo lens. I already posted a couple photos I took with that one. It cost me $17.59 with shipping included. Well, I saw another come up for sale on ebay, but it was (for some reason?) called a Vivitar- LU 75/3.5. It cost me $15.90 including shipping, and it came with the original box. It was listed as being in "very good condition". My observations: These little lenses are basically the same -- I'm not sure what the "LU" stands for. The weight and construction is quite sturdy. The one I purchased with the "LU" designation came with a lot of dust floating around within it. The front cap screws off easily enough, and I used a LensPen and a Giotto rocket air blaster to clean it up. I'm not sure what I did, but when I put it back together it works smoothly, but the little "clicking" action to denote the fixed f-stops doesn't click anymore. But, the lens is still quite capable of producing nice images. I own a blast white Silver Ike dollar graded MS68 by NGC. It is a 1972-S coin, and just gleams with luster. Just as an example, I decided to shoot that coin after the lens cleaning. I stopped down to about 5.6 for this one, I filled the sensor with the dollar, and then cropped the dollar and resized it to approximately 750px square. Put your sunglasses on for the luster on this one! Just goes to show again, even the super-cheap enlarger lens glass can produce VERY nice images.   |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
That's great stuff, man. The luster reaches out and grabs you by the lapels.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3935 Posts |
Nice coin and nice images of it. Using 3 Jansjos, at 8:30/10:30/1:00 for obverse? Were 3 lights required to get enough light into the slab for even illumination? Do tell.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
627 Posts |
Yep Ray, you got it. I tried and tried to get 2 lights to illuminate the dollar, but 3 were necessary to avoid completely dark areas. They were all Jansjo lamps, fit with diffuser cone tips similar to the ones you demonstrated. Shooting through a slab is a bit more difficult than raw coins. It seems I can get raw coins well lit with two lights, but I had to resort to 3 on this one.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3935 Posts |
Wow, if the lights were diffused on that shot and produced that much luster I am even more impressed with the coin! Thanks for confirming, I figured with such a lustrous coin you'd need 3, especially in a slab that shadows the edges.
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Replies: 529 / Views: 85,230 |
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Posted 01/08/2012 09:46 am
