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 Replies: 11 / Views: 2,565 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1374 Posts |
Last year, I bought a Celestron for photographing RPMs and such. To say the least, I was disappointed. The Dinos are good, but they are so expensive!
I was forced to buy a new point and shoot camera after I left my old camera in my pocket before putting my pants in the washer! I bought a nice Sony point and shoot that has the lens built into the camera so that you can not get sand in the moving parts. A plastic cover slides over the front face, protecting the lens. I quickly found out that the macro setting is astounding and at 16MP, the quality is good enough that I don't need a microscope camera.
The disadvantage with the microscope camera is that you can not take a picture of the entire coin. Even if you manage it, you can not switch between observing a MM and the entire coin easily. And the quality is horrible.
By using a camera with high MPs and a good macro setting, you can take a picture of the entire coin ONCE. Then using Photoshop, you can "zoom" into your photo to select/copy/paste a PUP into a new file.
I think it is crazy to spend $200-$350 on these pen microscope cameras when you can put that money towards a setup that can do so much more. As resolutions get higher and MPs increase, I can imagine the microscope cameras getting outpaced for coin collecting needs.
Just a thought.
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Forum Dad
 United States
24180 Posts |
I spent $700 on a microscope and camera at AmScope. It sits here collecting dust because my new camera completely blows it away and is 10 times easier to use. |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
By using a camera with high MPs and a good macro setting, you can take a picture of the entire coin ONCE. Sorry, no. This ain't big enough:   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
The reason to go with a microscope is to get high resolution at high magnification. If you take an overall image of a coin, and then crop it for looking at varieties, you can see the variety but the picture will be fuzzier than if you started with a higher mag image.
I've been experimenting both ways, with camera and microscope, and ultimately I've found that the short macro lenses mounted on bellows can give very good results at 3-5x magnification. This makes it possible to use one setup for both overall and "micro" imaging. A 75mm or 105mm lens for overall shots, with a 35mm lens for higher magnification, on a bellows short enough for the overall shots and long enough for the high mag shots. I've actually built a couple setups like this for folks and they've been happy with them. I plan to put more together after I move into the new house, which looks like it will be mid-Jan at this point.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
One other thing to think about...more megapixels in the same sensor size means smaller pixels. We are already at the edge of physics with the size we are at right now in the 18MP range for APS-C sensors. You pretty much are limited by diffraction at f8 for infinity viewing and f4 for 1:1 macro viewing. So more pixels won't improve image quality much from here on. Bigger sensors need better lenses, so $$$ increase in both areas...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
4038 Posts |
Here's the best I have been able to achieve with my DSLR for microscopic images of coin features. This is the mintmark on a Lincoln Cent (my 1957-D Toner) taken with a ~35mm objective at 4X magnification, then cropped 1:1. Would be sharper if it was reduced 2x, and still probably big enough for critical analysis...Ray  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3076 Posts |
With the right set up lenses blow the Micro's away and the lighting is much truer as to the actual color of the coin in hand, than by using the microscopes...I hope to turn my camera on some time this month, I hope...
very nice shot there Ray,
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
Gene, you are right on with color presentation. With microscopes you don't usually have as much flexibility as with the bellows lenses for lighting so color can suffer. Resolution with the microscope can be quite good though. Here's the same mintmark using my Bausch & Lomb MonoZoom7 with Tucsen 3MP camera. This was taken at around 8x magnification, and then reduced by 50%. Since it's not a 100% crop it benefits from "reduction sharpening", which is the benefit you get when you are at higher magnification. FYI at 8X on 3MP (2048x1532) the mintmark nearly filled the sensor, and I am only in the middle of the magnification range for the MZ7! Clearly it's overkill for this but it emphasizes the point that a microscope can do very well in resolution. I suspect that if I got out my Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 5X and mounted on a nice 200mm I could do better than this. Perhaps I'll try it soon, but ultimately what it is doing is making a microscope out of a DSLR by using a microscope objective, crossing the line into the world of photomacrography... PS: BTW, the Tucsen is shutterless so I don't have to worry about vibration at these high magnifications...  Edited by rmpsrpms
12/04/2011 03:04 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
I wasn't happy with the lighting so I installed my RSD Directors onto the Jansjos. These allow me to get in VERY close to the coin with lighting while not shining much directly toward the lens so flare is reduced and contrast improved. I set up the lights 90-deg from each other, and then rotated the stand until I liked the shadows and highlights. Here's what the setup looks like, followed by an image taken with the MZ7 at 4x and reduced 50%:   Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
548 Posts |
Are you shooting through the plastic coin holder in that pic?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1374 Posts |
I've had great luck just taping a loupe lense right over my point and shoot for macro shots of mint marks and such. Obviously nothing like that, though, rmpsrpms. Great shots.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
Thanks guys. And yes, that is through the plastic holder. I can get a bit better clarity without the holder.
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Replies: 11 / Views: 2,565 |
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Posted 12/03/2011 12:28 pm
