| Author |
 Replies: 10 / Views: 2,312 |
|
|
Valued Member
United States
136 Posts |
I would appreciate any suggestions to the following. I want to take pictures of coins and transfer them to my computer. I want to purchase a cheap camera and macro lens to learn this. I would like to know some brand names of cameras and lenses that I can do this. Thanks
|
|
|
|
Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
I want to purchase a cheap camera and macro lens to learn this. The terms "camera and macro lens" and "cheap" are incompatible - "cheap" for a camera with a dedicated macro lens is north of $500, and for that you'll be buying it well-used. I have almost $2000 invested in my rig. There are plenty of point-and-shoot cameras out there which can be made to take nice images of coins, but you'll be using the lens which comes permanently with the camera. I guess the first step is to establish what you consider a reasonable budget, and we'll come up with ideas from there. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
If you want to go really cheap, there are some "pro-sumer" type digital cameras that have a good built-in macro function, like the old Nikon Coolpix line. You might find one used for pretty cheap. I took this picture with my Coolpix 950 years and years ago (it's broken now, but I got a lot of use out of it):  |
|
Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
|
|
New Member
United States
41 Posts |
Hi Reports 67 The Vivitar 55mm macro, in M42 mount is excellent. You can buy it for about $100 on ebay, like I did. It is a sharp 1:1 macro that takes great coin photos in f8. I bought an Olympus 4/3 dslr for about $160 on ebay. An M42 adapter for the Olympus camera can be had for about $5 on ebay. This combination will outshoot "high end" point and shoot cameras, I know because I have one of those. If you decide to move up in camera, the lens can be adapted to other professional digital cameras. I now use it on my 24 megapixel camera and it is even better! If you already have a popular dslr, you can use it with an adapter. |
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
For an economical macro setup, I can recommend the Canon SD780IS/SD790IS or current equivalent. It's a point-and-shoot with very nice macro capabilities--I got mine for $140. Here are a few pics I've taken lately:    Great spider shot, btw  Edited by DVCollector
03/11/2012 3:16 pm
|
|
Valued Member
 United States
136 Posts |
For an economical macro setup, I can recommend the Canon SD780IS/SD790IS or current equivalent.
It's a point-and-shoot with very nice macro capabilities--I got mine for $140. Here are a few pics I've taken lately:
-----------------------------------------------------------Thanks to all who answered. Does the above have the ability to transfer to my computer. And, is the macro lens already built in to the camera
?.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
To clarify on the camera I use (The Canon SD790IS): I took these shots using the built-in macro lens. It is a digital 10 megapixel camera, and the images are easily transferred to my computer via a 4GB SD memory card--most newer computers include this card reader. Since my camera is no longer made--it's probably been replaced by a new model, possibly the ELPH 520 HS. Many point-and-shoots have very good macro capabilities. I would probably start by reading reviews that provide sample macro pictures and go from there--good luck!  |
|
New Member
United States
41 Posts |
Those photos by DVCollector are absolutely beautiful. The problem for me is that the photos are not going to be large enough. The Vivitar 55mm 1:1 macro on my Sony camera will produce much larger images. If you are nuts like some of us on the forum, you will eventually want larger photos. With my setup I can photograph a Morgan dollar at 1:1 without tubes or teleconverters and end up with the numbers on the date of the coin being 4.5 inches tall, very sharp and in full focus. If you don't want or need larger photos, then a good Canon point and shoot will be great! I used a Canon G9 for a long time. |
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Quote:
Those photos by DVCollector are absolutely beautiful. The problem for me is that the photos are not going to be large enough. Thanks--you know, I scaled down these photos to make viewing easier on the forums. My originals are about 5X as large.  Edited by DVCollector
03/12/2012 5:34 pm
|
|
Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
Does the above have the ability to transfer to my computer. And, is the macro lens already built in to the camera
?. Yes, and yes. You'll have to learn the appropriate file manager software - most computers have card readers these days, and you could go that way as well as cabling the actual camera to the computer via USB to transfer images. Most point-and-shoot cameras have a "Macro" setting which will allow them to focus more than closely enough to be of use to you as a coin photographer. |
| |
Replies: 10 / Views: 2,312 |
|
Posted 03/09/2012 1:40 pm
