Nikon Coolpix 5200

I know people who are getting truly excellent results with this camera. Here's a little generalized advice that isn't camera-specific:

1) Learn your particular camera's Macro, Manual and White Balance functions. Some cameras have more adjustability than others; yours isn't blessed with really broad adjustability but does great macro work. If you can get the white balance properly adjusted in the camera, you will have licked the single most common beginner problem.

2) Get the camera and the coin *exactly* parallel to each other, and get the camera on a rock-steady mount. This is best accomplished with a tripod or copy stand, and the camera pointed straight down onto the coin. Here, from another thread, is my accident-waiting-to-happen total jury-rigged confabulation of mismatched and incompatible parts which I use to shoot coins:



Only the camera is uncompromising; the rest is whatever I grabbed at the time. Here's a sample result, which your camera is perfectly capable of duplicating in quality if not size:



It is imperative that the camera and coin be parallel, because macro work surrenders depth-of-field, and if the coin is tilted relative to the lens you're going to drive yourself nuts trying to get the whole thing in focus. Ditto the firm camera mount - use a delayed shutter so you're not even touching the camera when the shutter snaps. The little white wire connected to my camera in the pic goes to my computer - I'm controlling the whole process from the keyboard with something called DSLR Remote Pro; once I set the camera up and turn it on, I do not touch it again until I put it away.

3) Back off! Compromise the final size of your pictures by backing the camera far enough away to get the lighting where it needs to be - as close to perpendicular and directly above the coin as you possibly can. Use as your goal a final picture between 500-600 pixels in diameter; if you can get the camera 10-12" away from the coin and get even larger pics, count your blessings.

4) Don't be afraid to get bright. You want the shortest possible exposure time for sharper pics, and the smallest possible (largest numerical) aperture for depth-of-field. Your camera has limited aperture adjustability; set it at the highest number and leave it there. Your lighting wants to be as small as possible and as close to the lens as possible, to be vertical on the coin. Compromise this in the interest of getting enough light in the area to allow you to use the best settings for good pictures, but always get the light as vertical as possible.

5) Always use the highest-quality/size picture setting. More pixels is more better.

6) Acquire, and learn, some sort of post-processing software. Look around this forum for recommendations about what's good, and what's free - there are softwares which satisfy both requirements.

7) Have the ability to move the lighting around, for your next steps after mastering the basics.

Now. Everything I've just said is the most basic, beginning steps to getting good coin photos. There are other, equally-good ways of doing it (for instance, Bobby, Forum Dad, gets better results than I using an entirely different lighting setup). Furthermore, different coins require different approaches to get the desired result - Brilliant Uncirculated silver requires something different from circulated silver, which requires something entirely different from copper, and gold is another thing altogether. The basic camera/coin positioning doesn't change, but lighting sure does.

I've been serious about coin photography for about 18 months now, and I'm only beginning to get it. Don't be discouraged by unsatisfactory initial results - just post questions here, and we'll help.

Gee whiz, Dave. Now I know why "Super" is in your name! Expect to see some pics of my Morgans later next week, and hopefully they'll be better than the stuffola pics I originally posted. I'm sure once I get everything set up, I'll have a few more questions. Thanks so much for suffering through my ignorance of pretty much everything!

I have taken about 50 pictures of a Morgan dollar today. Only one is even passable. I even sent my poor husband all the way into town to get a special bulb for this little adjustable lamp I have. Every pic with it sucked (I haven't told him that yet!). Below is the decent one. Other than the fact that the tip top of it is cut off, is this a passable pic or do I need to keep experimenting? I can't make it look silver no matter what I do. I'm really frustrated!



Image: morgans 008.jpg

Tights- Well, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who can't get this right immediately! Luckily, we're in the middle of a heat wave right now (high should be 50 today!!!) so as soon as the sun gets up, I'm going to try your trick and see if that helps. How about a Morgan dollar with a snow background? ;)

Tights, you are my new bestest friend! That natural light tip definitely fixed the yellow problem I was getting indoors. I'm not into cameras, so I don't really see myself ever going out and getting a tripod or software or stuff like that, but I'm pretty pleased with what I produced outside just holding the camera in my hands. I'd like some expert opinions though. Anything simple I could do to make them better, or are these passable pics for having you guys give me a general idea (not exact) on grading?

Edited Link: http://www.monshaugenfamily.com/Coi...tion/CC.html

quote:

---

Is the black lamp the only lighting you're providing?

---

That was addressed to me, I hope, because I'm going to answer it.

In my pic, above the camera you'll see a white 4ft section of track lighting with two gooseneck lights dangling from it. They're the primary lighting, movable and removable, as well as able to flex in any direction. I have 4 of those goosenecks, but in the picture I have only two installed.

The black lamp is only used for side-lighting, usually to get better definition of a die crack or pitting.

I have a grand total of about $30 in everything except the camera, and that $30 includes the tag-sale tripod. Of course, the lens cost more than my computer, and the camera cost more than the lens. That's all for a specific purpose, though. I want big pictures.

Have you ever seen a PCGS TrueView pic, shatsi? They can image the coins they grade in *huge* fashion, with the final coin image 2000 pixels in diameter. That is my goal with this setup. I'm still working out light angles, but I've got everything else. Here's a Morgan from my collection, shot with the Digital Rebel you see in the pic:



Don't worry about all the scratches on the bottom - it's a 1921-P VAM-41, and those scratches are die polishing lines. Now, here's a crop of that image, full-size:



The full-size coin image is 2100 pixels wide. I'd post it here, but Bobby would shoot me.

Thanks SuperDave. I'm very happy with the Sony H2 but the problem I'm having is getting good lighting.

Link is working for me...
http://www.monshaugenfamily.com/Coi...tion/CC.html