Advice Requested While Using Canon Cameras For Coin Photos.

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 2,322
Peter S Thomas Valued Member Australia 216 Posts	Posted 04/21/2012 01:18 am Hi All, I'm looking for some advice on taking photos of some of my coins. Now a a landscape / outdoors amature I'm not bad. The Canon 5D really really helps. Now please correct me if I'm wrong but Marco lenses are the go here. I have a 24-105 f/4 L IS and a 50mm f/1.4 prime. I've heard the 100 mm macro L series mentioned as being good for coins as well as light tents and back light tables. I guess I'm wondering if all this is necessary. And also maybe some hints on the right way to photograph coins. Thanks Peter Report this Post to the Staff

eastriding4310 New Member United States 41 Posts	Posted 04/21/2012 02:51 am Here is the advice that I just gave MorbidSteve: I recommend the Vivitar 55mm macro lens, in M42 mount. It is a manual lens and great for coin photography. You can buy it for about $100 on ebay, like I did. It is a sharp 1:1 macro that will give you excellent professional coin photos. M42 to Canon adapters are also cheap on ebay. The lens and adapter work fine in program mode. Just set the ISO in program mode, set the aperture on the lens and focus it. Use a tripod or copy stand and the 2 second timer on your camera. I prefer CFL lamps in my portable lighting. Try to get as close to 5500 Kelvin temperature (daylight) lamps as possible. Actually, taking good sharp coin photos is quite technical, but easy to do if you follow all of the steps. You are trying to take a well focused photo and eliminating all possible vibration at the same time. I use a couple of cheap $3 lights from Walmart. Actually one light will do. I recommend 100 ISO and f8. More speed is not necessary if the camera is staple. I stick the light right next to the coin at 10 o'clock. I mostly shoot 200 year old coppers. Other metals will possibly need other lighting schemes. If you want to spend more money for the Canon macro lens, that's no problem. The important thing is to use a macro set up. If you really want to learn, read much more of this forum. And stay away from the USB microscopes if you want professional looking results. Report this Post to the Staff
westcoin Pillar of the Community United States 9792 Posts	Posted 04/22/2012 5:31 pm I have and love the Canon 100mm macro, however you already have a great lens in the 50mm, just get a set of extension tubes for it, and you should be good to go! Light tents are nice, but not necessary, build your own it's cheaper and you will find it easy, just some cloth and a holder should do fine. A solid base for your camera is a must, a copy stand or something you build yourself with some pipe parts and a slab of wood helps a lot if you have the room to keep it set up, right now I am using a solid Bogen tripod, but ideally I'd have my copy stand set up. "Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 Report this Post to the Staff
rmpsrpms Pillar of the Community United States 4038 Posts	Posted 04/22/2012 5:58 pm I prefer bellows setups to macro lenses. Once I got my bellows setup going, my macro lenses get used only for bugs and flowers, not coins. There are a good number of lenses out there that are better than the 100 Macro and cost a lot less, but require a bellows for setting the magnification, and a copy stand or macro rail for focusing. But you need the copy stand for using the 100 Macro anyway...Ray Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com Report this Post to the Staff
mvc Valued Member United States 138 Posts	Posted 05/14/2012 11:39 am I recently bought a 100mm macro for my T3i. what a world of difference a lens can make Report this Post to the Staff
Bryan1315 Bedrock of the Community United States 14454 Posts	Posted 05/15/2012 5:44 pm I have a T2i and I have the 50mm and 100mm lens with my camera and I never use the 50mm lens for coin photography because it just doesn't hold a candle to the 100mm lens Report this Post to the Staff
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