First Attempt Axial-Help/Comments

Not necessarily; keep in mind the point of axial lighting is to create otherwise-impossible perfect vertical lighting over the coin. Light straight down, reflection straight up. Those two coins are poor examples for distribution evaluation, because of the toned areas which simply don't reflect as much light as untoned areas. I'm less-sure about the ASE, but considering toning I think the Morgan is just about a perfect lighting scenario.

Thanks for the responses. The Morgan is probably not a good coin to experiment with, the right side of the coin is clean and no toning, the left is heavily toned. My last pic is fairly representative of the coin but the left of a the pic is still lighter than the actual coin. Cherrypicker, my lighting is clearly the problem. I was very careful to make sure no direct light hit the coin. I will check out Home Depot for the lights you suggest. Are they similar to those shown in kanga's response above?

Yea, I really like the ASE, I bought it new and stored it in my safe and all of that toning has happened since I bought it.

It's my opinion (and keep in mind what they say about opinions) that the color temperature of the lighting isn't relevant for digital photography if you've a nice White Balance solution. The whole point of adjusting white balance is to take the light's color temperature completely out of the equation, and it's no problem in post to make a cold fluorescent light look like a yellow tungsten if you're so inclined. More important in axial lighting is a broad, consistent light source, something that casts the same lumens across the whole area reflected. Therefore, a standard A19 bulb or maybe a spiral CFL, as opposed to something like an LED with a dispersion pattern, which is going to be brightest in the exact center even considering the dispersion.

Brilliant.

The only thing I would say is you still seem to be getting uneven lighting( or is the coin toned darker on one half. This was a problem I had for a while I was actually getting the coin half furthest away from the light source better lit than the closest side. I also used a fixed beam splitter so to adjust the lighting I change the angle of the Light source: this is the light source I use: battery powered and it has a dimmer dial on it. Janscos, for anything other than infrequent coin photography are an absolute waste of time( and coin collecting money) with Axial( or any set up). The reason I say this is Janscos are a point source. If you go to a larger light source you will find you have so much more flexibility and control. For little more that the price of two Janscos you can get an LED lighting unit that can be used in a variety of ways

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290953185....m1423.l2649

Other than that I am not sure what help you need now. In this thread(see link) I used axial lighting:

https://goccf.com/t/180133

In the area that I have my copy stand all the lighting is LED (5600K). For the main light source I have a 160 led 5600k light unit( as already noted)
I like the axial system because it gets rid of the glare. You may not see the lustre but you can get very good detail. Also when photographing the edges of coins axial lighting seems to be the best system( at least thats my experience). The only suggestion I would make is that you, if you haven't already, switch to a sheet of 50/50 beam splitting glass. Its not horrendously expensive and its easily obtained from Edmunds optical. I know US$125.00 on a sheet of glass seems a lot to spend on something other than coins, but given your desire to get the right shots it will make the difference . In other words the beam spiller is the heart of the system, with all the work you've put in buying a proper 50/50 beam splitter will give the leap in performance you are unlikely to see with picture frame glass:

http://www.edmundoptics.com/optics/...itters/46583

RAY.....as Dave has said...that's a brilliant suggestion which
I think people are
MISSING YOUR POINT.....While we focus on an important part of coin or any photography.. we always look more towards the lens...QUALITY...always saying yes there is some significance in the lighting......its employed in different ways. depending on the type of shot your trying to go for or the effect.....your after....as we all know there are so many ways.......It's not just about the lens you have but it's about takeing the best shot with the best light source you can have........REMIND your self first.....there are so many best lighting sources. sheds. barns what ever....that don;'t work for every on.....
"That is why this site is here..."
Some lenses work best at a certain distance... some with certain lighting......and others have to deal with the subject matter.. steel, silver gold or copper......they shine so differently as do the age or corrode...Patina..

Back at it again (been absent for a few days for the birth of my 4th grandson, yahoo). I mentioned before that I changed my light (13 watt CFL, 835 lumens, 5000K) and have since added a flat black peice of heavy material that completely covers the setup including the light. I have a flat black peice of wood completely shielding the coin from any direct light. Here is what it looks like.




Although the Morgan looks pretty much like it does in hand, it still has some hot spots. The overall pic looks a little dark, but when I try to adjust the brightness, it just enhances the hot spots.

The colors on the Jefferson look pretty good, but the coin in hand has alot more luster. The picture looks grainy to me like it was shot at a very high ISO. I shot both at ISO400, f8 with a Canon 100m macro.


I am using a secondary light only to manually focus (I am shooting in live view). I turn off the secondary light and use the diffused light only, correctly placed and completely covered. When I do this, I cannot see the coin at all on my monitor, it is pitch black. My shutter is taking 20 seconds to cycle. Now I know this cannot be correct. It seems to me that I have some problems other than just the lighting (kind of like the elephant in the room that I havent seen yet). If y'all aren't tired of beating a half dead horse, I would appreciate any additional help/suggestions anyone may have. Thanks

A lot of improvement there IMO. The Morgan has a much better look (as long it is true to life); maybe a contrast & brightness adjustment in post processing to even out the lighting? The ASE & Jefferson have a few hot spots; ? same solution. Better let the pros chime in here but looks like a huge step forward to me. Keep on tinkering. jprine if this was easy it would take all the fun out of it. Someone said "if at first you succeed try something harder". Can't remember where I saw that but it is both funny and true.