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 Replies: 19 / Views: 4,925 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
668 Posts |
I want to improve my Wheat penny pictures. What are some good tips? I was looking at pictures at coppercoins and want my pictures more like those. =D Lighting: Diffused? Side? Top? ISO: 80? 200? 1600? somewhere in between? Aperture: 2.7? 8.0? somewhere in between Background Color: Black? White, Grey? White Balance: Auto, Custom to white paper, blue paper, black paper? Exposure: 1/3200 sec, 15 sec? somewhere in between? Any other tips are greaaat. |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Like this?    Those were shot with two 50w Halogens, at about 10:00 and 2:00, located maybe 12" above the coin and 6" away from directly overhead. ISO: 400 or faster, if your camera can do it without graininess. I'm shooting lustrous stuff at ISO 800. Aperture: The widest (lowest numerically) that will keep the whole coin in focus. Background color: Personal preference. I like white for everything except bright silver, and even then sometimes. Light gray is universally nice. White Balance: Always Custom - the closer you can get the color inside the camera, the happier you'll be - but the best way to achieve that differs between cameras. White works better than grey with my Canon. Exposure: Here's where the above settings give you the most flexibility. Generally, most cameras will like the shortest-possible exposure. All of these recommendations will vary according to your particular camera's preferences, and there are exceptions to every one. My "generic" setting, the starting point for every coin, is about 1/160 @ F12, ISO 400. However, my lens likes the range between F8-F12, and I'm using a lot of wattage. You might be different. The takeaway here is that every camera is different. Learn what your camera likes. Make sure it is rigidly mounted, on a tripod or a copy stand, and as close to perpendicular to the coin as you can get. You really need 10-12" between the lens and the coin, so you can get lighting as close to vertical on the coin as you can, because that's generally the best way to nail pics of bright coins. So, you'll have to settle for the size your particular camera gives you with that kind of clearance. A nice, clear 500-pixel image will make you look like a *great* coin photographer, because that's what you'll be.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
668 Posts |
yes... like that.. I'm jealous. I will see what I can do with those tips thought =D
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Pillar of the Community
United States
597 Posts |
SuperDave - Showoff  Oh yeah and a good job of photography too. |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
quote:
SuperDave - Showoff
Oh yeah and a good job of photography too.
Regular photography is 80% photographer and 20% equipment. In coin photography, with the right equipment those proportions are reversed. There's gear out there with which it's pretty easy to take good coin pics, and I have some of it. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
668 Posts |
ok heres my latest try. I cant get the wheat heads to focus. These just arent good enough!  any tips? im shooting at iso 80 (all the pictures seem to be grainy at anything higher than 200.) exposure 1/40 f3.5 custom white balance about 11 inches away with a 60w ott lite and a 13 watt one... ( I need to get 2 things that are similar.   Edited by zacharycash
08/05/2007 6:05 pm
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Are you on a tripod or some other stable stand? Are you using a timed shutter, so you're not touching the camera when the shutter snaps? Also, try tightening the aperture a little; f/3.5 might not be giving you enough depth of field to keep the whole coin in focus. That will necessitate a longer exposure - if you go to f/4.0, change from 1/40 to maybe 1/15 to get the same brightness. Chances are, if you're on a tripod and timed shutter, the longer exposure won't hurt.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
655 Posts |
Outstanding shots SuperDave. And Zach those shots are great too.
I like to shoot coins at pretty high f ratios (high numeric value) like F8 as the depth of field with little coins really needs the lens to be stopped down more. I also like to use ISO 100/200 as my camera goes noisy over that. It will result in a slower shutter speed, but to compensate I use the self timer so the camera doesn't get bumped. Of course a tripod / copy stand is essential. Some exposures actually run into seconds.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
668 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2254 Posts |
Now those are very close. I'm not sure of the setting change needed, but it just needs to be a touch lighter. Well done, and thanks for posting the settings used.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
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Also superdave what kind of settings did you use on your s2 for lincoln cents?
Those shots weren't done with my S2, zacharycash. They were done with my 350D, and the lens itself cost more than an S2. Your second set is nice - they're clear enough to grade from, although the color is a little, well, vivid. The lighting is good; any adjustments you make from here will be moving the light(s) on the order of an inch at a time. If you're on a white background, the color is too heavily weighted in the yellow. Try an identical shot, only lose the Vivid, and use ISO 200 and 1/100 exposure. See if that makes any difference in the clarity, just in case the higher ISO is introducing noise. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
668 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
655 Posts |
You would be hard pressed to beat those. F4 is still pretty wide. What are they like at 1/50 f5.6 or 1/25 f8?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
668 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2443 Posts |
quote:
The selected album/file does not exist !
 Zach, where did the pics go? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
668 Posts |
ill put em back up in the morning... I think I took em off on accident... I dunno
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Replies: 19 / Views: 4,925 |
Posted 08/05/2007 4:51 pm
