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 Replies: 10 / Views: 2,107 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
784 Posts |
I finally have a semi-permanent spot for my photography set up in my new house and I want to see what the pros think so far of my shots. The thing is, is I am a photographer but I mostly do stuff like this...   I am just not a studio shooter so please, learn me and I shall listen! My set up - - Canon 30d - The crappy 18-55 plastic toy lens that came with the camera - (2) Janso LED lights - One with a single ply tissue (fill) and the other naked (key) - The blue background is more for a darker background (for now) and for ease of turning and moving my coins without touching them - Camera is approximately 5 inches from coin fully zoomed in on a super lightweight carbon ball head (my hiking tripod) - Shots at f5.6 ISO 100 and AWB - Post processing in Picasa - 1 full level of sharpening, a little fill and shadow, about 50% cropping and very minimal white balance So here's what I came up with yesterday. I tried a few different coins just to see the differences in lighting. My only other lens is a 24-105 f4 L series that I use for landscape and travel and I just can't get as close as I can with the toy lens even though I know I suffer in sharpness.     Woodies are hard! I tried two different positions for lighting to accentuate the grain but I can't get the detail out of the devices...        |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2563 Posts |
Good photos, but the 1909 has an added mintmark. Way off normal position
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Pillar of the Community
Korea, Republic Of
1881 Posts |
 That 1909-"S" has an added MM. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
For the shiny coins (the quarter and the 1938 cent) you need to diffuse your light source.
You need to get rid of the hot spots.
Otherwise very well done.
And I wouldn't kick that 1909 S out of bed yet.
Get a pro to look at it.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
784 Posts |
I've had the 09s looked at at two coin shops and have a few closer pics of it from the ol' iPhone hold a 10x loop in front of the lens rig. Let me see if I can find that forum post... Well, here is the pic I was looking for at least...  Edited by rking007
07/01/2014 8:46 pm
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
You're getting really nice results for that lens; you've obviously got the technique down. Time to play with lighting placement. For most stuff, the closer you can get the lights to vertical, the better off you'll be.
Are these full-size? I'm thinking probably so, knowing the lens. Realistically, they need to be larger for appropriate grading. Your future may contain a bellows/duplicating lens, macro lens, or extension tubes.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
784 Posts |
Dave,
Bang for the buck, extension tubes for my L series? I'd love to do a macro lens but it's gonna be a while before I can pull that trigger I think.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
I'd suggest balancing the two Jansjos rather than using one for main light and other for fill. The main is too prominent for BU coins and as Kanga says it's creating hotspots.
I just linked to a Vivitar Triple Track Bellows in the EL-Cheapo thread for $20. That, plus a $15-$25 75mm f/3.5 or f/4.5 Enlarging lens and a couple $5 adapters and you'll be ready to rule the world.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
784 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
Now it looks like the Cent is out of focus, but the background is in focus! How are you focusing these shots?
Being able to zoom-in more is a big advantage, but only if you can get away from posting at 100% pixel detail. Are these shots downsized for publishing, or just cropped to show the coin? Once you downsize, it's often necessary to do a small amount of sharpening due to the smoothing effects of the downsizing process.
The background color now looks more blue, but every coin's background is a bit different color. Looks like you're using auto white balance? Since you're using Jansjos, I highly recommend using the tungsten setting on your camera. It is very close to the correct setting from my tests. Fixing the setting is important to get the right color.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts |
I think you're way ahead of most shooters so far! I raise my coins up on a small cork to throw the background more out of focus, that may help you too. Try to contain the lighting in the room so it is always consistent, night and day, that means heavy light blocking blinds down during the day, watch what you wear or wear you position your self to avoid unwanted color reflections (especially on slabs or other coins that are encased in a reflective material). The 100mm F/2.8 macro lens can be found on ebay often for well under $400.00 an excellent lens I use myself (not the newer L one) I like it due to remote viewing on my computer and the autofocus from the computer. I also use the Bellows with various lenses for extreme close ups, lighting is a bit more of a challenge and focusing makes me wish I had the room to have a set-up full time, as one must fiddle with adjusting the height of the bellows and the extension for magnification and focusing, and precise focusing only get tougher with more magnification (just as it does with telephoto lenses above 300mm). You can try the extension tubes on a 50mm lens with good results for a cheaper route than the bellows. Read up on Ray's (rmpsrpms) posts - he has helped me a lot, as has SsuperDdave, and that is coming from someone that made a living doing photography (not macro) for over a decade! "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 |
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Replies: 10 / Views: 2,107 |
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Posted 07/01/2014 6:36 pm
