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 Replies: 64 / Views: 9,674 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1304 Posts |
SD, you are probably right in terms of autofocus. I'll have to see just how much detail the LCD on the camera can provide, assuming I can't get the tether software that I found to work. Once I know more about the tether software I will determine what direction I take as far as macro setup and lenses (or bellows or extensions).
I have decided to give GIMP a whirl FYI rather than going Photoshop Elements.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1781 Posts |
On Photoshop Elements, do not skimp and buy an old version just because it's cheaper. I think you can get 5.0 for about $8 on ebay. I used Element 2.0 for years and when I upgraded to a new PC, I had no intention in upgrading. However, while I could load and use 2.0 on my desktop I was unable to use it on my laptop and went out and purchased 5.0. At first 5.0 seem a bit confusing but the resulting quality was so much better that I decided to work through it until it became second nature, which it is now. Now if I open 2.0 by mistake I shut it down and go to 5.0. With this said, I recently purchased Elements 12 and will start using it. I'm sure it will make me wonder why I stuck with 5.0 for so long. With that said, I was ill for a time and I see that Elements 13 is out now but I've been assured by a local instructor that for my purposes (coin photography only) it will make no difference. What I've heard about the Canon makes me want to go out and purchase one! It will be on my hit list! |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4038 Posts |
Ken...there is another thread started by Dar that may be of interest. His wife bought him a new Canon 70D 24MP APS-C and I'm anxious to see direct comparisons with known setups to see if the newer camera's upgraded processing gives a better sharpness and natural quality to the image. First images he showed were very nice, but it's not clear if it's just due to the higher resolution. Keep any eye out on that thread. If the 70D can deliver better images than the T2i or the XS that we recommend here, I would suggest buying the newer camera. If not, then a used XS is still the choice for most purposes. I may end up renting a 70D to judge for myself in head-head testing.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
rmpsrpms: The new Nikon's (d3300 and d5300) have omitted the anti-alias filter which supposedly (and in some comparisons I have seen) results in much sharper images than cameras with the filter. I know everyone here is way into Canon for macro (believe me I completely understand this position), but is there any interest once I have my setup ready to go in posting some images for comparison for any Nikon owners? If so, please let me know what I should capture, as I'm a novice, some guidance would be most helpful! I'll also report back on the tethering software options.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
My experience with removal of the AA filter on my T2i is that the improvement is fairly small, but noticeable. It did result in false color presentation at large apertures, making me conclude that for AA-filter-less cameras like the D810 and now D3300/5300 the best shooting aperture is the DLA. Shooting at the DLA gives maximum sharpness the sensor is capable of while causing enough sub-pixel blur to suppress false colors. In reality a bit smaller aperture is required to fully suppress the false colors, counteracting the benefit of the AA filter...
The AA filter removal works to improve resolution at the pixel/subpixel level, but EFSC/EFCS improves things at the block level (multiple pixels wide). The differences due to EFSC/EFCS are thus much more obvious.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
I can appreciate the sharpness EFSC has to offer, but after looking at the comparison shots here in other threads, and the magnification level of those shots, I just can't possibly imagine needing it. I don't have much desire to have half of a date letter fill an entire monitor screen. At a more normal magnification it doesn't appear EFSC offers any benefit to image sharpness than ones eye could detect. For those wanting to study things at that level, I can see where EFSC is a huge benefit, but for me, when 99% of my images will be full coin on a screen, I doubt I'll ever notice the difference.
Edited by EFLargeCents
05/11/2015 1:00 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
This is true, EFSC is sort of like diffraction in that once you downsize the image to fit the screen the differences are reduced or eliminated. But the AA filter is the same way. It only improves things at pixel level. As you move toward either higher magnification (2:1) with shorter FL, or lower (1:20) with longer FL, EFSC starts to make the difference at bigger than pixel level. But again if you downsize by 3x or 4x, you're not going to see much difference.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Does anybody have any suggestions as far as where to find some gooseneck lights? The Ikea ones would be great, if shipping cost/speed wasn't so bad. Has anybody had any luck finding gooseneck lights on the cheap elsewhere? Or, any other lighting suggestions for a copy stand set up (not clip on though)?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
I haven't bought any lights yet to do a proper photoshoot of some coins, but the test image I took using my new copy stand and the 18-55mm Nikon kit lens is lightyears better than my point and shoot ever could have hoped to have been when photographing a coin in a slab. When I have the lights set up right I'll post again. I haven't tried the tethering software yet either. Edit Update: Digicamcontrol software immediately recognized my camera, liveview functioned, as did auto focus and capture which instantly saved the filed to my computer.
Edited by EFLargeCents
05/15/2015 09:50 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1476 Posts |
I picked up my janscos through Amazon myself. You can try there. I have prime so there was free shipping when I got them. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Well, here is my very first attempt with my new setup. Equipment: Nikon d3300 18-55mm Kit Lens Copy stand LED gooseneck lights x2 (200 lumens each) Captured using Digicamcontrol (you all weren't kidding about tethering software, this process would have been a pain without it) Edited using GIMP  Same coin using previous point and shoot camera with tabletop tripod, cheap ring light and MS Paint for comparison.  I would like to point out that the kit lens is definitely lacking for coin macro, but I can work with it for now though I'm a bit concerned when it comes to my Half Dimes. An appropriate macro lens will be nice to have at some point. Edited by EFLargeCents
05/15/2015 2:36 pm
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
That gives me a very good feeling about Nikon's 18-55, let me tell you.  From here, you are into the zone of personal preference as opposed to photographic quality. Me, I would expose slightly longer (brighter shot) and perhaps add a bit of contrast in post. I like a slightly "brighter" look than that, but there's not much wrong with your images either. And that's quote a strong MS63 in my opinion. $400+ coin. What's going on with the mint mark? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
SD, I was staring at that mintmark too. Turns out, the light hit it at just the wrong spot that makes it look like a 3 instead of an S in the photo, in reality its fine. I think I just had the camera on P and let it do its thing. I want to avoid post processing in lightroom for coins so I'm shooting jpg for coins, I'll adjust the settings on the camera when I take the image once I get a read on the best settings to use. Copper coins are going to be a pain, I figured this Morgan was an easy place to start. Incidentally, I think it has a chance at 63+ and a longshot for a 64. I've thought about a regrade or crossover, but haven't decided yet. Here is another trial run with copper. The smaller size of the coin gives an insight into the limitations of the kit lens.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Another. I think these are coming out too dark. I'll have to work on technique. Though I must say this coin does look like this in hand. Nice tone.  Edited by EFLargeCents
05/16/2015 08:49 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Yet another with copper, tough to photograph copper.  I am adjusting the exposure compensation as I'm finding out the P setting in my camera is underexposing everything. Given the limitations of the tethering software, its easier to adjust the exposure compensation than to mess with the manual settings at this time, until I really figure everything out. It's been easy enough to adjust the exposure compensation though. Edited by EFLargeCents
05/16/2015 4:11 pm
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Replies: 64 / Views: 9,674 |
First Page
Posted 05/09/2015 11:47 pm
