Dream Lens.....which Is Better?

The Rodagon-N series are enlarger lenses. They have their best performance from 1:20 up to 1:2. You can reverse them and get good performance from 2:1 up to 4:1 or so but it takes a very long bellows.

The 75ARD1 is a duplication lens. It has best performance from 1:2 up to 2:1. This is the optimum range for most coin photography.

I generally don't recommend buying expensive enlarger lenses for coins, unless the user is mostly doing large coins and medals.

Now, if your system has too much minimum extension to work well with the 75mm lens, it might be a good indicator that you should go with enlarger lenses rather than duplication, ie you're doing lower magnifications. Longer lenses let you photograph larger coins, but require bigger setups.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro

I'm assuming you're referring to the diameter of the coin being between the dime and dollar (rather than the face value), so here are three pics taken with the non-IS Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens:


1883 nickel:



1852 quarter:


1885 dollar:


These were early (Oct. 2004) digital test pics, to see if a digital camera could outdo the old HP scanner (much better than modern ones) or film. These pics are very fuzzy by current standards, but they sure beat the heck out of film, and were comparable to the scanner.

Factors contributing to the low sharpness:

1) No live view. Focusing was through the small DSLR viewfinder, which was worse than a film camera, and getting critical focus was mostly guesswork. For some reason, autofocus didn't seem to work well for macro back then, with this camera (Canon 10D).

2) No copy stand. These were shot using a tripod standing on the floor, while the coin was on the kitchen table. This setup is much less stable than a copy stand.

3) Small 6MP sensor on the Canon 10D, compared to the current 24MP sensor, so right away resolution is cut in half.

I suspect that item (1) is the biggest culprit here. Anyway, I continued scanning coins rather than using the DSLR for several more years after this. I didn't start doing routine coin photos until 2011, when tethered shooting with live view came along, revolutionizing the whole coin imaging process.

Edit: added date

When you can focus it well (or use stacking), the old non-IS version of this lens works quite well. Here is a 100% crop from a non-coin photo using Zerene Stacker, taken in Mar. 2014:



Here's the whole photo -- a Miranda Model C camera from the late 1950s:



This is similar to the Miranda model A, which is the first SLR that I ever used, back in the early 1960s. It's probably a good thing that I never tried to take coin photos with it, since there was no through-the-lens metering, or macro lens for it (or even close-up attachments). The film used was the unforgiving Kodachrome II, and you had to get the exposure just right when taking the pic, or else.

The Tamron 90mm f/2.8 SP Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD Lens for Canon is on sale at B&H. Seems to be comparable to the aforementioned Canon dream lens.

Can any of you experienced photographers speak to the pros/cons of the Tamron as compared to the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro?

@rmpsrpms. It would be interesting to know where it is written that tamron is the best money can buy at 100mm macro.

I was a nikon's user. I changed to canon just because I wanted the best for coin photography. Canon 100mm is the best by far and made me change to canon.

I spent a lot of money experimenting in various lens and finally, canon 100mm gave me the best results. There is one problem though. It is a high price lens. For me, it worth it.

Thanks Ray. As the OP, I appreciate all the input from you and others. It'll be a few months before I take the dive, but I want to be sure.

Ford....all I can say is WOW!