Lighting Comparison - Smile Director Vs Lens-Mounted Diffuser

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Author	Replies: 8 / Views: 3,506
rmpsrpms Pillar of the Community United States 4038 Posts	Posted 06/10/2017 6:41 pm I shot a Cent using my original Smile Directors and with a lens-mounted diffuser to compare. Here's an animated .gif comparing the results. The Smile Directors were configured so the reflections are just outside the radius of the coin. This arrangement would work with a slabbed Cent, though this one is raw. The lens-mounted diffuser reflects within the radius of the coin, so would cause glare if the coin was slabbed. As you can see, same coin slightly different lighting technique gives a very different "look" to the coin. Comments welcome...Ray Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com Edited by rmpsrpms 06/10/2017 7:01 pm Report this Post to the Staff

Crazyb0 Rest in Peace 10197 Posts	Posted 06/10/2017 9:18 pm Like the smile director, takes out shadow. for detail hunters like me, shadows make it difficult to really examine fine line differences. Now just have to learn just WTH a smile detector is... animation is intriguing as well... Edited by Crazyb0 06/10/2017 9:20 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Darth Morgan Pillar of the Community United States 2815 Posts	Posted 06/10/2017 11:10 pm Both are excellent, of course, but I slightly prefer the lens diffuser image. I really like how the fields appear brighter and more homogenous. Report this Post to the Staff
andywoj00 Valued Member United States 441 Posts	Posted 06/10/2017 11:47 pm of smile directors and how to make. Thanks Ray. Report this Post to the Staff
pepactonius Pillar of the Community United States 9395 Posts	Posted 06/11/2017 12:06 am I like the lens-mounted diffuser shot. For shooting slabbed coins, I just black out enough of the lens-mounted diffuser to prevent unwanted glare from the slab. Report this Post to the Staff
mcshilling Pillar of the Community Canada 9162 Posts	Posted 06/11/2017 08:26 am Can you please post pics of what both look like. Report this Post to the Staff
rmpsrpms Pillar of the Community United States 4038 Posts	Posted 06/11/2017 5:42 pm The smile director is identical to the one I posted several years ago on page 1 of this thread: http://goccf.com/t/108348&whichpage...rms=director The lens mount diffuser is identical to the one shown in System-2 on my website: http://www.macrocoins.com/example-system-2.html Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com Report this Post to the Staff
rmpsrpms Pillar of the Community United States 4038 Posts	Posted 06/11/2017 11:13 pm I re-shot with the Smile Directors placed closer to the coin so that they would have some glare if the coin were slabbed. I call this "Axial Smiles". See the animation below: Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com Report this Post to the Staff
Wizzy1 Valued Member United States 430 Posts	Posted 06/16/2017 2:01 pm Ray, I prefer the axial smile>smile director >lens diffuser in your excellent example. I tried multiple attempts at making a smile director and my results have been very disappointing. I don't know if it's the materials that I used or just my skill set. Edited by Wizzy1 06/17/2017 05:27 am Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 8 / Views: 3,506

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