Conditions For Shooting

Mmm, the a430 is a pretty basic camera, although it is supposed to focus down to 10cm.

Have you been using the macro setting?

You've come to the right place for some help. There are several excellent photographers on this board. As SeatedNut points out, we need to know more about what isn't working for you to give good advice.

Some general things, though:

1. Lighting is key...it doesn't have to be expensive, but it does have to be evenly distributed over your coin. That usually means at least two light sources, or at least a diffuser of some sort. I'll get a couple of links to show you some inexpensive set-ups after I post this.

2. Camera shake is a killer. You have to have enough light that your shutter speed is fast enough to cancel out any camera movement. Either that, or you have to support the camera with a tripod or other means.

3. Depth of focus...if your camera has an f/stop adjustment, you should be using the highest number (correlating to the smallest aperture) that you can and still have adequate shutter speed.

4. Alignment of camera lens and coin in parallel planes. The closer these two are to parallel, the better your chances are of having the entire coin in focus from edge-to-edge. If they are not parallel, you often find that one edge or the other of the coin is sharp, but the opposite edge is blurry.

5. White Balance (WB) needs to be correct. Even though your eye may "see" light from different sources as simply being "white" or colorless, the truth is that different sources emit light in different wavelengths. "Cool" light is bluer and will give white objects in your photos a distinct blue cast. "Warm" light will give objects a yellowish to pinkish cast. In either case, you run the risk of giving the coin an appearance that doesn't accurately reflect its true surfaces. Many digital cameras have a way to adjust WB for different light sources.

6. Macro mode: if your camera has a macro setting (the symbol is a little "flower") it will allow you to get closer to your subject (the coin) so that it will fill more of the frame, thus giving you more detail in your photo. Macro is great...but the flip side is that if you get too close to the coin, you will find your camera blocking out the light. So you have to discover the happy medium...close enough to get the detail you want, far enough away to provide good lighting.

It may sound confusing to a non-photographer, but really isn't tricky at all. It does take a bit of tinkering around to get everything set up the way you want it, and patience is a virtue!

Here are some links to various websites with much useful information. The last link is to a recent thread on CC that shows Nobble's very humble, but effective, set-up.

http://www.tabletopstudio.com/docum...tography.htm

http://browncopper.com/photography.html

http://www.sigma-2.com/camerajim/cjgcoins.htm

http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com/tips...hy_tips.html

https://goccf.com/t/28971


Personally, I find proofs and other highly reflective coins the hardest to photograph and get an accurate representation of their true appearance. Circulated copper coins, on the other hand, are the easiest for me. Toned silver offers some challenges, but still isn't as hard as are the proofs. IMHO.

thanks guys, hunter I'll read your whole post when I get home, I gtg lol.

learjet I heaven't seen a macro setting

seated, sometimes blurry, If I get in too close it goes blurry, so they all have to be taken from too much of a distance.

Go through the menus, see if you can turn the flash off. Coin photos with a flash are a big no no. While your in there keep looking for macro mode.

You really will need a tripod or copy stand. A home made copy stand made from old pieces of wood. Some forum members have made their own. There are threads in this photography forum somewhere.

the macro button should look like a flower icon on most cameras , it should help you get closer to the coin and take better shots

Your manual explains how to turn the flash off on pages 27 and 28. They call it "suppressed flash".

You can find the manual online at Fuji's website; that's how I found it (I don't own the camera myself). A minute or so with Google should do the trick.

I have made progress!! I found the macro button, not in the bloody menu, but on the camera, staring me in the face.

Still can't seem to turn the flash off or find the support page for the camera on google though.