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 Replies: 15 / Views: 1,106 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6478 Posts |
Right now I'm working on a coin photo setup that will help me get that trueview look down. I'm learning a lot as I get more practice which is nice. Right now I'm having a little trouble with really bright Roosevelt dimes. My camera is a Nikon D5100 so my sensor is not the greatest, but I think once I dial in leveling the coin with the lens then it should be a bit better. Besides focus I'm also working on figuring out how to edit these pictures. These pics are just an attempt at resembling what I would really like to do, but I'm using my phone and Canva until I figure out how to actually do things like using light room and photoshop and also integrating things like batch editing. Thanks for taking a look and if you have any advice on leveling the coin to the lens or other things I'm not thinking about then I appreciate it.        Thanks for taking a look everyone |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19108 Posts |
Making solid progress, I'd say! I imagine you're aware of diffuse lighting--makes photographing a shiny surface much easier. What lens are you using with the D5100?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6478 Posts |
Thank you very much. Right now my lens is a afs micro nikkor 40mm 1:2.8. I hand sanded some acrylic discs to act as the diffuser, I went up to 800 grit. I haven't thought to experiment with that aspect of it and I definitely should, thank you for the suggestion
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2113 Posts |
I think you are doing fine, but you need a little help with your editing...  Edit: SilverStackerKid (This is your first coin you posted) The edited picture from yours that I just posted doesn't look anything like what I came up with; the sharpness & some of the color are gone once I uploaded it here... Sorry! Edited by CoinForMe
11/18/2025 10:26 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6478 Posts |
Thank you for the edit, that's a lot better cropping than I can figure out how to do at the moment. I really have no idea how to edit the pictures at all hahaha. Things like cropping circles, color correction, sharpness, exposure, are all things I need to learn more about for sure. Photoshop is a little intimidating to me but I need to learn
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10472 Posts |
Not bad - could grade from them. Proof coins are always a bit harder to get accurate pictures of.
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
Images are looking good!  Quote:
that's a lot better cropping than I can figure out how to do at the moment. I really have no idea how to edit the pictures at all hahaha. You need to use an ellipse select tool to get around the coin instead of a free-form select. I use Paint.NET, but others like Gimp will work as well. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2113 Posts |
Quote:
You need to use an ellipse select tool to get around the coin instead of a free-form select. Let me say this: if the OP used freeform to crop around these coins, he did an outstanding job !I don't think I could be that steady-handed..  |
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
Zoom in close and you can see it. But yes, way better than I have ever been able to do.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2113 Posts |
Yep jbuck, I see it now... good eye !  |
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
I have to applaud the effort. But when time is money, the right tools are your friend.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6478 Posts |
I will try it out in GIMP thank you for the suggestion. Having the hard cut circle shape rather than the buggy fuzzy auto select from my phone will help my pics for sure. I will update with some progress pics once I get some editing practice in. I am also going to try and figure out; a XY slider or a gimble setup for leveling the coin, integrating "axial lighting" into my cross polarized lighting setup, and some other small adjustments. My overall goal is to create a system that I can produce extremely highly accurate and attractive photos of coins as fast as I possibly can while retaining as much quality as possible. It is just for fun but I would love to get enough experience to photograph coins for a TPG or an auction house or start my own photo business for local people trying to sell their coins. Thanks for the suggestions everyone and I will keep you updated with any progress or questions I may have. |
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
We will be here. Good luck!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4036 Posts |
You'll get much closer to the TV look if you raise the lights to a higher angle relative to the coin. Problem is the 40mm lens won't allow you to get the light very high. So I'm sorry to say I'd recommend going with a different lens. You don't have to spend much, far less than the 40mm in fact, though you'll need to buy a focus helicoid as well. Something like an EL-OMEGAR will shoot as sharp as your 40mm but will give you much more working distance, and is smaller in diameter than your 40mm, so lighting is much easier. Edited to add: Here is a 75mm EL-OMEGAR available on ebay, looks new in box, for $9 plus shipping: https://www.ebay.com/itm/197758813485And here is a pack of two M39-M42 adapters to mount the lens to a helicoid: https://www.ebay.com/itm/264689115041I'd recommend a 36-90mm focusing helicoid, but I don't see one available on ebay except from China. Here is the Chinese one as an example, but if you order it you'll need to wait a while for shipment and may have to pay additional fees. You could always put two helicoids together as well, or a helicoid and extensions: https://www.ebay.com/itm/284461962308Edited by rmpsrpms
11/23/2025 11:26 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6478 Posts |
This is awesome, thank you so much rmpsrpms I'm going to look into this now, I have not heard of such a thing before. I really appreciate you putting this response together for me thank you
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Moderator
United States
94636 Posts |
Looking pretty good. I just use my cell phone and the zoom function for my images - nothing special  |
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Replies: 15 / Views: 1,106 |
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Posted 11/18/2025 9:24 pm
