Mk Digital Lighting Systems

I have about $25 in my lighting system, counting the cost of the secondary desk lamp.



It works OK.



With an A70, your biggest problem will be getting enough light in close, as you'll have the camera pretty close to the coin to get an image of acceptable size. I'd be thinking one or two desk lamps, preferably aimable ones. There are some helpful hints in my A720 thread for you:

https://goccf.com/t/29441

With a good macro add-on, I believe you'll be surprised at the quality of the pics you'll eventually wring from that A70. Canon (caveat: I'm a fan) has always been known for excellent macro capability, and the A70 is no exception. I have some experience with an A60, and it was pretty good. What I think you'll use the macro lens for, though, is more about getting a little extra distance from the coin while still achieving a pic large enough to be gradable. More distance means more lighting options. Use as your goal a clearly-focused shot where the coin is 600 pixels in diameter; anything more is just icing on the cake. Sharp focus is far more important than sheer size; size costs money and how big do you want it?

The copystand is invaluable as a firm mount for the camera. If you use a delayed shutter, together they'll maximize the camera's ability to take a stable shot. I strongly urge you to shoot any coin you can raw, out of the Airtite, or at least remove the facing side of the airtite before you shoot. Slabs give autofocus cameras fits sometimes; I generally manually focus my shots of coins in slabs. You'll have to play with this to see what your particular camera likes.

You've already got the important part figured out - time. I tend to throw pictures around here, and talk about what it took to make them, casually but there's a whole lot of practice behind it. It's a lot easier now, but that's only because I've gone through the learning curve of figuring out how to squeeze the most from the equipment I own.

You'll see that example repeated here by more than a few posters - Learjet, KurtS, nohope587 and 50Cent come to mind - we all have different equipment and we've all figured out how to maximize that equipment to produce pictures which meet the standard.

And so can you. Be patient, realize it ain't gonna happen today, and don't forget that what I say isn't going to be perfect for you. Your equipment is different from mine or anyone else's. It_will_work. You just have to find the way to make it work.

Take some pictures. Post them here for critique. We'll make suggestions to help refine your technique. You won't be the first who has developed his skills here. It's a labor of love to help you along that path.