| Author |
 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,318 |
|
|
Valued Member
United States
178 Posts |
I'm finding Morgans somewhat hard to photograph, and I think I might do better if I was at Home using incandescent lighting, but here's my latest: an 1899 P Morgan graded XF. Can I please get some opinions on the pics of this Morgan?   |
|
|
|
Valued Member
United States
323 Posts |
I don't do morgan's much, but I think you took extremely good pictures. =)
|
|
Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Excellent picture, but for grading purposes I'd like to see a little larger image.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
 Greetings TonysPics! Your pic is superb! Are you a photo wiz? Your light source is angled just right to create the "depth" that shows great definition of the coin's surface, I am delighted at the impact of the light playing on the eagle's feathers and Liberty's head accessories, they dramatically stand out! The corona effect of your light source doing a horizontal arc across the subject, is also superb! The minus side of "depth" is that it also brings out the very very minor scratches which normally would not be noticable in a diffused light but then producing a flat image. What's your camera model and did you use any zoom lens? mm? auto or manual? Thanks for the pic!  |
|
Valued Member
United States
140 Posts |
Very nice. I think the pictures look great. I need to work on getting some pics of some of my coins so I can post them here.
|
|
Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Lustrous silver is as tough as it gets to image - you have to find a balance between properly showing the luster/color of the coin, and getting the contrast/details right. You need more vertical lighting to show luster, but too much and the glare washes out the details. Angling the lighting helps to being out details, but then you lose the luster. The solution that works best for me with Mint State Morgans is two lights, at ten and two o'clock, aimed at angles to cross each other on the coin. With less-lustrous stuff like copper and worn silver, my lights are nearly touching the lens; with lustrous Morgans, they're about two inches away and angled. It really helps to be using bulbs as small as MR16's. In any event, I'm still not completely satisfied even with my better efforts; I'm losing areas of the fields:   |
|
Valued Member
 United States
178 Posts |
Quote:
Excellent picture, but for grading purposes I'd like to see a little larger image. Can you tell it's an XF from the photos? Quote:
What's your camera model and did you use any zoom lens? mm? auto or manual? I use a Kodak EasyShare Z710 set on auto and I don't use the zoom. Edited by TonysPics
07/29/2009 6:33 pm
|
|
Valued Member
United States
224 Posts |
Tony,
It is a little hard with the pics to make out some finer detail areas but you can pretty much tell that the coin is an EF!
Frank
Edited by huntsman53
07/30/2009 04:51 am
|
|
Valued Member
United States
224 Posts |
Dave, I am probably the worst person to be giving advice on lighting but I believe that if you elevate the lights just a little more, then you may get the depth needed! I really have problems with lighting but mine is more of a place to setup than the lighting itself. It seems that every time I get a good place to setup such as a desk or table, one of my daughters will come along and clutter it up so bad that I have to move. By the way, that is a nice coin! That is an 1878-P 7/4TF, right? I am sure that is also a VAM but I don't know which. Frank Edited by huntsman53
07/29/2009 7:16 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
SuperDave, That is a picture worth more than a thousand words, Everything is there, it's like a fingerprint, all the details stand out, including all the scratches. For me, the scratches makes the coin distinct and unique by itself, I would say you have the only coin which has the specific scratches on the OBV left side. Uniquely like egyptian hieroglyphics? I will try the ten and two o'clock lights, thanks Thanks TonysPics, copy EasyShare Z710 set on auto |
|
Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:That is an 1878-P 7/4TF, right? I am sure that is also a VAM but I don't know which. VAM-38. If you look closely at LIBERTY, you'll see the largest doubling shift of that word in the entire Morgan series. For the record, the lights are about 15" from the coin - I have to keep the lens a minimum of 12" from a Morgan to get the entire coin into the frame. |
|
Valued Member
United States
224 Posts |
Quote:
VAM-38. If you look closely at LIBERTY, you'll see the largest doubling shift of that word in the entire Morgan series. For the record, the lights are about 15" from the coin - I have to keep the lens a minimum of 12" from a Morgan to get the entire coin into the frame. Shucks, I missed the 5th doubled tail-feather! That is a nice coin and VAM! The doubling on LIBERTY is really awesome. I have two Morgans with doubling on LIBERTY but so far, I have been unable to identify the VAM's. I have the eye for spotting a VAM but have a long way to go in identifying the VAM's! I recently went through about 100 of a Coin Dealer's Morgan and Peace dollars and was able to Cherrypick 9 Morgans that I know are VAM's. He still has a couple of more boxes of Morgans that I need to go through and who knows what I will find in them! He doesn't mind me Cherrypicking as he cares noting for VAM's unless they are already in a TPG holder and attributed. Frank |
|
Valued Member
United States
178 Posts |
Dave, what's the grade on your VAM-38?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1599 Posts |
I have picked up a few Morgans lately (3-1899'S). Haven't tried photographing any coins yet, but your pics look great.
|
|
Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
Dave, what's the grade on your VAM-38?
The pics are pretty accurate as regards the marks; I figured it for no better than 62. Keep in mind, the sheer size of pics like these tend to overstate the coin's detail. |
| |
Replies: 14 / Views: 1,318 |
|
Posted 07/28/2009 8:59 pm
