Taking Macro Coin Shots With A Ring Light

I've noticed that a few of us have begin using digital microscope cameras that are equipped with a ring of LED's situated around the lens. A drawback mentioned in one thread, I believe, is that the light can be too bright, or perhaps too directly head-on/perpendicular to the coin, thus limiting your ability to pick up shadows, mirror finishes, toning, and the like. I've used mine -- a pretty inexpensive Celestron 44302 -- only twice so far, and the results haven't been too terrible...maybe I'm an idiot savant when it comes to this macro/micro stuff.

In any case, here are three samples of my Eddystone Light token from Devonshire:








I think if you do search within this forum on the term "LED" you'll come up with some of the earlier discussions.

Best to all ~
Tom

For the first one of the full coin, I had the lens (and of course the built-in light ring) at about 8". The other two were taken at the camera's "native" focal length as determined by the stand it's on, which is about an inch and a half. Visualizing this will be easier if you can see what the camera looks like, so here it is:

Hi. I have a couple ringlights for macro work. They are great on subjects other than coins. The high angle of light reflects off the coin and directly into the camera lens making the lighting look unnatural, flat and very reflective. Try finding a cheap goosneck type desk lamp to start. Don't be afraid to lay the lamp on it's side,placing the bulb very close to the coin. Try experimenting with the angle of light. Are you using a tripod? If not, you should be.