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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,876 |
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Valued Member
United States
327 Posts |
I recently purchased a Digital Blue QX5 Digial Microscope from Amazon. I plan on using it to take pictures and enter them into a program called Exact Change. I have not received either yet but I was reading some coin forums and someone mentioned that a 1.3 megapixel is just not enough. I know that cameras and such have much larger mp now but I also believe that people put to much emphasis on megapixels alone. Just wondering your thoughts? John |
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Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
Hello johnstac, high megapixel picture content simply means one can magnify and view the picture up to the wow! detailed level. But if it's just a pic of a coin, 100kb is more than enough details to see  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
The only real problem you might have with the digital blue is the small area of view. You can't take pictures of the entire coin with it, just small portions. It is good for pictures of variety diagnostic features and I have seen some REALLY good images. Even though it claims magnifications of 20, 60 and 200, the 20 will probably be the only really useful setting. Trying to focus on the 60 or 200 setting is pretty much impossible and can't be done at all on slabbed coins, depth of field is too shallow.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Just wait until you get those and do a lot of experimenting. May or may not be what you want or need.
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Valued Member
 United States
327 Posts |
Wow, I'm really bummed to hear this. As I was saying earlier, I had planned to use this microscope to take full size pictures to insert into the Exact Change program. Ironically, I have a Canon D20 with a macro lens. I just didn't think it would work well to take photos of coins because I had no way to steady the camera and the coin at the same time. Any suggestions would be appreciated
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3076 Posts |
buy your self a camera stand, the d20 should be ok, the scope is best used for studing VAMS and errors....
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Valued Member
United States
327 Posts |
Thanks for the advice. I bought it through Amazon and have it ready to send back tomorrow. I will look into a camera stand instead. |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
A Canon 20D will serve in most excellent fashion for coin photography. Have a look at our Photography forum; there are a few really dedicated coin photographers here, and much to be learned.
In a nutshell, 3 things are a must with coin photography. First, a solid mount for the camera. A tripod will do. Second, the lens plane and the coin must be as close to exactly parallel as you can come. You're dealing with a very shallow depth of field in macro photography, and if the coin and camera are not parallel you'll never get the whole surface of the coin in focus. Third, a delayed shutter. You don't want your finger activating the shutter - that will introduce a shake which could mess up the focus.
Everything else is negotiable. Your 20D is perfectly capable of professional results, and we'll be happy to work with you towards that end.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Superdave is right about those three things. Fourth would be you really need a macro setting on the camera, but most camera have that today. A camera doesn't have to be expensive to provide really good results. I get good results with a 6 megapixel Samsung that I paid less than $100 for. Good photography isn't so much the equipment as it is technique. Not what you use, but how you use it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
581 Posts |
It's probably too late, but maybe you should think twice before sending it back.
I have the little brother QX3 and I LOVE it. I'm not one of the microsope guys who go looking for errors, but I consider it an indispensable tool in my coin collector tool belt.
As someone said, it's not great with slabbed coins, but works great with 2x2's or raw coins. You can really see if there are imperfections before you send that coin in for grading! Or you can check for the Type A quarter or the over dates or whatever else.
But, it is true- you will not be able to take a full picture of the coin - unless maybe the 3 cent piece - I haven't tried that and that might fit in the field of view.
In addition, if you have kids, you can do things like looking at fly wings or fabric threads, etc. I haven't fooled with that, but that is what the gosh darned thing was created for!!
It's us goofy geeky coiney types that are twisting it for our own use!!
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Valued Member
United States
327 Posts |
In fact, I do have it ready to ship out tomorrow. I did go back and forth. It will likely cost me more then the $100 to equip my 20D to take the pictures I need. I will need a stand. I will also need whatever it takes to release the shutter without using my finger. I'm also not sure if my 20D has a macro setting but I do have a macro lens and with the setting on Normal, I should be able to make it work. Thanks for the advice on the photography forum. I'm sure I can find everything I need there.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
I will need a stand. If you own a tripod, you already have the stand you need. If not, well, the one I use cost me $25. Quote:
I will also need whatever it takes to release the shutter without using my finger. "Self-Timer" will be a standard feature on your camera. With the 20D, it is only available with a 10-second delay. Do you have the factory ZoomBrowser software which comes with the camera? If you have it installed, you can upgrade (for free) to a version which would allow you to completely control the camera from a computer via USB cable. |
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,876 |
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Posted 06/02/2010 8:21 pm
