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 Replies: 8 / Views: 2,440 |
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Valued Member
Philippines
80 Posts |
I'm new into photographic coins, but I've taken a few macro shots before with my scale models. I'm not an expert or even a budding enthusiast, I just want to have good images of my specimen-hobbies. Camera is a point-n-click Canon A710S. I made some experiments and please comment which one would be better. I only cropped it with photoshop and didn't do any adjustments. This is 8R Pillar reverse taken under an indoor softbox. On top is a couple of flourescent light, while on the left is a desk lamp. f=2.8 1/60 exposure.  Below is the same specimen but taken under an 8:00am direct sunlight. I remembered a friend who is a photo enthusiast that best photos are taken between 6-8am or 4-6pm, because the sunlight is of low angle. f=7.1 1/200 exposure.  My personal assessment is that the direct sunlight has too warm color. I tried doing some correction on another copy, but the shadows created are too strong. However, I do find that the softbox's lighting is a bit weak. The left-side lamp does shows up a orangy tinge. Maybe I could add another lamp at the right side of the box to equalize the shadows. Please post your comments and suggestions. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2373 Posts |
My personal opinion is the details of the devices show much better in the first pic. However, I would guess the surface texture of the fields is better represented in the second pic. If my assumptions are correct I would opt for the first pic for presentation. I am not a camera buff, just a novice. nlp
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Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts |
The 8:00 position in the top photo shows a rather soft focus, possibly a weakness in the lens or a mis-focus? The sunlight pix are very sharp except around the 1:00 position. I suspect that you should strive for a higher (more closed) f/stop to increase your focal depth - which would be more likely in the higher light level of sunlight. If you're using a tripod, you can use a lower shutter speed - say 1/60 or 1/125 - and stop down the aperture of the lens to provide that focal depth - say f/11 or f/16, if possible. Or am I telling you stuff that you already know? lol
BTW - Both pix are quite good in spite of the focal aberrations but not quite perfect. Are you using a macro lens or closeup lenses?
Edited by pls
06/09/2010 11:31 am
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Valued Member
 Philippines
80 Posts |
@pls - my digicam is a two year old point-and-shoot Canon A710S. It's only capable of up to f/8. It does have a 'sufficient' macro mode. I would like to invest a DSLR in the future, but for now I'm trying to learn the technique. Thanks for the advice. :)
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Valued Member
United States
211 Posts |
I find the first a little flat almost like a scan. Having one key light source helps give some depth.
The rule of using golden hour for photographs is more for portraiture where you are trying to give the skin a warmer tone. For objects its more important to get the hue correct than to add artificial warmness. This means not mixing light sources like sunlight (blue) and incandescent light (yellow) and fluorescent (varies blue).
Your desklight isn't doing you any favors. It is causing a yellow highlight at 8 O'clock. The top light in the softbox is creating nice fill. My suggestion is to get a nice strong spiral fluorescent that matches the color temperature of the top light and play with its side position to get an nice key.
The soft box won't do much for a coin like this (aside from softening the shadow edges), however if you are shooting a shiny proof the soft box will help reflect white in the coin and give it a glimmer. Its the trick for professional jewelery photography.
Key light by convention should come from the top or up and to the side of the coin. When we see a key light throwing shadows from the bottom or sides it feels wrong. Horror movies use this for great effect. Numismatists just want a clear shot of the coin.
Note that by adjusting the ratio between the key and fill light you can determine how strong the shadows are - Too strong and you loose detail, too weak and the coin looks flat.
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Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts |
I'm not familiar with that particular model of Canon (A710S), fireandice556, but I would say that you've taken it right to the edge of its capabilities. If I were to rate your efforts, I'd give them a 97% - because of the aforementioned softness in focus - which means that you have an excellent photo of a coin in that all features are easily visible. You're in complete control of the variables. So now it's up to you if you want to purchase a much more expensive assemblage of camera, lenses, tripod, etc. to take it to 100%.
My expertise isn't with digital cameras, so I can't help you much with newer equipment or manipulative software - I go back to film camera technology (think Pentax Spotmatic, for example). I've done some copy work and used both close-up and macro lenses, so about all I can do is describe what I see and let you know what techniques might improve the quality of your photos. Actually, I scan nearly all of my coin photos posted on CCF with a $10 garage sale Epson scanner and use the scanner software to reduce the size of the images. That's my dirty little secret, lol!
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
@pls - my digicam is a two year old point-and-shoot Canon A710S. Those are tremendous results with an A710. Outside of suggesting that you shoot at about f/5 to maximize depth of field without compromising exposure, I can add nothing to your results. You've got this camera nailed.You've found out that fluorescent lighting is a bit problematic - fluorescents don't throw the same color temperature throughout their length, making color correction a bit finicky. To me, the sunlight image is perfectly acceptable if a little warm, and that was fairly easily corrected in the Gimp:  |
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Valued Member
Philippines
80 Posts |
Thank you all for your advices and comments. I did went back to the softbox method, cause I felt this would give me better flexibility in terms of time of day to take the photos. Rainy season has just started in this part of the world, and late afternoon is wet. @superdave - thanks. I did made some modification of the method, taking @pls and @stunet's advices. I did away with the 'box' itself and soften the back and top lighting with clean white book paper (covering the direct light). I've added a couple of portable desk lights, especially when trying to shooting the edges of coins which are quite challenging to take.    I'm starting to make a digital record / catalog of my small collection, including those authentication comments from our experts here. Hopefully, I'll be able to improve the settings and technique along the way. |
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Valued Member
United States
211 Posts |
Those are some beautiful coins. Nice photos. That edge is fantastic, don't see that on modern coins.
Thanks.
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Replies: 8 / Views: 2,440 |
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Posted 06/09/2010 11:30 am
