1892-CC Morgan - Whaddaya Think, Grade-Wise?

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Originally posted by SuperDave

I'd have said 64 all day, shot at 65.

You're shooting from a tripod, right? Drop the ISO to 100 (experimentally) and the aperture down to 4.0. You will then be able to quicken the shutter speed to likely over 1/250 and lose the 100w in favor of another 60w. You're shining the lights from about 4:00 and 8:00 with the bright one at 8:00, if I'm seeing it clearly.

Lower ISO makes the camera less sensitive to light but also less sensitive to noise. The best image quality is to be had at the lowest possible ISO setting. With this much light, it probably won't make a difference lowering the light sensitivity.

Dropping the aperture greatly increases the amount of light going into the sensor, allowing you to speed up the exposure time. This, in turn, makes a sharply-focused shot much more likely, and allows you to use less wattage on the coin.

Here's a set in Super Macro, with two 60w Reveals at 10 and 2, ISO 100, 1/250 at f3.5 (obverse) and f4.5 (reverse). See the difference in blurriness at the tops? I wasn't centered on the coin, and 1 point in aperture widened the depth of field enough to bring the whole coin into focus. Note, I altered these in Photoshop for color balance, and to darken them slightly.

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I've been playing with the Canon all afternoon. Good forensic photography, Terry!

Yes, I'm using a tripod (little Walmart collapsible which is perfect for tabletop photography - 20 bucks @ WM). And the 100w bulb is at 8 o' clock with the 60w bulb at 4 o' clock, both slightly below and pointing upward at the coin.

Playing with ISO speeds, shutter speeds, and apertures, I'm finding my best results are at (1) ISO 50, 1/100th, f3.5 or f4.0; OR (2) ISO 100, 1/250th, f3.5. Both are using the first macro**. I haven't decided which has better quality; need to take some more pics of other coins and compare them.

I am still using the 100w/60w combination light bulbs in hooded clamp lamps (also WallyWorld specials). We RVers normally use 12vdc bulbs and while I've tried the standard 50w 12vdc bulbs for digphotography, they really don't put out 50w worth of light (maybe only 35w; the rest goes out in heat), so I've got only a few 110vac bulbs on hand. I found only one other 100w bulb, no other 60s, and am thinking about going with two 100w bulbs. I've got various other low-wattage 110vac specialty bulbs, but after much experimentation over the weekend found they just were not satisfactory, at least at this time. My original intent was to have as high an f-stop as possible for maximum depth of field (minimize parallax), but I see digital cameras cannot be treated in the same manner as film cameras, settings-wise.

I really ought to split this off to the Photography forum and probably will if we talk more on imaging. Terry, I'm presuming you also have a
Canon S2 IS? Superdave also has one, but he hasn't checked in yet.

**I am very far-sighted (pilot's eyes) and have found the supermacro difficult to focus through the viewfinder, even with my best reading glasses.

Fred

Terry, my Canon is also way beyond me, but I'm slowly catching up. I've learned more about my digcam in the past week than I have since I bought it in April and for the five years I had my Kodak DX3500 digicam (a VERY simple digital camera, sorta like the old Brownie Starflash: point and shoot).

Like you, I am taking my pics with maximum resolution and no compression, so the images are HUGE. However, after manipulating them the way I want, I can them compress them to any size I want (all done using GraphicConverter 5.8.2). I learned long ago (about last Friday ) that I severely limit my options considerably if I try to reduce the built-in resolution and compression.

Due to the Arizona desert heat (still in the 100s), my whole travel trailer, including the windows is covered with tarps, so I have very little sun/daylight available inside. I would parboil myself if I went outside for any length of time to take pics of coins Ya make do with whatcha got .

SuperDave hasn't checked in yet? Um, look up at "Terry's" post.....

The reason I don't just shoot everything at f8.0 is because it makes proper sharpness a lot harder to achieve. The key is the fastest possible exposures, it seems, and at higher (numerical) apertures I have to apply too much light to get it all concentrated properly on the coin.

Ideally I want to be able to flank the camera with 2-50w MR16's directly adjacent to the lens; to that end, I'm designing a double-gooseneck rig/camera stand to get everything in the right spot. Then, and only then, I might be able to start seeing what this camera is capable of.

I want to work in Super Macro as much as possible for VAM photography - the camera is perfectly capable of resolving at levels approaching microscope equivalence.

I'm having a ball with this - last year this time, I'd never turned a camera dial from "Automatic" before.

That's OK I've been demoted before.

Dave, the bracketing is for automatic exposure, won't apparently work for manual (M) setting. But as I get into this canon more, I'll be doing even more experimentation. Sure would be nice to be able to point and click.

I've conducted more experiments over the past few days. However, I'm moving this discussion to Photography where I've got new images to display. Need everyone's critiques. And thanks for those above!

Fred

I like automatic only in my weapons (Happiness is a belt-fed automatic weapon). Seriously (well, as serious as I can get - it's one of those nice why-be-serious-about-anything days ), I really like the manual (M) function to be able to manipulate the settings. I followed your original post in another topic and used that as my basic guideline from which I have wavered little. Saved me a LOT of time and film although I went through three sets of batteries (on my old Kodak, I would have gone through six or more sets with the camera on as much as the Canon has been on). However, you gave good advice before, so next time, I'll give this technique a shot (npi). Being able to point and shoot with standardized settings saves a lot of time.

I dunno about copy stands, at least for me. They require the camera in a vertical position which my tripod can do, but it's too high off the floor and I get a crick in my neck and a knife in my back from looking down a lot. This is the reason I went to a nearly horizontal set-up.

BTW, I pulled this 82CC off the market. I found an alternative funding source for the short term and I know I would have a terrible time replacing it. Not too many 82CC PCGS MS-63s on the market these days.

Rechargeable are something I hadn't considered since I've had problems with them in the past (mostly losing them), but now ya got me thinkin' (not always a good thing). No Best Buys in Prescott (at least I don't think so, but I go up Friday, so can check it out), but WallyWorld or Target or maybe even Home Depot might have something.

I also don't use the LCD - it'll drain a battery in no time and it really looks fuzzier than the viewfinder to my eyes.

Thanks, Dave!

Fred

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Originally posted by SuperDave

Speaking as a Home Depot employee, I advise you to hit Wally's for them. It's an area where we aren't really competitive, price-wise.

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I don't suppose you work at the HD in Avondale right off the Dysart Rd Exit? That would be too much an incredible coincidence since it's where I shop HD when I'm in the area. Home Depot is my version of the "Company store" since if I need some serious building/repairing-anything supplies, I beeline to there. It also gets a serious part of my monthly income.