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Hi all...just joined this forum and this is first post. Wanted to make first post on photography section since that's what I'm "focused" on at present. Here are some of my latest photos of a 1956-D/D RPM-1 Lincoln Wheat Cent using two setups. Overall photos are using a bellows and enlarging lens combo on my Nikon D7000. Detail photo is using a Bausch & Lomb MonoZoom7 microscope with a Tucsen 3MP camera. Any thoughts or discussion about these is appreciated! Thanks...Ray

 

Obverse:

Img3043_01.jpg

 

Reverse:

Img3044_01.jpg

 

Date/MM Detail

TS_05_26_22_24_34_01.jpg

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Welcome to the Coin People forum, Ray! :art:

 

I love your pictures ... stunning detail, but equally stunning and lovely natural colors. (It's also a great coin, BTW! :bthumbsup: ) You obviously have a high-end setup AND know how to use it.

 

Looking forward to more! :D

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Hello and welcome. Your coin is superb and your photos they make me drool. I have a bunch of equipment that I've gotten and just need to learn how to use it. Hopefully I'll learn to get photos close to the quality you exhibited here. :drool::drool::drool:

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Thanks everyone! I'm still working on my setups, especially the lighting, which seems to be the toughest area to get right (whatever "right" is...) Here are two presentations of same coin...curious which you prefer.

There aren't enough green crayons to appropriately indicate how much I envy your photographic setup and skill. :)

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Love the color of the first but the second wins. I can see how little wear there is and how well the coin was struck. The high points are better in the second.

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Very interesting comparison. Both approaches have their merits. At first I thought the second shot was better, then the more I look at them both, I am now leaning towards the first shot.

 

The highlights in the second shot seem to be a little stretched (i.e., just a tiny bit overexposed) which gives it that spectacular-looking halo around Lincoln's head. Also, the detail in his hair stands out much more than in the first shot.

However, there is a lot of little chatter on the shoulder and somewhat in the fields which is more subdued in the first shot, giving the fields and flatter areas more of a clean appearance.

 

But the psychological impact of the lighting cannot be overestimated. I would say that the second shot shows more "character", if there is such a thing. I usually try to find a slight angle of lighting which illuminates the face, e.g. on this coin I would try to let some light fall on it from the right instead of straight-on lighting such as axial setups provide ... or else a combination of axial and indirect lighting.

 

Nice work!

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Very interesting comparison. Both approaches have their merits. At first I thought the second shot was better, then the more I look at them both, I am now leaning towards the first shot.

 

I prefer the first as well, though I can see why folks like the second since it is definitely more flashy. I have a poll going on Collectors Universe and the second is winning by a slight margin, though not much. I see more detail in the first one since the detail is not obscured by the highly specular surface reflections. But it is not as flashy so comes off at first as being less desirable. Mark Goodman replied that the contrast is too high on second one so it doesn't look as natural as the first.

 

The highlights in the second shot seem to be a little stretched (i.e., just a tiny bit overexposed) which gives it that spectacular-looking halo around Lincoln's head. Also, the detail in his hair stands out much more than in the first shot.

However, there is a lot of little chatter on the shoulder and somewhat in the fields which is more subdued in the first shot, giving the fields and flatter areas more of a clean appearance.

 

You can actually see the chatter on the first, but it doesn't stand out as it does on the second. What I like most about the first is there are many fewer dark areas. I use the "WE" in the motto for critical focusing, so am very sensitive to that area. The second is so dark there it makes me not like it.

 

But the psychological impact of the lighting cannot be overestimated. I would say that the second shot shows more "character", if there is such a thing. I usually try to find a slight angle of lighting which illuminates the face, e.g. on this coin I would try to let some light fall on it from the right instead of straight-on lighting such as axial setups provide ... or else a combination of axial and indirect lighting.

 

Both were done with two LEDs, at 9:00 and 3:00, at a relatively high angle but not axial. The second only used the two LEDs, while the first added some aluminum foil reflectors at 12:00 and 6:00. Exact placement of each element, especially the angles and distances of the reflectors from the coin and lights, makes a big difference to the presentation. And of course every coin is a little different and may need tweaking depending on surface qualities.

 

Nice work!

 

Thanks bob, I appreciate the encouragement and discussion!

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I put together a different sort of setup than I've been using: a bellows with integral macrophotography stand. I mounted a Rodenstock 35mm f/4 Eurygon lens to it and snapped a photo at 5:1 magnification of the date on a 1921 Dollar I've used to compare my previous setups. The Eurygon is an excellent lens at around 5:1 and gives a nice clear image. Lighting was with a single LED light.

 

Here is a picture of the setup:

 

Img3169_01.jpg

 

And here is the photo of 1921 Dollar at ~5x magnification:

 

Setup6_01.jpg

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Pretty amazing! :clapping:

Great setup if you are into VAM attribution of your silver dollars.

 

User "sigistenz" has had good results taking pictures of overdates using a digital microscope -- look at his thread here in the Russian coins forum. But yours seem to get higher detail.

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Excellent photos Ray, and getting the lighting exactly right is an art. The 56D photo knocked my socks off. :clapping:

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