Mister Ed Posted June 2, 2007 Report Share Posted June 2, 2007 What is the best camera set-up to take nice pics of coins? I want to stay in the digital world? I've seen many of the pics on Coin People look really great and I would like to post more pcs but my current digital camera just won't get close enough and the macro lens that was designed for the camera is no longer in production. For you pros out there...what do I need to buy, what to stay away from?? Any hints for taking pics of coins? Thanks in advance. Really appreciate the "company" of some great people on this site. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drwstr123 Posted June 2, 2007 Report Share Posted June 2, 2007 Ed- There are many lesser than expensive cameras that take great pics. Much lies in knowing your camera and using the proper features. Top line is, of course, a DSLR with a dedicated Macro lens. That gives you alot of wiggle room. It took me about 2 years to shoot acceptable pics with a great deal of reading. Any help I can provide, I will. Good luck, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted June 2, 2007 Report Share Posted June 2, 2007 What are you looking to spend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burks Posted June 3, 2007 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 People shoot better pictures than I do with a $200 camera, and I'm using one that cost $999.95 (plus tax)! Most modern digitial cameras will have a macro mode. This is represented by a flower button or a flower that pops on the screen when a certain button is pushed. This will help clearly focus coins when photographed up close. If that doesn't work well, as in my case, macro lenses are needed. These can be either super expensive or super cheap. I bought some made in China for $30 shipped, not bad! eBay can be your friend! If you get blurry pictures use a tri-pod (or stack of books) and the camera's self timer. This eliminates hand shake, thus clearing the photo. Lighting plays a big role in colors. I've found those Reveal bulbs to work really well. You may need to adjust your white balance to compensate for the pink (works awesome for copper!). Two bulbs give a better overall look than one. Best bet is to just play with angles until you find ones that work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Planchet Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Another option is scanning the coins with a flatbed scanner. I think this gives great results. Otherwise, you should probably have a copy stand (with two lights). The camera needs to be mounted or it won't stay still enough. --Peter Planchet www.peterplanchet.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Try a plastic milk gallon jug to diffuse the light with a couple reveal bulbs as mentioned.. Works great! -Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Ed Posted June 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 I went to a local camera store and the sales people showed me some great cameras. I was able to zoom down onto a single letter; very impressive but for $2,200 that camera should wash dishes and mow the yard! I'm experimenting now with a scanner - hopefully it might be able to capture the details of the coin. The camera store did have an extra macro lens which they gave me for free but I have to hold it in front of the lens of my pocket digital camera and I can't get the focus right on a constant basis. If you go to the error coin section - I was able to get one good pic (after taking over 200 shots. Thanks again - I'll see what the scanner does and maybe post a follow-up pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just carl Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Just to many cameras out there to suggest any particular ones. I would, however, stay away from an SLR if you are not a fairly educated person in photography. Those are the cameras with chagable lenses. There are just to many cheaper, easier to use cameras out there and much, much lighter. For example the Fuji series called S5000, S7000 or S9000. Great 2 stage macro, telephoto, external and internal flash, and has the capabilities of using either an XD and compact flash cards at the same time. With a 2 gig card you can take thosands of photos with up to 6 or 12 megapixels depending on which model. I use the S7000. For sure keep away from DXG brand. Have 3 of them and all are really poor. Gave 2 of them to my son and he hates them also. I like my Sony but that battery cost a fortune. I would suggest purchasing a camera with a screw mount on the bottom for tripod capabilities, threaded front lens for filters, normal batteries. I mention batteries due to some use propritary types, thier own brand like many Canon's and Sony's. These batteries are very expensive and if you can use standard batteries, there are places you can buy them by the case. Or invest a few dollars for the latest MH recharable types. If you do go for the recharable batteries, always read the Ma ratings on the batteries. They range from about 500 to 2650 Ma. The higher the Ma the longer and stronger the battery. If you want to find out much more about coin photography, there is a web site called Table Top Studio that has a section called Coin Photgraphy Teckniques. If you want to see the largest variety of cameras and photo equipment, go to www.bhphotovideo.com BHP is probably the largest supplier of photo equipment in the world although rather on the expensive side copared to what I deal with. Order thier catalog. It's like a telephone directory it's so big. Note the larger the camera, the more weight you must juggle with to take a photo and nowadays most cameras are light enough to almost put in a shirt pocket. A standard cheap tripod from Walmart, Kmart would be sufficient. Good luck and let us all know what you decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucille Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Cannon Powershot Pro1, point and shoot, no xtra lens... no special lights.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Ed Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Real impressive! I will stick to the scanner, now that I've realized I have to take the coin out of the holder to get a nice picture. I host the pics on my own web site at 100 x 100 but when I post them here on CP - they often go way too large. Now I scan at 9600dpi and then convert to a smaller format which doesn't hurt the quality too much. Here is a coin with some extra metal around the word IN. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drwstr123 Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 Real impressive! I will stick to the scanner, now that I've realized I have to take the coin out of the holder to get a nice picture. I host the pics on my own web site at 100 x 100 but when I post them here on CP - they often go way too large. Now I scan at 9600dpi and then convert to a smaller format which doesn't hurt the quality too much. Here is a coin with some extra metal around the word IN. Ed Ed- this is in the plastic: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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