Thorwolf Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 When I first joined the NGC Collector's Society, I used our 3 year old HP Scanjet scanner to upload pictures of my collection, and thought they looked pretty good. After about two weeks of extensive use, the scanner died and I replaced it with an Epson Perfection scanner. After uploading several scans with the new scanner, I noticed quite an improvement in sharpness and overall quality with the Epson. So, last weekend I re-scanned my collection. If interested, please look at the links in my signature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottishmoney Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 I used to think scanners were nice, then I got a digital camera. I didn't know what I had been missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burks Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Scans look a hell of a lot better then mine do. Maybe this Christmas I'll upgrade to the big leagues for picture capturing...just maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ageka Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 I got a photoscanner That is a scanner which was designed to convert color photos into digital photos allthough the scanner is now 6 years old it still does a lot better then 90% of the photos I have seen sofar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 I tried to get a decent picture of my coins using my digital camera but unsucessfully, I don't know if it is the camera itself or the user of the camera, but I gave up. I now use a scanner that does the job pretty well, so I never try again with my rubish digital camera. In any case if I manage to convinced my wife to allow me to spend the money in a real good digital camera, I may change to camera... I am thinking about the Canon D10 Digital SLR that my friend uses. He has been staying in my place for a few days recently and I have played with it, what a difference from anything I had hold previously... but it is expensive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorwolf Posted December 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 I used to think scanners were nice, then I got a digital camera. I didn't know what I had been missing. Well, this is a 3490 Photo model scanner and the images look pretty good to me. I tried our digital camera, but the macro setting does not get close enough. The scanner is so easy to use and get consistent results. I am sure that digital pictures would bring out the luster and color a bit better, but I can't imagine it being so much better that it would be worth the extra money and time to set up for taking digital pictures. New camera, tripod, proper lighting, experimentation, learning curve- bah, I am too lazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stujoe Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Those pictures look pretty good and the coins are very nice! Some scanners do a better job than others in dealing with depth. I forget which is better but there is a difference in internal hardware between the more inexpensive scanners and the middle to higher end ones. In the perennial digital camera/scanner debate, though, I always come down on the side of cameras. The big downside to scanners is that they are limited in that you can't change lighting, distance or other similar variables. A lot of scans tend to have problems with lustre and color and can look flat with some over exposed areas. Basically, you get what you get. But, they are incredibly easy to use. Now that the prices have come down, the big downside to digital cameras is the learning curve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sisu Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Those pictures look pretty good and the coins are very nice! Some scanners do a better job than others in dealing with depth. I forget which is better but there is a difference in internal hardware between the more inexpensive scanners and the middle to higher end ones. In the perennial digital camera/scanner debate, though, I always come down on the side of cameras. The big downside to scanners is that they are limited in that you can't change lighting, distance or other similar variables. A lot of scans tend to have problems with lustre and color and can look flat with some over exposed areas. Basically, you get what you get. But, they are incredibly easy to use. Now that the prices have come down, the big downside to digital cameras is the learning curve. Yup to all of the above. For the longest time I was a complete scanner. I used this high resolution scanner at work. However, it never could do proofs, and on normal coins the reliefs were always somewhat flat. I finally got as simple digital camera, and the depth it captures is much more true. However, as Stujoe mentioned the downside it the learning curve. It requires much more time to learn the subtleties than just placing the coin on the scanner bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ætheling Posted December 8, 2005 Report Share Posted December 8, 2005 I would say digital cameras are far superior to scanners. I however have stuck with the scanner, not because i can't afford a digital camera, it's just because i'm lazy and i couldn't be bother to work out complicated stuff like lighting angles, distance etc. Plus i just don't have the space to set anything like that up. I've got so much stuff up here there's not a flat surface uncovered. (aka unburined in books, paper, general junk). At least with a scanner you can just stick the coin on, press scan and bam you're done. Simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotten Rodney Posted December 8, 2005 Report Share Posted December 8, 2005 Nice Scans I got a visioneer photoport myself. . . problem is it and windows XP don't always get along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorwolf Posted December 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2005 Nice Scans I got a visioneer photoport myself. . . problem is it and windows XP don't always get along. Thanks. A similar thing happened with the HP scanner. It stopped working, then when I tried re-loading the driver it would tell me that a shell.dll file was missing. When I tried running it anyway, it would hang up my system until I uninstalled the driver. The new Epson Perfection 3490 Photo was only $100 at Best Buy, so it seems like a pretty good deal for what it does. The images I have seen here, created with digital cameras are the best to be sure. I am impressed by the artistic talents of those who produce them. Maybe if I saw a digital image of the same size/resolution of a few of my coin scans, side-by-side, I would take the plunge and build my own photography studio. However, since I generally value striking detail above color/luster when I buy coins, the scans would still probably be adequate for my eyes. Of course, no matter how nice the image looks, whether it be scanned or photographed, it does not compare to seeing the beauty for the first time in person. Thanks for all the responses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ageka Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 If everything works out the scan should be attached Instant scan with my presetting for proofs ( lighting and contrast ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burks Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Wow. Surprised you got that kind of quality with a proof. Mine always come out looking like total crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ageka Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 The only coin found sofar my scanner does not like is the gold maple not enough contrast to its liking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sisu Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Wow. Surprised you got that kind of quality with a proof. Mine always come out looking like total crap. Ditto for me. The proofs were the most difficult for me to get. If you look at my Omnicoin page, those were all scanned. But nothing like the above. Great work ageka! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ageka Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 As long as there is enough frosted area versus polished area the contrast is enough to really show how nice the coin is Here is a 1987 Belgian proof of Charlemagne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiffibunny Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Those totally look like pics. I never would have believed they were scans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ageka Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Those totally look like pics. I never would have believed they were scans. Yes and the most crazy thing is this is a six year old professional photo scanner bought second hand for 100 euro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Your scans are beautiful and your coins are even more beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ageka Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Since for obvious reasons the coins are in a bankvault I live with the scans and sometimes the scans are more beautifull then the coins since they are 300 dpi cans On the other hand the scans are unforgiving any damage that is not even noticed under magnification For example there really is a microscratch under the right foot of the horse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stujoe Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 Yes indeed those are some of the best scans I have ever seen by a long shot especially that first one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuldFartte Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 Ageka, those are amazing pics for a scanner. I must be strange, but I really enjoy the learning curve with a digital camera. I had great fun learning the new camera, and I'll have even more fun when I get the digital SLR this coming spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ageka Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 Well the scanner cannot do better then the coin and enhances red and yellow gold to show dramatically the difference Following Carolus with certificate number 2520 shows a "neutral" color Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ageka Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 Reverse of the Lady Di coin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 I like the scans, but is there a huge difference in scanners when scanning banknotes??? Or would a digital camera be just as easy? The scanner I have was for my old computer(Win98) and doesn't support the new one with XP. So I am trying to decide whether to buy a new scanner or just try taking pics with the digital camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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