taking photos

[pies 33]

Just found out my old SLR camera has a macro lens . So ive bought a new digital body which will arrive next week.

So whats the best set up for taking coin photos, its not an area ive had much practice in so any help will be welcome

[Peckris 579]

Just found out my old SLR camera has a macro lens . So ive bought a new digital body which will arrive next week.

So whats the best set up for taking coin photos, its not an area ive had much practice in so any help will be welcome

There are various different approaches. Dave said he takes his outside by natural light, whereas other members have said they use a camera pointing downwards on a tripod, with lights on the coin from two different directions. Someone else said they use a combination of natural light and one artificial light.

A macro on its own is not much use, as when you get the lens close to the coin, it casts a shadow on it which defeats the object. On the other hand, my superzoom has something called macro zoom, which means you can get reasonably close from a foot or more away. (My problem is getting the light on the coin that shows its tone / lustre to best effect without angling the coin; without special equipment it's very difficult.)

Ideally, you want to take the pictures at the highest resolution you can, as you may need to crop out quite a lot; you can always shrink an image without cost to quality, whereas making an image bigger degrades it.

You may find that a new camera's kit lens will deliver better results than an old pre-digital macro, but experiment anyway - you might get good results from your old lens.

Oh, one more thing - try to put the coin on a mid-grey background, which will give correct exposure. White will make the coin dark, black will over-expose the coin. (If shooting from a greater distance, then cropping, it's even more important).

[azda 979]

You should try various ways and setting pies, as Peck said, i do all my pictures outside, i have a balcony here in Munich so it's not generally a problem if it rains either. Just try different ways and see what suits you and the camera best, i also use the highest resolution settings plus macro mode, it all works for me and get great results with a 5 year old Olympus 8mmp camera.

P.s, the bigger the coin, the nearer to it you can take a picture, smaller coins need a bit of distance inbetween, i have'nt quite mastered copper bronze yet but am working on that, and lastly, always make sure there's a bit of land between the coin so you can crop and rotate if required

Edited October 8, 2012 by azda

[Peter 615]

Dave's dinner plates have always impressed me.

Experiment away.

My ebay pictures are made in natural light although I have just bought some LED lights for winter.Most of the coin forums have excellent advice on photographing coins (try coincommunity).We have 3 Nikon DSLR's in the house...I do need a tripod to get good results.

[declanwmagee 122]

I do need a tripod to get good results.

I got mine for £12 from a local camera shop. It's only about 8" high...which is plenty for coins