Coin Photography - Best Camera

[DaveG38 405]

I know this has been debated before, but time has moved on and the options may have changed. Basically, I've a number of coins to photograph and I want to upgrade my existing digital camera, which is about 10 years old, for something that can take decent close up shots of coins, suitable for ebay or wherever. At the same time, I don't want to spend a fortune on this, so I'm looking for a best compromise between capability and cost.

Any views or is the material in earlier threads still applicable?

[Coinery 1,156]

My set-up is by all accounts overkill, and was around £700!

I think the body, if that's the correct term, is about the cheapest SLR on the market...I wanted it to slap a big macro lens on, which cost more than the body, and that was second-hand too!

To be fair it is definitely overkill, as I only use around 1% of its features, and don't truly understand the ones I use!

[Asumel 6]

I have a cannon 350D which is a good basic DSLR camera and works ok for pretty much anything, the lenses are quite cheep ( in comparison) so a good macro one would could do quite a decent job, though I get a good picture from it without a macro lens.

[TomGoodheart 403]

Hmm .. I get photos like this:

Using nothing more advanced than this:

An Olympus VG 120. Hand held but steadied on a box, set on super-macro and in good sunlight. (The background is cropped and filled using MS Paint on my laptop).

[HistoricCoinage 147]

...set on super-macro and in good sunlight.

A rare piece of apparatus these days.

[Peter 615]

Most modern Macro camera's will produce a good result with steadiness and good lighting.

Several good threads can be found on Coincommunity.com

I have a couple of Nikon Dslr's without macro lenses and a £30 Cannon powershot A800 pocket camera (bought on recommendation at coincomm.)

I think Richard's photographs are excellent.

[NRP 38]

We use a canon on a tripod with special lights, the setup cost abt £1000 ten years ago, I thought about changing but we are still really happy with the results!!

[TomGoodheart 403]

Most modern Macro camera's will produce a good result with steadiness and good lighting.

Several good threads can be found on Coincommunity.com

I have a couple of Nikon Dslr's without macro lenses and a £30 Cannon powershot A800 pocket camera (bought on recommendation at coincomm.)

I think Richard's photographs are excellent.

Thanks. I'm sure they could be improved with a proper tripod (one of those mini desk-top ones would no doubt do) and lighting, but I'm lazy! I have certainly noticed that as soon as light levels drop the camera struggles to focus crisply and the resulting photos are noticably grainier.

But as Peter says, I think most modern cameras (point-and-shoot or fancier) should be able to produce acceptable results, at least for ebay listings.

Having said that, some coins are just really difficult to photograph to their best. While the one I posted above is a success, there are others of mine that whatever I do, just don't look at all as good as (I think they look) in real life. I've one on ebay at the moment that just looks rubbish, despite my best efforts. Probably explains why nobody has made any offers for it!

Edited October 12, 2013 by TomGoodheart

[DaveG38 405]

Thanks everyone. I'm not really a regular ebay seller, so I don't think its worth my while investing in an expensive set up. To be honest, if the Olympus with 14 M/pixels and a super macro facility can produce the results that Tom Goodheart has above then that would suit me perfectly. I can also find one pretty cheaply, so that looks a good bet for me. For previous photography, I've always found that using diffuse light in the conservatory works for me, so far as illumination goes.

Edited October 12, 2013 by DaveG38

[azda 979]

Well you know how my pictures are Gary, my Camera is an olympus FE-320 8.0 megapixel and i never use Flash and always take outside in Natural light against a dark background. I've no complaints with my results what so ever, just use the Marco mode and you'll get good hi-res results. My camera is around 7 years old, dunno what i'd do if it ever goes pear shaped, but spending £1000 plus these days seems overkill with what the samller versions can also do, but good editing software should be on th shopping list to, something like photoshop.

[Colin G. 147]

I use a Pentax Optio A30 with macro mode...just an old point and click. Always seemed to do pretty well for me, as for lighting I think that is where the real work is. I now use axial lighting for my setup, with a cheap desk tripod and feel it now gives the best visual representation of what I actually see when I look at a coin, the colours and hues all seem to get captured. There are always the odd coins that just don't seem to like cameras but on the whole I have been very pleased. I do also use the flash with axial lighting. Bear in mind I only really photograph copper and bronze.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://coinimaging.com/images/Axial_lighting.JPG&imgrefurl=http://coinimaging.com/photography.html&h=266&w=319&sz=14&tbnid=n1fzvKRR9o0_NM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=108&zoom=1&usg=__j44vZ0Tb-N4tPYb4pTkrUtbcofM=&docid=QfrTongqlQB-cM&sa=X&ei=DH1aUsCFI6ea0QXlo4DQAw&ved=0CDUQ9QEwAg

[Nick 329]

I use a Pentax Optio A30 with macro mode...just an old point and click. Always seemed to do pretty well for me, as for lighting I think that is where the real work is. I now use axial lighting for my setup, with a cheap desk tripod and feel it now gives the best visual representation of what I actually see when I look at a coin, the colours and hues all seem to get captured. There are always the odd coins that just don't seem to like cameras but on the whole I have been very pleased. I do also use the flash with axial lighting. Bear in mind I only really photograph copper and bronze.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://coinimaging.com/images/Axial_lighting.JPG&imgrefurl=http://coinimaging.com/photography.html&h=266&w=319&sz=14&tbnid=n1fzvKRR9o0_NM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=108&zoom=1&usg=__j44vZ0Tb-N4tPYb4pTkrUtbcofM=&docid=QfrTongqlQB-cM&sa=X&ei=DH1aUsCFI6ea0QXlo4DQAw&ved=0CDUQ9QEwAg

It is worth draping a non-reflective (black) piece of cloth behind the glass as this stops light reflecting from the back of the glass into the camera which reduces contrast. It is also common to block the direct path of the light to the subject coin.

Edited October 13, 2013 by Nick

[Coinery 1,156]

Bear in mind I only really photograph copper and bronze.

And that is another damned good reason for collecting in that area! Hammered also photographs as easily as copper and bronze, though!

Edited October 13, 2013 by Coinery

[Peckris 579]

Don't bother with a DSLR unless you're interested in photography. If you don't need one, they are heavy, bulky and require a huge investment in lenses etc.

The most you need is a Point & Shoot compact that has a macro setting. If it doesn't, get one with quite a high resolution (e.g. 12MP minimum), shoot as near as you can, then crop the picture down to just the coin.