• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
0
  • entries
    440
  • comments
    1,311
  • views
    44,076

Coin Photography as Macro Photography

0
Revenant

Entry posted by Revenant ·

4,120 views

I wanted to share a bit of new vs old photo results. Both the coin images are of the obverse of the 1876.

I set up my equipment the same way I usually do for macro photography of miniatures and other really small objects. I have a 105 mm f/2.8 VR Macro lens for my D600 and I added the 2x teleconverter so I could shoot really close in to the coin - having the coin fill most of the frame for really high resolution images - while still staying far enough back that I didn't get in the way of my light. I set up 2 speedlites. I initially was going to use both and have them behind the diffusion panels of the shadowbox but that was killing the luster in the images. I ended up just using one speedlite with a 1/128th full power setting undiffused. That gave me the results I liked the best. Using a small LED flash light to shine a little light on the coin made it much easier to autofocus with the lens. It's fairly dark in the shadowbox and the 2x teleconverter limits the effective aperture of the lens, making it hard to get enough light in for the autofocus to succeed without a little help. The circle of light projected by the flashlight also made it easier to keep the coins positioned consistently when swapping them out. Since the light from the small flashlight is so week it doesn't significantly impact the final image - the much more powerful speedlite dominates in the 1/100 of a second in which the image is taken.

Hopefully writing all of this down here will give me something to reference and help me remember later when I want to do this again. I'm including a picture of the set-up on the floor of the room I use as a home-office for now. I suppose it might be easier to do these things if I just set all of this up on a table and didn't force myself to flatten myself out on my stomach on the ground but... hey, I'm still fairly young (31) and don't have trouble getting back up... yet.

I was able to basically stand the slabs on their edge with them leaning ever so slightly back on the back of the shadowbox in some cases.

I think the new shots have much better detail, especially in his hair, beard and the field of the coin. They also look a lot sharper overall.

I'm not sure how this compares to how most others do it. Most of my camera equipment - except for the macro lens itself - was purchased for portrait and event photography and I generally find myself putting the same equipment to use here. I'd love to get a really nice lens-mounted ring-flash one of these days. I think that would provide the best and easiest lighting for something like this.  But so far I just haven't been able to justify the cost.

1876_Full_Obv.jpg

1876 Obverse.jpg

20180218_164721.jpg

0

12 Comments

Recommended Comments

Revenant
4 hours ago, ilLOminatus said:

Thanks for the share :)

My problem with coin photos has always been the reflection when it's a proof coin, any ideas?

Cheers

It's been a long time since I tried proofs. I'd have to play around with that some more.

Link to comment
maunishshah.com

Here is my setup:

Canon t5i, Sigma 150mm macro lens, 5500 white light, and a photocopy pro stand. I use the canon utility to remote shoot. Attached is an example of my clicks, more examples can be found at https://maunishshah.com/collection

Let me know if it helps. I am going to get this book and see if I can improve my pics.

124628fa96169c430a93e855223ee26a.JPG

cc2c95720f85f9ef2c13c496299ea1e5.JPG

df594e1cfbae20f108fdcf1d0299fb4c.JPG

1834-PR65-Rupee-15.png

Link to comment
Spooky's Coins

Forget the camera and use a scanner. Cannot imagine all the fancy and expensive set ups people use for camera photography. Don't even own a camera except on my phone and I never use it. Scanners take very true pictures and don't lie, you can make many adjustment to make a marginal coin look great with cameras. Check my scans on eBay under charleston-coin. Then tell me you can do better with any camera !

Link to comment
Revenant
1 hour ago, Guest said:

h...

As a general rule, I'm not in the habit of clicking on random links posted without explanation by people that log in as "guest" and don't take ownership of their posts. So... care to share examples of your work more directly? Care to share here without the links to Russian domain sites that might be for sites that give us all viruses?

Edited by Revenant
Link to comment
Just Bob
7 minutes ago, Revenant said:

As a general rule, I'm not in the habit of clicking on random links posted without explanation by people that log in as "guest" and don't take ownership of their posts. So... care to share examples of your work more directly? Care to share here without the creepy looking links to Russian domain sites that might be for sites that give us all viruses?

Ditto. 

Link to comment
MIKE BYRNE
On 4/1/2019 at 10:10 PM, Just Bob said:

Ditto. 

 Hi everyone. Well I saw all that equipment. I have all Nikon equipment lenses 1.2. And I get my micro shots from a seven dollar piece of rubber with a lens on it. It fits over my phone which is always set for coins. Focus and bingo a great picture. I was going to buy a lens but I saved six hundred on this. I said what could I lose a couple of bucks. No I didn't even lose that and my close ups from them on are terrific .. Some day i will buy a regular lens for Macro shooting. Since when I bought my camera it was 1800.00 dollars. The problem B&H never charged my account. So I got a free camera the two lens the charged me for was.enough.. Just got lucky. It has more menus than my computer. I love it. Thanks for your info Mike. I hope.you get lucky with equipment the prices are unbearable.

Edited by MIKE BYRNE
Link to comment
HipShot Photography

As a professional numismatic photographer, naturally, I find this topic fascinating.  Here are few of my shots from my Instagram feed. I'm happy to answer any questions about how and what I used to make them. 

Feb 6 2020-1.jpg

Feb 7 2020-1.jpg

Feb 8 2020-2.jpg

Link to comment
HipShot Photography
On 2/20/2018 at 3:53 AM, ilLOminatus said:

Thanks for the share :)

My problem with coin photos has always been the reflection when it's a proof coin, any ideas?

Cheers

You have to control the gradation of light across the face of the coin. Do this with custom axial lighting. Check out my profile here or visit my web page at www.denisrichard.photography for more examples. I'm sure you'll have questions, so let me know.  

Link to comment
Gluggo

Revived an early 2020 post on macro photography.  Hipshot I really like your 1966 10 Shilling photo.   Here is a new set up still have to set it up but hope to get some good shots soon.  I will have to work on the angle of the platform not sure if it will be a problem if I photostack.  I was trying to find your web page but was not successful as of yet.  I will check the profile.  Tyia. 

 

 

712D5A67-8135-49F2-8EB1-0D6AC5B615C6.jpeg

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now