Coin Photography Question
Gwen
Hi -
I know this has been gone over a lot, and I'm sorry. I have read the
therads before asking!
I have a Canon S1 IS (does anyone else?) which I bought soley for
photographing coins. I figured the 10x zoom, the aperture and shutter
override would be exactly right. But I'm having a lot of trouble with
light and focus.
If anyone else has this camera, and it works well for you for
photographing coins, could you give me a few tips?
If no one has this camera (or even if you do)... could you suggest a
camera that might help me out? I'm ready to give this one to my
husband, who needs a new camera, and buy a different one; it's driving
me nuts. I'm thinking I need a camera w/a macro setting and more
megapixels than this one, and preferably lighter weight.
Thank you,
Gwen
Ira
The camera will focus to about 4" (10 cm) at the macro setting which
SHOULD be adequate. Make sure the camera is set to the specific macro
setting (generally a pictofram of a tulip), then zoom the lens with the
coin in range to se if you can obtain a sharp image on teh LCD. I
expect you will need to be at the wide angle setting to get a sharp
image, but not having your camera at hand I am giving an educated guess
here. You have enough megapixels to get the job done.
Ira
Tony Cooper
The Canon S1 does not have a macro setting. There's no "tulip" to
look for on this camera.
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
Tony Cooper
Nikon usually gets the nod for macro photography. The Nikon Coolpix
series cameras all have excellent macro capabilities. The Coolpix P2
is currently available for $199 with free shipping from Ritz Camera
http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/541535746.htm?bct=t1134 and other
sources. It's very small and lightweight, but has a large 2.5 inch
LCD for viewing. It's a 5.1 megapixel camera. (You will also need a
SD card with this camera, but they start at about $20.
A high zoom factor is not really important in photographing coins.
You need a macro setting.
Flash doesn't work with coin photography since you're too close. You
need external lights with daylight bulbs. Cheap clip-on floods work
fine. Even with daylight bulbs, you need to set the white balance to
incandescent or your pictures come out too yellowish.
You can buy a camera online, but you should always go to a store and
handle the model first. See if the size and shape work for you.
Ira
<<
You can buy a camera online, but you should always go to a store and
handle the model first. See if the size and shape work for you.
<<
Tony,
I agree with your advice about checking out a camera in a store first.
But I don't think it's fair or even ethical (I'm sure I'll be blasted
for this) to take a salesperson's time to demonstrate the features and
handling of several candidate cameras and then buy it online for less
$$. The salespersons in most stores work on a paltry salary and earn
their keep from small commissions they earn on the items they sell. I
consider using them that way and then buying online a theft of service,
and I don't care how many disagree. It isn't ALWAYS about how cheap you
can buy an item.
IMHO, it's worth every extra $$ you might pay locally to learn the
salient feaures of several cameras, in hand, before you buy.
Ira (off my soapbox now).
aca...@gate.net
Ira wrote:
> I agree with your advice about checking out a camera in a store first.
> But I don't think it's fair or even ethical (I'm sure I'll be blasted
> for this) to take a salesperson's time to demonstrate the features and
> handling of several candidate cameras and then buy it online for less
It was a good soap box to be on. A salesperson needs to make sales. To
have someone come in and talk, with no intention to buy, is a waste of
time and a disappointment to the salesperson. Some salespeople at small
stores have the ability to negotiate prices with customers. If a model
is of interest, it can be priced online. The salesperson at the store
may be willing to meet the price if asked. This is good for the local
economy.
Your words about commission made me chuckle. One of the differences
between the North and South is that in the South, the salary is paltry
and there's no commission, either :)
Anita
Ira
It was a good soap box to be on. A salesperson needs to make sales. To
have someone come in and talk, with no intention to buy, is a waste of
time and a disappointment to the salesperson. Some salespeople at small
stores have the ability to negotiate prices with customers. If a model
is of interest, it can be priced online. The salesperson at the store
may be willing to meet the price if asked. This is good for the local
economy.
<<
Sometimes you can negotiate price a bit, but oftimes websites sell gray
market items swith NO manufactureres US warranty. They may have
marginal so-clled in-0store warranties or manufacturere's
"international" warranties. That will require, under warranty and eveen
after, that the owner ships back to the country of manufacture for
repair. Even after warrnty expires, most repair shops of the major
digital camera companies will NOT service gray market items even for a
fee. Think of the headaches and inconvenience. The sad thing is that
most discount elevtronic places, often in Brooklyn, NY, won't include
owner's manual, battery charger, etc without additional charge and they
often rip you for shipping charges.
Oh, I would buy RAM for my computer if it's a name brand and have no
qualms about buying it online, and if I haven't taken the time at a
local store to demonstarte the models of interest then I would
condsider buying from one of the large catalog companies such as Mac or
PC Connection or Mac or PC Warehouse. But, I try to buy locally most of
the time and don't mind paying the sales tax or extra $$ if the clerck
has taken time to patiently explain salient fetures to me.
Ira
Tony Cooper
I agree with you. However, handling a camera in the store does not
mean a salesperson's time will be taken. You can go to Best Buy or
Circuit City, for example, and spend half-an-hour handling cameras and
never attract the attention of a salesperson...even if you *want* to
attract the attention of a salesperson. The cameras are on open racks
(chained to the racks) for inspection and handling.
I mentioned the Nikon P2 because I just purchased one as a second
digital camera. I did purchase it from Ritz, but in a Ritz store.
All cameras I've purchased have been purchased in a store. If there's
a problem, I like the idea that I can take the camera back to the
store where I purchased it. The P2, BTW, was the same price in-store
at $199.
I think, though, that it has to be recognized that people do shop
online for cameras and that cameras should not be purchased without
handling the model first. A credit card-sized camera looks much the
same on the monitor screen as a much larger camera, and some people
may not like a credit card-size camera. Fat fingers.
Tony Cooper
<tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>On 21 Apr 2006 08:09:06 -0700, "Ira" <ir...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>I mentioned the Nikon P2 because I just purchased one as a second
>digital camera. I did purchase it from Ritz, but in a Ritz store.
>All cameras I've purchased have been purchased in a store. If there's
>a problem, I like the idea that I can take the camera back to the
>store where I purchased it. The P2, BTW, was the same price in-store
>at $199.
Actually, I paid $14 more for the camera as a result of purchasing
in-store. In-store sales add sales tax, and Ritz does not charge
sales tax (or shipping) for on-line sales.
note.boy
"Gwen" <gwe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1145619171.1...@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
The Pentax Optio WP, for Water Proof, has a close focus of 1cm and has
several settings from 5 megapixels down to 640, it also records video.
The battery is rechargeable, it's brilliant. Billy
note.boy
"Ira" <ir...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1145632145.9...@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I agree with this 100%, I bought my camera from my local camera shop, the
same place that I bought my previous 2 Pentax cameras from, and 1 Olympus.
Billy
Jorg Lueke
One of the best tricks I've picked up is to raise the coin above the
background. I use little pieces of wood in three diamaters that I cut
to 3 inches. By raising the coin above the background you enhance the
ability of your camera to focus on the coin rather than the ground.
I also like to put a piece of white paper in the shot that I can use
for quick color balancing.
Silver and gold coins do fine on a white background, copper does
better on a black background. In my camera if I do copper on white
the light sensor is off and the coin comes out darker than real life.
The black background helps correct that.
Gwen
between the Nikon and the S1, so having looked into both I will
probably take your advice and get the Nikon.
Correct: The Canon S1 has no macro setting, as well as no wide angle
(35mm, or there about, is its widest). It was my first digital camera
that was more than the most basic point-and-shoot and I didn't realize
that macro wasn't a feature to overcome shortcomings rather than a
necessary addition of its own. My first, a tiny Olympus that barely did
a thing, took better coin photos than the very stellar Canon S1. Live
and learn.
Thanks to all, really. I read along and see that everyone knows each
other; I appreciate your advice to a virtual stranger.
Gwen
Gwen
choose something of the opposite color -- i.e., a black background for
silver coins and a blue background for copper coins (dark blue for
lighter copper, lighter blue for darker copper). You can't really go
wrong with white, though, but give black a try -- you might be happy
w/the result.
Gwen
Jorg Lueke
For me, and it might just be my set-up, the silver coins come out the
same either way. When I process the TIFF image I've done both black
and white backgrounds and my reaction varies from day to day ;)
For me, copper is a must on the darker background just because it
makes setting the exposure time easier
Here's a recent silver through a slab
http://www.coinvalues.us/uploaded/images/Ancestors/1919US.jpg
and a recent copper
http://www.ancientcoinvalues.com/uploaded/images/Byzantine/Justinian336.jpg
Not perfect yet but it gets better the more I try :)