Best possible pictures..

[Maxorin]

Any suggestions on what equipment I need to take perfect crystal-clear pictures of even the smallest details? I`m building a site with norwegian minting errors, and dont want to post any more pictures before I get the quality I`m after. It`s so annoying and a waste of time to have to change the pictures later.

Have tried a variety of different scanners, some do the job, but I need it to be better than just "doing the job".

Have asked in some photo-stores, but to my surprise most of them just shrugged their shoulders and said that it would be difficult, they had never
had a customer before with this request! Some of the others said I needed some real high-tech stuff, at a price around $2000 and up.

Is this what I need maybe? http://cgi.ebay.com/5X-10X-15X-30X-C...QQcmdZViewItem

Grateful for tips, have alot! of pictures to post and eger to get started. A little unsure about what I`ve been told so far, one store say one thing and the next say the complete opposite. Dont want to spend thousands of $ if I`m not sure it will get me the result I need.

[wavysteps]

Hi Maxorin and welcome to the CONECA forum.

Hopefully I can answer your question. First, you are on the right track concerning a camera instead of a scanner; scanners just will not do the job no matter how hard you try.

To give you an idea of what I do, I'll give you the equipment used in my photos. A 7.5X to 35X zoom binocular scope. This gives you a bit more flexibility with the varying zoom option instead of the fixed 5X, 10X, etc. For a camera, I was using an Olympus 460D zoom, 1.3 Mpixels but this Christmas, my wife gave me a Cannon A720, 8.0 Mpixels. The last and probably the most important part is a photo editing program and in this case I use a Adobe Photoshop 7.0.

With this set up, you can shoot straight through either eye piece of the scope with more than satisfactory results. One word of advice concerning shooting through the scoop; make sure that the housing for the lens sits on top of the outer ring of the eye piece on the scope. For some reason, if it sits on the glass (lens) itself, the camera will not focus.

All total, including the program, it should run less than $600.00 (camera = $200.00, scope = $200.00 to $250.00, Abode Photoshop Elements 6.0 = $100.00).

Hope that this helps.

BJ Neff

[Maxorin]

Thank you very much, this was very helpful. Good to hear somebody say that scanners dont work, period. Until now, I`ve been told different things, so have ended up with a "try/fail" approach, and never get the result I`m after.
Very frustrating. Belive I have tested 10 different scanners in the last 6 months.

I have no experience with cameras and photos, so I`ll have to learn a little about that then. I`ve done some checking, and the CANON PowerShot A720 IS is availabile here in norway at a decent price. Very happy to see that I dont have to spend more than 1/3 of what I thought. More money for coins

Regarding the binocular scope you mention, is there any brands you prefer or are they pretty much the same? (or is there one for that spesific camera?).

Actually a little surprised to hear this is all i need to do. This scope, does it attach to the camera, or are you just holding it and taking the pictures?

Think I have to do some shopping asap and by these things, can hardly wait thank you again

maxorin

[russellhome]

I get most everything I need out of my digital camera. My older digital camera did full photos very well -- but it did not have the capabilites to get me the macro photos I wanted. When I recently went to replace it, I got the same kind of answers as you from the sales people. They were no help at all. But I did bring a small tripod and some coins along with me and they let me test the macro feature of several cameras. I was amazed and the difference in capabilities - even for different cameras from the same brand. I ended up with the Canon Powershot A640. It is a 10 MP camera -- and I can get 99% of what I need as far as detail close-ups go.

But even with the perfect camera, it takes practice and experimentation to get the photos the way you want. I use a mini-tripod, one or two desk lamps, and often paper or white plastic between the light and the coin to defuse the light.

And then, of course -- you NEED software (photoshop, Corel Photopaint, etc) to crop, resize, and perfect your images. Once you get a system down, it goes pretty quickly.

Examples:

The photo below is about as close as I can get. It was taken at the full resolution of the camera and cropped to show just the detail I wanted. What you see in the photo is probably about a 1 cm area of the coin.



And for full coin shots, 10 MP is way to big for anybody's needs. So you need to have software to resize the image. The photo below was cropped and resized to about 5% the size of the original image.



For some detail, I wish I had a microscope - and I hope to get one someday. But it is possible to get nearly everything you need from the right digital camera at less than $300.

[wavysteps]

I shoot pictures just holding it in my hands and with the scopes eye piece abut against the lens housing, there is no movement.

As far as scopes, just as long as they are a zoom and around 7.5X - 10X to 35X - 40X and you should be all set. Actually, Ebay has some for less than $200.00 that sound fairly good.

The only problem with the scopes though is the lighting and that you are going to have to fool around with. However, an external lighting source is a must, but then again not at all expensive. Some people even use a pen light with excellent results.

As far as getting the hang of all this, we are here to help.

BJ Neff

[Maxorin]

Fantastic, thank you.

Has anyone tested the microscope i mentioned a link to earlier?
When I saw this a while back i thougt "bingo, thats it"
it looks great for those extra small things, thinking of buying one
just to test it.

[russellhome]

Maxorin

I've searched the web for various microscope options -- I've been thinking about getting one as well. I like the one you point to in your link. The way it is mounted, it would surely give you maximum flexibility - both for lighting angles and the ability to put larger objects under it (like coins in coin albums or encased sets). But $500 is more than I'd be willing to pay just to test it. The examples they show in the listing are all great -- except the coin shot. It is less than impressive -- hopefully the equipment is capable of better than that.

If I understand correctly, Euros are strong and Dollars are weak right now. Perhaps it is not a huge risk for you. If you decide to splurge and buy a nice microscope, please post some of your photos here.

[Maxorin]

I`ll post some pictures here as soon as I get a hold of one.
I`m trying to find if someone sells these microscopes here in
norway, more convinient in case of having to return it, and,
the shipping to norway would cost me $250 that gets
a little steap, but if I dont find it here, I`ll try one from ebay.

Looks like the zoom is fixed, thats a drawback, guess it would
be better with a zoom like the binocular scope mentioned earlier
in the link have.

[Maxorin]

I shoot pictures just holding it in my hands and with the scopes eye piece abut against the lens housing, there is no movement.

As far as scopes, just as long as they are a zoom and around 7.5X - 10X to 35X - 40X and you should be all set. Actually, Ebay has some for less than $200.00 that sound fairly good.

The only problem with the scopes though is the lighting and that you are going to have to fool around with. However, an external lighting source is a must, but then again not at all expensive. Some people even use a pen light with excellent results.

As far as getting the hang of all this, we are here to help.

BJ Neff

Could you give me a link to a scope on ebay you think is good/would recommend? There was alot of different ones there. Been to some stores here, but they had to check with their supplier etc.. Might be just as easy ordering it on ebay.

Finally got a camera anyway, after almost buying the canon A720, I changed my mind and almost bought the canon powershot A640, changed my mind again and got the canon powershot A650, pretty much the same as A640 i guess, but with 12 MP. Really looking forward to testing it and getting my hands on a scope.

[Maxorin]

Maxorin

I've searched the web for various microscope options -- I've been thinking about getting one as well. I like the one you point to in your link. The way it is mounted, it would surely give you maximum flexibility - both for lighting angles and the ability to put larger objects under it (like coins in coin albums or encased sets). But $500 is more than I'd be willing to pay just to test it. The examples they show in the listing are all great -- except the coin shot. It is less than impressive -- hopefully the equipment is capable of better than that.

If I understand correctly, Euros are strong and Dollars are weak right now. Perhaps it is not a huge risk for you. If you decide to splurge and buy a nice microscope, please post some of your photos here.

By the way, we still kling on to our KRONER coins here no euros for us norwegians, all our neighboring countries joined but not us. Typical norwegian. But from a coin collecting point of wiew, we really dodged a bullet there, I have seen the tests of the coins we would have ended up with, and it was the ugliest coins I have ever seen. There was absolutely nothing appealing about them.

[Maxorin]

I shoot pictures just holding it in my hands and with the scopes eye piece abut against the lens housing, there is no movement.

As far as scopes, just as long as they are a zoom and around 7.5X - 10X to 35X - 40X and you should be all set. Actually, Ebay has some for less than $200.00 that sound fairly good.

The only problem with the scopes though is the lighting and that you are going to have to fool around with. However, an external lighting source is a must, but then again not at all expensive. Some people even use a pen light with excellent results.

As far as getting the hang of all this, we are here to help.

BJ Neff

Have been fooling around a few days now with my new canon powershot a650is. And it is driving me up the wall mentioned earlier that I have no experience with photo-equipment, so that might be the problem. But its very user friendly and easy to use. Whats irritating, is that the camera get great pictures of everything else close up (it has macro, *24 zoom and 12MP), but as soon as I try to photograph a coin, it all goes to h... Get a yelloish hue on the pictures that isn`t really there. It just wont capture the true color of the coin. Have spent hours with different lighting and adjusments on the camera, nothing works.

Do you adjust these things with software? I`m used to scanners and one good thing about them, is that at around 12,000dpi they capture the color and things like that very well and I rearly have to adjust anything. And thats what I like, I like to take a picture of the coin the way it looks and not tamper with any colors or anything. Another thing that bothers me with the camera, if I take a picture of the front and one of the back of a coin, theres small differences in color and other things, so they dont look the same. This also is a new problem for me since I`m used to scanners, with them I get the same "look" when taking pictures of both sides of coins.

Any tips would be very helpful

The coins in the pictures are really silvery/metal colored, but as you see, they look baaad.

[wavysteps]

Is this the color of the actual coins?





If it is, then it is all in the editing program. I accomplished this with Adobe Photoshop 7
BJ Neff

[Maxorin]

Is this the color of the actual coins?





If it is, then it is all in the editing program. I accomplished this with Adobe Photoshop 7
BJ Neff

Well, its closer in that the coin has lost the yellow hue, but the thing is that now it looks edited. Everything is even grey, including the background, the coins natural look is lost- the shine etc

[wavysteps]

To be honest with you, I just took a shot at the color. Other adjustments can be made. Basically, I just wanted to give you an idea what can be accomplished with an editing program. Of course, with coin in hand, you can adjust to a specific color, sharpness and intensity with the actual coin to look at and compare.

BJ Neff

[Maxorin]

Well, its closer in that the coin has lost the yellow hue, but the thing is that now it looks edited. Everything is even grey, including the background, the coins natural look is lost- the shine etc

Heres an example of what I mean, this picture is done with a scanner. Here you see some small spots and specks as they look on the coin, and theres no yellow hue. This picture is not edited in any way, (except the file size is compressed because its almost 2gb to start with) and it resembels the coin nicely, a natural look.

Took some pictures with the camera, and any editing i try, makes this natural look disappear.