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Author Topic: Equipment Recommendations for Photographing Coins  (Read 2128 times)

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Offline Ken W2

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Equipment Recommendations for Photographing Coins
« on: April 29, 2020, 03:30:38 pm »
Hello All: I want to catalogue and share my coins using photos.  I don't want to spend the money on a DSLR camera and related equipment.  I might get there one day, but not yet. I tried using a WF5X eyepiece in my scope with my iPhone but the field of view even at 5X is way too small. I cannot get a .5X Barlow lens to replace my 1X objective and can't find an eyepiece lower than 5X for my 30.5mm scope. I could buy a camera eyepiece, but would have no magnification (and I haven't found one compatible with IOS (only PC and some Android).  Sooooo, I was looking online and saw these microscope camera units that have a 4.3 inch screen (some have a 7 inch screen) built in.  Some have wifi that can communicate with your smart phone or PC. These generally have 0-1000X magnification. They run around $ 100.  Has anyone used one of these who can provide feedback ?  Any other ideas on how to inexpensively make photos of coins (I've reviewed Doug's coin photography page, but didn't see anything on these units I'm looking at-- they may be fairly new)?  Thanks to all in advance.

Ken       

Offline Jay GT4

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Re: Equipment Recommendations for Photographing Coins
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2020, 04:20:23 pm »
I've seen some of those microscope cameras but I wonder if the quality of the photo produced is worth the expense.  I've seen some excellent photos using phones.  It all comes down to keeping the phone steady and good lighting.  You definitely need to use some kind of tripod or support for the phone.

Offline dougsmit

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Re: Equipment Recommendations for Photographing Coins
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2020, 11:55:00 pm »
Not wanting to buy a decent camera makes it harder but you can take images with better phones just resting them on a juice class or stack of books tall enough that your phone will focus.  You will have to crop images to eliminate all the extra background.  Practice helps.

 

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