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Author Topic: Coin photography camera setups  (Read 4949 times)

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Cam D

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Re: What is your camera setup?
« Reply #25 on: August 16, 2021, 08:25:15 am »
I think the large files are worth keeping, though for a different purpose. I keep two sizes: an original at ~50MB and a scaled-down version at 20MB. The latter version I upload to my website and compress to use it as the main photos of the coins on my website. The original version I use specifically for my "Ultra Zoom" tool, where people can get the full benefit of my high resolution images without needing to download the entire 50MB file in their browser.

You can see the Ultra Zoom photos here: https://artemis-collection.com/showcase/ultra-zoom/

It uses a plugin called OpenSeaDragon, which is also used by a lot of museums (e.g. British Museum) and even some auction houses (maybe Tauler Fau), and only loads the portion of the image that is visible in the plugin's window and only to the resolution required for the given zoom level. You can see reasonably fine details on the surface of each coin with this tool, more so on smaller coins than larger coins as they're taken at higher magnifications. A lot of these details get obliterated when compressed by 20x so it's nice to have a way of retaining the detail and making it available easily to others. Otherwise my camera setup is a touch overkill ;D

That doesn't mean I can't create a third copy of my images compressed to <2MB but uploading them here means adding another place to manage them and they also can't be viewed to their full potential. I'd likely end up linking the high-res or Ultra Zoom versions anyway as I think coins are fascinating to see up-close and not many others offer this kind of resolution for their coin photos. I can understand the benefits of hosting images on a forum to prevent deadlinks but I created my website partly as a means of getting around file size limits on forums.

Offline Virgil H

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Re: What is your camera setup?
« Reply #26 on: August 17, 2021, 11:55:11 pm »
Ron and kaleun96,

Ron, I tend to agree, but I have the storage space and I do other kinds of photography (in fact, I actually suck at coin photography, LOL). So, for me, high resolution is just where I am coming from. But, my coin photos probably don't need to be.

That said, kaleun96's site tells me why high resolution is so nice. That is a very nice site and your coins and images are amazing. I also like to see the details, you have done an incredible job, my goodness, some of the zooms are just beautiful. I am going to check this technology out when I get some time. Thanks.

Virgil

Cam D

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Re: What is your camera setup?
« Reply #27 on: August 18, 2021, 12:45:52 pm »
Thanks Virgil, appreciate the kind words!

Online Joe Sermarini

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Re: What is your camera setup?
« Reply #28 on: August 18, 2021, 02:26:43 pm »
Please do not use quote when responding to the most recent post. It is unnecessary and requires unnecessary scrolling. Quotes are only necessary when responding to an older post to make clear that you are not responding to the most recent post. I have removed many unneeded quotes from this thread.
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Offline Virgil H

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Re: What is your camera setup?
« Reply #29 on: August 19, 2021, 12:42:44 am »
I never noticed an issue with quotes on this thread. so I have no idea if I am one of the offenders. I use quotes when I think they are necessary, including when responding to the post just above. Looking back, I think you removed quotes I put in a response intentionally and I really don't appreciate it because you essentially changed my response. Quotes are especially useful with long posts making multiple points and I am responding to specific things in it. Nothing is worse than reading a response where there is no reference to what the response is about. I edit the quotes to leave what I want left. I will say that quotes have never been an issue to me the entire time I have been on this forum. More often than not, I find them helpful. Otherwise, scrolling on by is not a problem. Most comments really require no scrolling at all with or without quotes. But, when I use quotes, it is completely intentional and not out of laziness and it actually takes more time to use them. I actually think it is courteous to use them. This is also the case when responding to multiple points, where I separate the quotes between my responses. I will keep using them when I think it is needed, so delete away. Sorry, you really hit a sore point with me on this one.

Virgil

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Re: What is your camera setup?
« Reply #30 on: August 19, 2021, 05:01:29 pm »
I also have no idea if you were one of the offenders, but almost every one of the last ten or so posts on this thread had a quote of the FULL post above, for no valid reason. Some had quotes within quotes within quotes of the full prior posts. Members were hitting quote when they should have simply replied. I have been moderating this discussion for nearly 20 years. I really do know how quotes should and should not be used. My message was for those that do not know how they should be used. I am pleased the you know how to use them but disappointed that you think it is necessary to explain them to me.
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Offline PtolemAE

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Re: What is your camera setup?
« Reply #31 on: October 14, 2021, 09:45:41 pm »
I graduated, a long time ago, from using a flatbed scanner to a camera, and the results are finally presentable. I've purchased better equipment as the technology evolved.

I currently use an Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera (EP-L) with a bunch of features that I use a lot.  This camera gets up to 16 megapixels, takes a macro lens (the 60mm with a 2x crop factor makes it equivalent to a standard 120mm lens) with a touch flip screen.  The really nice bits about a modern mirrorless or SLR camera are the control over white balance, shutter delay, bracketing exposures, center-weighted exposure metering, and the ability to stop the exposure up or down. I use an on-screen grid and the 'bubble' levels. I use auto-focus now, but I do sometimes miss my old kit and the manual focus.

My stand is homemade and isn't nearly as slick as the ones in this threadStill, it lets me use axial lighting with a glass plate to 'suspend' the coins in air. 

I haven't really been happy with the lighting arrangement until now. This is my fourth iteration with this rig over ten years.
I use three rechargeable battery-powered LED lights: two Lume Cubes and one Lume Panel-mini, all with diffusers. The Lume Cubes have 'barn doors' to narrow the light beam, and I use one for the axial light, at max., and one for the background, to dispel shadows.  I can control the Lume Cubes with an app on my phone or tablet.  The panel light is used as soft direct lighting, and is moved around as needed to get the right surface illumination on the coin. 

This setup takes nice enough pictures that, after HDR processing of the multiple exposures, I don't have much post-processing to do.

nice work.

axial lighting is a great technique and it's easy to set up a home-brew rig that works pretty well like this one. i built one from a cardboard box with black paper lining. the little block keeps the axial light from hitting the coin from the side, which would give some odd lighting highlights. mirrorless cameras are very inexpensive now and give 'wysiwyg' results and many have movable screens. it's simple, inexpensive, and very effective. you can also use manual focus inexpensive macro lenses from older film cameras with adapters. macro lenses are, imho, important and you chose one that lets you get far enough away from the coin (focal length) to let the light work properly.

a $400 mirrorless camera body can make 6000 x 4000 pixel images of excellent quality if you use a macro lens that lets the coin fill up most or all of the field of view. more expensive ones make 40 (or more) megapixel images that you can use to make poster-sized razorsharp prints. big prints of ancient coins are pretty cool. I had some 10" x 20" prints made of some favorites that I like a lot. it would be easy to go even larger. for those who like experimenting the higher-end mirrorless cameras have 'pixel-shift' systems that create super-refined color in extraordinary high resolution (up to 200+ megapixels). it's time-consuming but it's the digital equivalent of 'dye-transfer' technology from the 1950s as far as color fidelity is concerned. great for bronze coins or toned coins. you can turn the ancient die-maker's art into photographic art you can hang on your wall.

Some cameras can use USB camera control to bring the pic right into the computer and don't have to pull it in later from the camera's SD card. That can also control exposure (shutter, white balance, etc.) from the software. some cameras also have a little HDMI output so you can see the camera's-eye view of the coin on a big computer monitor and not have to depend on the typically small camera screen itself.

thanks for showing this setup.

PtolemAE



i light what you did here - clever and likely gives very good pictures.

Offline Ron C2

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Re: What is your camera setup?
« Reply #32 on: October 16, 2021, 04:13:42 pm »
Making large wall prints is a cool idea.

Honestly, anything 16MP or higher in a mirrorless format like 4/3 or APSC will make amazing photos if you use macro lens and decent lighting. I tend to favor very high apertures also, as the greater depth of field is helpful with magnification.

Anything up to poster size, 16mp is all you need and there are some great Panasonic and Olympus 4/3 mirrorless offerings, new and used, for under $400 and a decent macro lens cam be had for around $300 new.

When you consider the cost of nice coins, a nice camera rig is not so out of reach.
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