I am going to update this in case anyone has more suggestions or maybe is going through similar travails. It really is frustrating trying to get decent coin photos when 1) I am a photographer and have prided myself as such for decades (obviously not a macro photographer) and 2) When I see so many others who are creating great coin photos, not just dealers and pros in the business. Why can't I do it? So some additional thoughts.
As noted above, my old camera does not have a computer connection capability. I think this would be a super nice feature.
I ordered a
cheap set of extension tubes, which I believe is what Ron was suggesting or something similar. My biggest worry with what I got is I will easily break them. Their manufacture
quality reflects their
price. Otherwise, they do what they are supposed to do, allow me to focus closer than the lens by itself will allow. And they were super
cheap to the point of it not mattering a
bit if they didn't
work at all. Especially compared to a real macro lens for my camera (Canon mount).
My tests revealed I could get a photo as
good or a
bit better than what I posted in the OP.
Still not
good enough. The only advantage is I can fill the frame more. I am not going to post any of these here because I know they
still aren't
good enough.
I think I have figured out that my biggest problem is getting a crisp focus. It is a
bit easier to get focus with the tubes because I can see more coin. The
field of focus is, of course, super narrow. But,
still not
good enough. I think the biggest issue I really have is the camera's focus screen is just not
good enough. The camera itself is a Canon, but a low end SLR. I think the focus has always been this hard and perhaps not even truly possible to get the detail I need for coins. It just never mattered before. My old film cameras, Nikon and Nikkormat,
had split focus screens that are more precise.
So, even
buying a true macro lens would probably not solve the problem.
Part of it is the focus screen and
part of it is my old eyes. I am very sensitive to lack of light and need a lot of it or I think it is way too dark (I have cataracts, but not at a level requiring surgery). What I think is normal lighting others think is floodlights. Plus, I can't see without glasses and this gets progressively worse over time. Here is where the computer hookup would really be helpful. In any case, at least all this testing and trying
cheap remedies has saved me from dropping a few hundred on a macro lens when I am not sure that would solve my problems.
I am going to start looking at maybe a newer camera. Or something that isn't pure junk that will allow me to see my image on the computer. If you were going to buy something for coin photography and not totally break the bank, what would you recommend? I know some folks like smartphones, but I haven't really liked the digital artifacts I have seen introduced, especially with zooming, although at first I thought the smartphone
had solved my issues. Plus,
good smartphones aren't inexpensive. Is there a camera out there that "specializes" in macro, again, without being super expensive? This is one on those things I am starting to get obsessed with because I really want to solve my problems that have been existing with my attempts at photographing coins since I first tried to do it. But it has also never been high on my
budget priority list because coin photos are used pretty much only for my
gallery.
Thanks all,
Virgil