Ring light LED

[dougsmit]

I just became aware and bought (eBay) a ring light for use in my coin photography.  I have used for some time a cheaper fluorescent ring from an office supply store but the new one offers adjustable intensity which I will use to balance light with a directional desklamp (Ottlight) since my past experience with rings suggests I like the results better when mixing the two rather than using the ring alone.  The new light has 144 LED's and was intended as a light for use with a stereoscopic microscope (which I own so I can use this for both purposes.  The ring will fit objects/lenses up to 62mm which is exactly what my Canon 100mm macro measures.  In the few shots I have taken, I have learned that there will be a learning curve to get the balance between the two lights looking right.  It is easy to get too much light from the ring and make the result look unnatural.   Rings alone work well for some high relief silver coins but I prefer to use it as a fill light for most coins. 

Below are photos of the set up in use and two sample images shot today.  I would enjoying hearing suggestions from anyone with experience with ringlights (LED or other). 

[Joe Sermarini]

Nice photos.

[Meepzorp]

Hi doug,

Those are great photos. They look like professional or dealer-quality photos. The LED ring light really gives them depth.

But those are silver coins. From what I've been told by several dealers, bronze coins are notoriously difficult to photograph well. How does your current set-up work with bronze coins?

Meepzorp

[dougsmit]

I just got it yesterday so have not done much.  This was the first AE.

[SC]

Nice photos. It is so much better than the crappy ring light that came with my USB microscope.  Nice to know there are good ones available. I certainly did notice with the USB set up that side illumination was needed too.

Shawn

[Gilgamesh]

I started dabbling a bit with one of these last year. Not for coin photography as I have a good, portable, light-box that gives excellent results. I tried it with a DSLR while photographing a symphony orchestra rehearsal. I found the colour temperature of the LED's was very heavy on the red and it was difficult to get a good white balance. Of course, there are LED's and LED's as you are aware. The colour temperature will vary with the quality of the LED. Also, I used it on flash setting and think it may have been better to be on permanently, but haven't experimented further.

Did you operate on flash or permanent and did you have white balance problems? I notice you mention the result can look "unnatural". Your experimenting with mixing light sources is interesting. I used to do the same before the light-box. The ambient light of indirect sun will also impact on the results. What you get one day is not what you'll get the next. A completely dark room gives better control over light source but it is rather hard to see little coins. Also, as noted, the spectral qualities (how they reflect light) of bronze and silver vary. Coin photography really s difficult.

I experimented with the various light source adjustments available when processing RAW files. It wasn't fully satisfactory and further colour processing was necessary to reduce the red end of the spectrum. All this processing is time consuming - and time wasting - hence my delay in experimenting further.

I've been meaning to experiment with the light for videoing too but haven't got around to it yet.

[dougsmit]

My unit does not have a flash option and I do not like flash for coins because you lose a lot in the accuracy of previewing for no good reason.  Flash is great for moving insects but not for still coins. 

I have had a bit mixed results on color.  I believe that mixing the two lights called daylight but not exactly matching is part of the problem but I also believe the LED's get redder on lower brightness settings so you need to do the manual color balance routine at the setting you will be using in the end.  That is not a big plus in favor of the unit.  I have a few ideas for dealing with this but have not yet tried them.  It has been a busy week here with snow shoveling and a few other non-coin projects so I hope for more time to play with it soon.