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Author Topic: Prefered Cameras  (Read 4203 times)

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Offline Run

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Prefered Cameras
« on: December 26, 2007, 12:55:24 am »
I went back and read past post and most are out of date since models change. What is a good camera for coin pics. I would prefer not to spend 500 on a camera. MY current camera is 2.1 Mp
LOL seems I need a new one  :o

Offline Arminius

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #1 on: December 26, 2007, 05:00:30 am »
Maybe a horror for photo enthusiasts: I just went to one of the local discounters and bought the actual 6.0 Mp digicam bargain offer (ca. 160 Euros, Asian mass production) with a macro function.
The (more or less satisfying) results are visible in my posts and gallery.

Regards

Abiel

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2007, 12:43:06 pm »
I think sony cyber shot 12 mega pixel will be good choise

i bought one two   month  ago  and  it cost just 480  Dollars for brand new one

 

Offline John K

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2007, 01:40:32 pm »
I also wanted an inexpensive camera for photographing pictures.  About a year ago I purchased a Samsung S850. It can shoot up to 8 mega pixels.  It is under $200US.

The feature I liked – and I am sure other cameras must have it but this is the first time I discovered it – is the way you can shoot two photos into one frame area.  Meaning it is very easy to take a photo of both sides of the coin.  They call this feature “composite shooting.”  You do not have to merge photos – it does it for you!

It also has macro level that allowed me to get very close.  Note the problems that I am now dealing with concern lighting but I am very happy with the camera and the ease with which I can take coin photos.

Use the link below to see the coins I have already photographed using this camera.   Hope this helps your ongoing search for the right camera and what features to look for!

Offline PtolemAE

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #4 on: December 27, 2007, 02:53:05 am »
Reasons I like the Canon S50:

1. has tripod mounting hole so I can fasten it to my copy stand
2. came with software which controls the cam settings and takes pics directly from the PC and transfers to the PC all in one step.  plenty of control over camera settings, too.  hooks up via USB.
3. 5 megapixels for razor-sharp pics you can crop and side-by-side with any graphics program.
4. macro setting and ability to 'freeze' the focus once i've got it dialed in on the PC.  (i usually shoot a couple test shots of something very detailed before i get onto snapping coins).
5. cost about $225 over 2 years ago.  current models probably comparable - check if they come with the excellent PC shoot/control program because it's a real nifty extra.
6. real optical viewfinder - not that i use it when shooting coins but i use this cam for a lot of everyday shooting.
7. wonderful picture quality.  check my gallery.

i do like the idea of the 'composite' feature on the samsung, but i'd never use a cam for coin pics that i can't control directly from the PC and shoot pics directly into the PC all in one step.

ptolemy

jerseyjohnjames

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #5 on: December 27, 2007, 05:36:26 am »
I use an Olympus SP-500 UZ. The current model the SP-560 UZ sells for £200 - £250, you may get an older model cheaper.

Why I like it.
Ultra Macro focus: down to 3cm, though with small coins I work at 5cm, allowing room for the lighting angles, and handling the coin.
My Camera Mode: 4 of them, allow you to programme for specialist work.
Fully Programmeable: useful features for coin photography include;
manual focus
self timer ~ for shake free shots
set whitebalance ~ gives you white, whatever your lighting
aperture priority mode
exposure compensation
tripod fixing

I also use the camera for travel, and nature photography.
Sizewise, it's not as small as they come, but does not have the bulk of a SLR. Mine uses AA batteries, a mixed blessing. I must get a transformer.

If I were buying a new camera, like PtolemAE, I would go for computer control of the camera, most digital SLR's seem to have it.

I am very pleased with my photos, though I'm still learning. Please take a look at my gallery to see what I and the camera have managed so far.

~ john ~


Offline Run

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #6 on: December 27, 2007, 02:32:57 pm »
The direct shoot to PC sounds like a nice feature. One I never new about. Now I need to find the model that replaced yours and see what we have.

TY for all the info guys


Will

Offline areich

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2007, 04:18:43 pm »
I like the IXUS 75, it's cheap (around $220 or so) and has a very good macro feature.
All my latest pictures are made using this camera:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=1704

This camera (actually the IXUS 70) was recommended to me when I posted a similar thread
and I don't regret buying it.

Andreas
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Offline mwilson603

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #8 on: December 27, 2007, 06:15:25 pm »
I like the IXUS 75, it's cheap (around $220 or so) and has a very good macro feature.
All my latest pictures are made using this camera:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=1704

This camera (actually the IXUS 70) was recommended to me when I posted a similar thread
and I don't regret buying it.

Andreas


I agree with Andreas, I use the Ixus 700 for everything.  From landscapes to coins, and from underwater shots to sports.  Great camera for the money

Aside from the coins in my gallery which were just taken with camera in hand and a desk lamp, take a look at this shot, which I might add, was taken through the underwater housing as I was just on my way to a dive site.  This is the fortress of Monastir in Tunisia, and the water is a very calm Mediterranean.  (Any Monty Python fans out there will recognise that this is where the Life of Brian was filmed.) 

Obviously I have greatly resized the image as a) the original is 2.5MB, and b) I do want to retain the rights over it to make it into a decent postcard or something similar one day :)   But image aside, I just think that for a "point and shoot" camera, you won't get much better.

ras

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2008, 01:20:02 am »
use the $500 to buy yourself a used nikon d100 with a sigma 50mm macro lens. even the latest point and shoot camera, at any price, will be a toy next to this setup.

ras

Offline areich

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2008, 03:56:25 am »
...I would prefer not to spend 500 on a camera....

Andreas Reich

Offline Akropolis

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #11 on: January 15, 2008, 07:45:18 pm »
I am as dumb as a box full of rocks when it comes to cameras. This is for novices like me, with limited budgets.
My mind boggles at camera terms like white balance, focal length, etc., and ever increasing mega pixel cameras. How many times have I read here on FORVM that the most critical factor in taking good images is technique, not mega pixels. My tongue-in-cheek second most important factor is: "Start with a great coin." I take pictures usually holding the coin in my hand and moving it slightly under a Phillips Daylight bulb until the picture looks OK in the LCD viewer.
Importantly, I have a 1/3 (one third!) mega pixel camera, a Sony Digital Mavica FD 73 that is quite ancient, as cameras go. Yes, I must get a better camera some day, but when I get lucky and take a picture like the one below, that dulls my thirst for a new one. But then, the images I take are not much larger than that shown (800 x 400 pixels, after "stitching" and cropping)...adequate for my needs. Nothing like the eye-popping close ups of some masters here on FORVM! If your needs are limited to the size as below and your budget is limited, I respectfully submit that you HEED the advice of our FORVM camera masters and work HARD on your technique, before you start throwing money at high dolllar, ultra mega pixel cameras. Just my two cents worth.
PeteB

Offline Run

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #12 on: January 16, 2008, 12:14:08 am »
A buddy has a fuji SLR camera I have taken on loan for the time being. Just cant bring mysrlf to buy a camera just to take pics of coins.

Offline slokind

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2008, 02:55:57 am »
I knew Pete had a mini MP camera, and I knew how great his pictures regularly are, and I know from my own experience that the camera that you know works best for you, but I didn't know he put them on his hand, and moved his hand, not the lamp, not the camera.  The element of flexibility and of subjectivity--it looks right when it looks right!--is the artist's secret.  And now I know why he always puts the coin on the mulberry background.  Pat L.

Offline Akropolis

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Re: Prefered Cameras
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2008, 08:55:27 am »
"And now I know why he always puts the coin on the mulberry background"

 :)

PeteB

 

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