Lighting direction when photographing coins

[James Anderson]

Pat-This is what happens when you wear a University of Florida tee shirt at LSU !

[slokind]

Oh, mine is really, really orange.  I got it from a stack of guys' tee shirts at a K-Mart on the outskirts of Huntsville, Alabama.  Also a green one beyond the pale for beer in NYC on March 17th.  They are XXL and come nearly to my knees, great for summer in BR.
But I do have some khaki and some white ones, too, for photographic garb.  Pat L.

[slokind]

Just to complete the record: here's the same Pius Consecratio denarius photographed the same way but with a WHITE tee shirt instead of an orange one on the photographer.
Pat L.
CLICK

[Danny S. Jones]

I use a wireless remote shutter release so I can stand back and not affect the coin shot (mainly to keep from vibrating the camera and taking a blurry photo). The live view feed is piped via USB to my computer screen so I don't need to look through the lens to compose the shot. With my setup, I can also focus the lens remotely, so after positioning the camera and lighting, I don't have to touch it at all. I turn off all room lights except for those used to illuminate the coin, so ambient lighting or reflections from colored objects in the room won't be a problem.

Despite all that, I still like your photos better, Pat.

Respectfully,
Danny

[moonmoth]

Like Danny, I no longer have a clothing colour issue with coin photos.  The camera is off to my right.  I control it from my computer, adjusting focus, aperture and exposure time with my mouse and using the close-up preview on screen to get the right focus.  This is a major step forward in ease of control for this kind of photo.  Among other things, the lack of contact with camera or stage means that I can take several shots with different settings that can be overlaid and merged, which can sometimes be useful.

The only drawback is that I have to disconnect the camera from the computer to make it save a reference frame for custom white balance.  But I use the same setup and conditions every time, so I rarely have to reset that.

Then I hold the mouse off the table, sit still and hold my breath before taking the shot with a mouse click. It's surprising how easy it is to blur an image with a vibration.

Bill

[Danny S. Jones]

Like Danny, I no longer have a clothing colour issue with coin photos.  The camera is off to my right.  I control it from my computer, adjusting focus, aperture and exposure time with my mouse and using the close-up preview on screen to get the right focus.  This is a major step forward in ease of control for this kind of photo.  Among other things, the lack of contact with camera or stage means that I can take several shots with different settings that can be overlaid and merged, which can sometimes be useful.

The only drawback is that I have to disconnect the camera from the computer to make it save a reference frame for custom white balance.  But I use the same setup and conditions every time, so I rarely have to reset that.

Then I hold the mouse off the table, sit still and hold my breath before taking the shot with a mouse click. It's surprising how easy it is to blur an image with a vibration.

Bill

Another feature you can use to help control vibration is the mirror lockup feature. The opening and slap of the mirror can cause minor movement of the camera causing a slight vibration. In macro photography, the effects are magnified, and any little thing you can do to control the vibration helps. Canon now has a 100mm Macro lens with image stabilization. That will probably be my next purchase.

Anyway, back on topic, the vibration can also be controlled with a higher shutter speed, in which proper lighting is necessary.

Respectfully,
Danny

[areich]

I'll probably have to get a real camera for the ability to connect it to the computer and shoot with a mouse-click alone.
I always have to screw the camera to the copy stand, see that it's level, shoot and then remove it and hook it up to the computer. If I got the lighting wrong again I usually have no motivation to repeat the process.