Photographing Coins.

[imakefights]

I have a Canon Digital Rebel. Can someone please recommend to me a good setup for photographing coins? What is the best lens and lighting source? Background?

Thanks
Bobby

[wolf]

A light tent is your best bet for photographing coins. You can make your own fairly cheaply, check on the net for "homemade light tents". A 100mm macro lens is good for coins, but you can use an inexpensive 50mm f1.8 and extension tubes (http://www.toledo-bend.com/gallery/index.asp?request=ExtTube) if you don't have a macro lens. I have used the 50 with extension tubes and it works quite well.

[HKFEVER]

A light tent is your best bet for photographing coins. You can make your own fairly cheaply, check on the net for "homemade light tents". .
Please post a link to that homemade light tents.

[wolf]

Here is a link for some various ideas on homemade light tents (http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/19002.html).

[J Rabin]

A way to photograph coins with any camera is DIFFUSED BRIGHTFIELD SIDELIGHTING with a settup you build yourself, especially if you're documenting a collection and you want perspective consistent and correct. You need diffusers, but not necessarily a light tent. Before building a light tent, obtain one of the following books:

Basic Guide to Close-up Photography. HP Books, 1984. ISBN 0-89586-352-9. This is one of the best all-round books ever done for amateur 35mm close-up. Sadly out of print, but maybe your library has it, or used on internet.

Close-up Photography, Digital Photography Expert. Michael Freeman. Lark Books, 2004. ISBN 1-57990-544-7. This is likely the best recent general book, widely available on storeshelves now. Freeman is an engaging author.

Both of these have sections on setting up brightfield illumination for coins.
Have Fun,
Jack

[cricket]

I had never tried a coin before. This is my first. I know that the lighting needs improvement.

I just used two household lamps off to either side. I'd like the relief to be a little crisper.

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, Canon 100mm f2.8, Tri-pod.
f8, 1 second, mirror locked up, 2 second timer on.

File size: 1,304K

http://www.darkcobaltracing.com/image/VB9X0121.jpg

[Gus00]

If you're trying to do some creative lighting then by all means experiment with backgrounds, light-tents and such. But if you are just documenting and recording the coins nothing will beat a flatbed scanner.

[Penguin_101_1]

This is from a scanner:
http://tinypic.com/1fv2b9

[C.S.I.]

I had never tried a coin before. This is my first.

WOW .... pretty good........All those little niks/scratches probably have a story to tell on that antique!

[Lawrence Chard]

We recently acquired a Canon EOS 350D, the same as the digital Rebel. We use a Canon ringflash, with the Canon 100mm Macro lens, and Canon 14 ringflash. We can get excellent coin photos quickly using the smallest apperture on M = manual, the flash unit takes care of the exposure.
We previously used a Fuji S1 which worked well with a Nikon ringflash. One problem with the Fuji was the battery latch failed after the warranty period, despite careful use in the studio. We used manual exposure with smallest aperture, and a Tamron 90mm macro lens.
We then bought a Nikon D100 as a spare body so that we could spare the Fuji to be sent for repair, but the Nikon camera was not compatible with the Nikon ringflash! Apparently at the time Nikon did not make a ringflash which was compatible with its range of digital cameras.
We partly bought the Canon as a protest against Nikon, having belatedly seen a review dated 2001stating that Canon were the only major camera manufacturers at that time to have a compatible ringflash for its digital cameras.
We are happy with are switch to Canon, although some of our images are slightly dark, but we do appear to get sharp detail.
Our setup is not perfect for artistic photos, but it works very well for accurate useable results.
Our coin images can be seen on a number of our websites, findable starting at www.chards.co.uk. We also photograph jewellery and diamonds, all small highly reflective subjects.
Having just taken on a photography graduate, we expect to experiment with better lighting setups.

[DocFrankenstein]

A way to photograph coins with any camera is DIFFUSED BRIGHTFIELD SIDELIGHTING with a settup you build yourself, especially if you're documenting a collection and you want perspective consistent and correct. You need diffusers, but not necessarily a light tent. Before building a light tent, obtain one of the following books:

Basic Guide to Close-up Photography. HP Books, 1984. ISBN 0-89586-352-9. This is one of the best all-round books ever done for amateur 35mm close-up. Sadly out of print, but maybe your library has it, or used on internet.

Close-up Photography, Digital Photography Expert. Michael Freeman. Lark Books, 2004. ISBN 1-57990-544-7. This is likely the best recent general book, widely available on storeshelves now. Freeman is an engaging author.

Both of these have sections on setting up brightfield illumination for coins.
Have Fun,
Jack
This is valuable advice.

[PhotosGuy]

FAQ - Studio Lighting (http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66140)