The Fibrolite

[Darkhorse]

Someone mentioned this to me in another thread and it looks perfect for my upcoming project. I'll be photographing the world's rarest coins artistically so the fibre optic lighting system looks perfect, and expensive.

Has anyone ever used this getup before?

[PhotosGuy]

Sorry, no. But, inspired by your question, & shot a simple example & have just added it to the lighting sticky.
Studio Lighting Set-Up Links –illustrations of real world examples. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=482147#post482147)

I personally, would question the need for something like the Fibrolite. Seems as if a fairly large tent would give plenty of control.
Whichever way you decide to go, do us all a favor & take a WA pic of the final set-up & post it in lighting? ;)

[Darkhorse]

I've used such home made setups for coin photography as well. But it's cumbersome and can be time consuming when you want to get the right shots since you'd need a different setup depending on the coin's luster, tone (silver toned, lusterous brown tone, tarnish or black copper, rainbow tone, periphery tone), size, composition (whether it be platinum, gold, silver, nickel), the depth of the relief is a major factor as well. Some areas may need to be highlighted such as mintmarks, die clashes, die breaks, denticle size in certain varieties etc. I also need a setup that's portable so I can take it to coin shows across America, and perhaps beyond.

The Firbro lite would be perfect since it's portable, the articulated arms are easily controlable, the lenses on it can be controlled so I can highlight specific features of the coin etc. I need something with a lot of control and I mean a lot.

[PhotosGuy]

Sounds like that's what you need then. I didn't realize that you were taking it on the road with you. Be sure to post it in lighting so we can see it in action!