photography question

[gtsport]

Nickel shooting

OK, here is my nickel's worth on photographing coins. You might try raising the coin off of the background on a small pedestal, or short stack of cents. This will allow the camera to differentiate between the coin and the background, eliminate shadows at the edge of the coin, and throw the background out of focus. This is the method I've seen on the sites for coin collectors wanting to photograph their own coins.

Joe Paonessa

 

[coincutter]

i just got a cannon s51s
has super macro
no tripod needed
sharp as a tack
no problems hand holding a nickel at full frame

scope cam is less work

just convert the image to greay scale unless you inlay it

you back in the nickel business again

 

[coincutter]

Ray
That 4300 nikon camera only has a 3x optical zoom
there in lies most of your problem
it's not designed for serious macro work
go look at something with a 12x optical (not digital) or better
fuji or cannon
both fo well fuji is not built as well but does great color
easier to break i think
cannon is a little tank and wickedly simple

another option would be to get a closeup lens to hang on the front of it if its threaded
http://www.nikoncoolpix.com/
otherwise live manual tells about its macro capabilities
good luck!

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Ray I'm thinking you may want to get the manual out, see what the distance for normal shooting is. Set the camera that far away from the object with a tripod, zoom in as needed and set the timer to release the exposure in auto focus. By the way nice looking coin.

Sam great looking work on the band also.

 

[coincutter]

that camera has two differnt macro functions
you want the one with the picture of the little flower
it also has a three second delay on macro which may be kicking in and causing you to loose focal point

go for the tripod

it also has manual focus
_ thats the thingy where you turn the nickel till it gets sharp

add more light - it will stop the lens down for greater depth of field
put something flat on the vise set the nickel on it and shoot withthe ring light
your nikon takes far less lumens to make it tick compared to a scope cam so it should work fine and you can balence for the light color shift

 

[Sam]

I hesitate to say this as I consider it a terrible way to do photography, but nearly all of my nickel carvings (until a couple of years ago) were shot handheld laying on a piece of black velvet which was draped over my knee, and positioning myself under the fluorescent light in the ceiling. I would look at the nickel on the LCD, rotate my desk chair until I got a light angle that looked good, and then would fire off a few shots, hoping to get one that was a keeper. A poor way to do it, but I had it down pretty well and it worked because the lighting conditions in my studio were just right. I don't advise doing it that way as a tripod and good lights can almost guarantee great shots./ Sam

 

[KCSteve]

Sam,

Did you stick out your pinky fingers to steady the camera? That's what I do on my quick shots.

Like I said, next nickel I'll do a comparison set of 'small digicam hand held' vs. 'DSLR on tripod with macro lens'

 

[Sam]

Steve: I braced my elbow(s) and anchored my hand whenever possible to minimize camera shake. That little Nikon Coolpix 5400 was darn good for a point-and-shoot. A couple of years ago I converted it to a dedicated infrared camera. It's way cool to play with in the spring and summer when there's plenty of vegetation!

Here's an IR shot from a hike in Alabama a couple of years ago.
~Sam

 

[Doc Mark]

Sam,

Great infrared foto! I used to play with IR film many years ago and loved the effect. The handling of the film loading etc. was a pain however. How did you have the camera converted to IR? It would take more than simple filtration, I would imagine. Was the sensor replaced or modified?

Mark

 

[Sam]

Sam,

Great infrared foto! I used to play with IR film many years ago and loved the effect. The handling of the film loading etc. was a pain however. How did you have the camera converted to IR? It would take more than simple filtration, I would imagine. Was the sensor replaced or modified?

Mark

Mark: I found a supplier who sells sensor filters that filter out visible light and allow IR to pass. It was a little nerve wracking since I had to strip the camera down to the sensor and remove the the sensor filter that filters OUT infrared and replace it with the new one. When I look thru the LCD I see a live infrared view which is way cool!

~Sam

 

[FANCYGUN]

If I recall properly........I did hear that Ansel Adams did shoot his landscapes with infared film.

 

[Unkl Ian]

A "common" mod on some digital cameras.
Some are probably easier than others.

 

[KCSteve]

With most digital cameras you actually remove a filter to make them IR sensitive.
The sensors are sensitive enough it would screw up 'normal' pictures so they come with a filter over the sensor to block IR. Replace that filter with one that blocks the visible light instead and you get a cool IR-only camera.

 

[John B.]

Wow Sam, hot dog!
That is one beautiful image.
Next years photo contest,maybe?

John B.

 

[jmcutting]

Sam,

Could you provide the company in which you aquired the new sensor from?

thanks,
-justin

http://www.digitalhorseservices.com

 

[Sam]

Thanks John. Glad you like the pic!

Steve: That's precisely what I did.

~Sam

 

[Sam]

Sam,

Could you provide the company in which you aquired the new sensor from?

thanks,
-justin

http://www.digitalhorseservices.com

Justin: There's a link to the supplier on our IR gallery page:

http://www.pbase.com/sam_and_abigail/infrared

 

[truehand]

Sam,
I, too, LOVE that IR photo you took!!!

on the topic of macro photography, I set up an 'axial lighting' system that finally solved my dilemma of seeing my reflection in the polished silver items I photograph.
I found the tutorial on a coin photography site here:
http://www.sigma-2.com/camerajim/cjgcoins.htm

be sure to scroll down to the axial lighting part closer the bottom. I was blown away by how well this setup works!

dave