pictures

[b1gb0b57]

Hi Guys(and Gals)!
Since my stooped phone is lousy at pictures of coins, and soon I want to start to sell some stuff on ebay (as well as ask better questions here), I've decided to get a digital camera. Truth is, I know absolutely  nothing of photography. Any reasonably priced recommendations for a neophyte, ham handed user? I don't need anything for "micro" photos (as Ken Pottor does (see Koinpro.tripod.com), just usable photos that blow up on ebay, and are clear here too.

Thanks!

[malj1]

A Samsung Galaxy phone takes wonderful pictures. 

Place your phone on a coffee mug with the coin alongside under the lens, zoom in a little and take photo. Mine is voice operated to avoid camera shake - just say smile or cheese.

However you will have to compress the file for posting here (a maximum of 128kb only) and its a good idea to crop the image too.

Here is a photo of a red coin ~ a difficult subject.  ...and a brass one.

[FosseWay]

I second Malcolm's comment about the Galaxy's camera - it is better in some situations than a "real" digital camera, especially in low light (which means most of the time at this latitude at this time of year).

However, I prefer to use a scanner. It eliminates camera shake and if you always use the same resolution, the coin sizes are always in proportion to each other. (Malcolm's solutions - using voice control and a support of known height - have the same effect, of course.) Also I can fit 50-60 coins on the scanner bed at once, scan them, turn them over and scan them again, and then the scans are directly on the computer where I will cut them up, stitch them together, rename them and upload them to Dropbox.

[Figleaf]

Same thing for the iPhone. When my camera broke I never wanted to replace it. More on our experiments and some fantastic photos  here. I have gone one step further by having a sheet of paper at hand. My trick is to trust my eyes for lighting (duh!), going around the coin, turning it, changing the angle between eyes and coin until I find a great angle of light. At that point I no longer touch the coin, set up the stand and the phone's camera, using the zoom to fill the screen and finish with the sheet of paper, experimenting until the picture on the screen is perfect.

Peter

[malj1]

I
However, I prefer to use a scanner.

Yes I  always use the scanner too it doesn't worry about light or time of day.

, this above message was in response to the query a method  I use when away from home.

[FosseWay]

Yes I  always use the scanner too it doesn't worry about light or time of day.

, this above message was in response to the query a method  I use when away from home.

But it looks like you get better results with your phone than I get with the scanner for certain colours of plastic tokens (red, black, yellow and white are particularly problematic). I will try it next time I have one of these to scan.

I still haven't found a digital solution to transparent tokens. I have a Russian token that defies all photography because it is clear plastic (not even coloured). Some Ukrainian metro tokens are similar, though tinted and not colourless. In the end, I made a pencil rubbing and scanned that.

[malj1]

In the days BC I used to make rubbings using cigarette papers and graphite scraped from a pencil and using the end of my finger after rubbing it in the graphite.

This was very successful then but I guess I'm out of practice now. A hasty example attached.

BC = before computers.

Edit - you could moisten the glue and add this to a letter.

[Figleaf]

Clear plastic is a horror to photograph or scan. If I have lots of time, I'll tilt the token so that the light is reflected - this takes some experimenting. You will get a slightly oval picture of a round token. I know that can be corrected, but haven't taken the time to find out how. Anyway, our Russian friends have come up with fantastic pictures of see-through Metro tokens on WoT, so why not contact them and ask how it's done?

Peter

[FosseWay]

It depends sometimes on what, if anything, is on the other side from that being photographed. If the object is uniface, sometimes even the scanner will pick out the detail on the "interesting" side without too much problem. But if there are features on the other side, these invariably show through so you can't make out either side properly.

[brandm24]

I generally use my Canon digital camera to photograph my coins. While a scanner works very well, it's not always suitable for imaging counterstamped examples. Very often, especially on heavily struck coins, the stamp appears raised rather than incuse. It makes for an unnatural appearance.

Bruce

[Figleaf]

One trick for that horrible effect is to scan the coin upside down (180°) and turn the picture before posting. This works because the effect is created in your brain by the direction of the shadows of the design. If you find yourself having this problem with a photographed coin, you may have to turn the coin sideways (90° or -90°) instead.

Peter