Topic: Chinese Coins: Take Your Best Shot

[dynamike51]

Excellent discussion 

Frank and Peter, thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge.  Anyone with Nikon gears?

[fwang2450]

Here is a picture of the Monkey year commemorative. Again lens shifting was used for better lighting.

[fwang2450]

Excellent discussion 

Frank and Peter, thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge.  Anyone with Nikon gears?

I use an old Nikon D5200.

[PandaCollector]

Excellent discussion 

Frank and Peter, thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge.  Anyone with Nikon gears?

Martin Weiss (who is an excellent photographer) uses Nikon cameras and lenses for his coin photos. He tried Sony, but had trouble with their software. He told me the Nikon, "just works."

Best wishes,
Peter Anthony
NGC Consultant
China Pricepedia — Chinese Coin Prices and More
The Gold & Silver Panda Coin Buyer’s Guide 3
www.pandacollector.com

[PandaCollector]

Here is a picture of the Monkey year commemorative. Again lens shifting was used for better lighting.

Excellent!

Best wishes,
Peter Anthony
NGC Consultant
China Pricepedia — Chinese Coin Prices and More
The Gold & Silver Panda Coin Buyer’s Guide 3
www.pandacollector.com

[SANDAC]

My go-to setup is Nikon D5300 with micro Nikkor 40mm lens.  I'm interested in varieties and minting process so I like harsh lighting to show the unusual features of a coin.  Just took picture of this 1984 2 fen.  Went to camerashuttercount.com and find out this is the 40130-th picture of my Nikon D5300.

[aragog]

Wow SANDAC, what a details, could see such a detailed picture only under microscop at my old work in the lab.
Btw, is there anything in 2f1984 that is interesting and I miss?

[SANDAC]

I find it easier to take a picture of a coin, rotate 90 degree and take another picture and examine the images on my computer.

This coin has strong diagonal striation lines in the center of the coin.  There are interesting blisters and bumps at the edge of the coin (1-2 o'clock, 3-4 o'clock).

[fwang2450]

Mechanic doubling on a 1977 one Fen coin.

[fwang2450]

Flowlines on the 40th Anniversary commemorative coin.

[SANDAC]

Very impressive! is these pictures also taken with the enlarging lens?

[fwang2450]

Very impressive! is these pictures also taken with the enlarging lens?

The mechanical doubling picture was taken with the Rodagon APO 75 D enlarging lens. The flowline photos were shot with Canon 35mm F2.8 macro bellows lens. 10 pictures were taken for stacking, about 3:1. It is a lot easier with these bellows macro lens to shoot high magnification pictures. I managed to push to 8X with the Minolta 12.5mm F2.0 bellows micro (macro) lens. But going even higher is made difficult by diffraction.

[fwang2450]

Here is a link to Mark Goodman's review of the Minolta 12.5mm f2 bellows lens: http://coinimaging.com/min12bel.html. Normally it is pretty expensive, but I managed to pick one on eBay for $80.

[SANDAC]

Mark Goodman has very impressive pictures.  One image is composite of 77 focus stacks!  I wonder whether he manually move the camera or uses focus steps?

[fwang2450]

Mark Goodman has very impressive pictures.  One image is composite of 77 focus stacks!  I wonder whether he manually move the camera or uses focus steps?

It is impossible to do it manually. I believe most people in the US use Stackshot: https://www.cognisys-inc.com/index.php. I use a cheepo version: https://world.taobao.com/item/526008941651.htm?fromSite=main&spm=a312a.7700824.w4004-7594797329.2.moZmTo