Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

it's gotta be that this is answered somewhere but was wondering if anyone knows what type of camera he uses... yet another guy needing a budget friendly macrostyle close up camera... thanks Tom or anyone else

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

The lens is the Minolta 100mm F2.8 Macro. Not sure about the camera but I think it is a Sony DSLR.

Gold porn:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomd77/...7603959095587/

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Last I heard he was shooting with a Sony A700. I think he has a few weapons at his disposal, though. He'll check in soon enough.

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Why not just PM the guy?

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Review this thread for pertinent info:
http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=326766

Here Tom states that he does outdoors with Sony DSLR and coins with Sony A700.
Good pics in this thread, worth a look (no coins, though).

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

I'm currently shooting a Sony A700 but around 2/3rds of my coin shots were done with the predecessor camera a Sony A100. I think the body, assuming it is relatively capable, is less important than the lens. As aknot says, I use a Minolta 100mm f2.8 D lens, which is reputed to be one of the sharpest and best lenses of it's type. The Sigma 105 and Tamron 90 macros are also excellent and can be had in mounts for Canon, Nikon, Olympus, etc.

Lighting is the key. Below is a picture of my lighting setup. I've posted this here several times before. The lights are 5500K color temperature.

That + persistence sums up my secrets.

You can tell from the background junk that I use my reloading shot for the coin shots.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/tricks-2.jpg

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

What is the device with the digital display sitting on the table at the top right of the posted picture?
I'm going to guess ultrasonic cleaner.

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Your guess is right, I mostly use it to clean rifle brass in between reloadings. I've got a tumbler but the ultrasonic does a better job on the inside and primer pockets.

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Where did you get your lights?

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Beautiful pictures!!! I ve decided to give it a shot with my camera...a point and shoot which is a Konica Minolta DIMAGE z20. It took me a few tries after messing with the macros but here it is...this is my first picture with a bare minimum setup.

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Try subtle rotation of the coin to vary the reflection. Do it by eye before you try the camera. As you move the coin you will find an angle where the coin "lights up". That's what you are trying to shoot. BTW: you picked probably the hardest type of coin surface to capture well. When shooting something like that I have to do MANY shots to find one worth a flip and, even them, I sometimes give up.

I just noticed the question of where my lights came from. I didn't pay hundreds of dollars from B&H Camera. They came from Home Depot, the lights with clamps cost $3-$5 each. The bulbs are compact florescent 100 watt equivalent daylight floods at around $5 each. Notice that I emphasized "daylight". It's that important.

As a sample of what I mean when I say the coin "lights up", look below. Maybe technically the best shot I've ever made. The color was introduced by using a tungsten bulb in one of the lights.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2117/...d14d70d3_b.jpg

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Wow Tom that coin is absolutely gorgeous. I am a novice at picture taking, matter of fact this was the very first time that I played around with the macros function. This is an Eagle i just shot, I stilll have to find the correct angle for lighting but FWIW I think it came out rather nice considering the bare minimum setup that I am using.

Thanks for the tips Tom:emotions16:

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Haha, I almost answered that question but felt it was rude and also with your assertion that the light was 5500K thought I might be wrong and you were using specialty lights after all. My eyes were 100% correct on your setup, though.

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Noticeable improvements already. You are right, the eagle came out very well.

Just one more tip-- If you look at the shot of my setup, you will notice the linen-like fabric between the lightsources and the object. The purpose of that is to diffuse the light and prevent "hot spots" or places where the light reflection is glaring.

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Good info from all especially Tom D. I used to take 35MM pictures of metal gold and silver colored badges for collector books and found that one needed first a good set-up and camera holder.

Then (many years ago) I used a green backing of a (believe it or not) scrubber to hold the badge flat and have a place for the pin. Lighting was SO important and TOM D gave us all a heads-up on that.

Once you have a jig or model set up (I bought a camera adjustable holder that slid up and down for focus) with TOM D perfect type white sides; you have a quick to set-up system for your perfect shots.

Best wishes,
HS

and thanks again.

:ok::23_28_100s::wink::ok::23_28_100s::wink:

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

Thanks TomD. I am a beginning macrophotographer (mainly minerals) and have a similar background/diffuser setup, but struggle with focus, white balance and light temperature. I'll try that combo of CFL's and tungsten lights as you described. One more quick question if you please, what kind of post-processing methods do you use?

One of my beginning efforts:
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...ture_00002.jpg

Re: Admiring Tom D's photographs quick question
 

As little as possible, if a shot needs a lot, I'll reshoot. I would characterize what I do as "tweaking". A significant number of shots like the bald eagle above are essentially untouched.

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements. It's a cut down version of Photoshop CS but at a cost of around $50-$70 compared to around $600. You would have to be a professional graphics designer to notice the difference and even some of them use Elements. You can save some money by buying an earlier version, around V4. The later versions have added mostly useless (to me) bells and whistles aimed at the amateur market.

I played with your shot a bit but not knowing what the subject is supposed to look like, I couldn't correct that (I lightened it a touch because it seemed right) and kept my tweaking mostly to the background. The 2 obvious tweaks were cropping and the background. Your background is pretty "noisy" and detracts from the subject. I isolated your subject and damped the background down. Edit: I just checked your exif data and see this was shot at f2.8, probably wide open for your Canon A85. Most lenses don't perform well at wide open, more light would allow you to stop it down. I shoot all my shots at f13 or above.

As far as backgrounds go, you need either a pleasant background that contributes to the shot or none at all (neutral).

There is no formula, every shot needs what it needs. Actually there is one universal. Virtually every picture made with a digital camera can benefit from some sharpening, it's inherent in the way the cameras work. I'll apply "unsharp mask" to almost every shot I take. Use these parameters for starters and fine tune from there. Some cameras are "softer" than others.

amount: 50%
radius: 1 pixel
threshold: 0