Woodgrain and Digital Photography

[nohope587]

Just one more try and I will stop bugging you all.
I tried a few things mainly setting the ISO manually to 400, cant find a way to adjust the f stop.  Also rigged up the ring light and diffused it.
I was happy with the colour and detail before as I though it was the best I would get out of my camera. I was wrong.
This time It not only captured the colour and detail the subtle iridescent blue toning on the coin shows as well.
For your Viewing pleasure my best purchase this year finally in its true light as it were.

http://www.mycoins.us/forum/DSC05439.JPG

[triggersmob]

That's a huge pic, beautiful toning though.

Great job. You can have a break for Xmas now.

[Paint Your Wagon]

Just one more try and I will stop bugging you all.
I tried a few things mainly setting the ISO manually to 400, cant find a way to adjust the f stop.  Also rigged up the ring light and diffused it.
I was happy with the colour and detail before as I though it was the best I would get out of my camera. I was wrong.
This time It not only captured the colour and detail the subtle iridescent blue toning on the coin shows as well.
For your Viewing pleasure my best purchase this year finally in its true light as it were.

I like to help people when I have time so if you are bored or so inclined show more pictures we can all learn ( I from trying to find the "mistake" )
I analysed the new picture and the histogram is much improved because the lightbalance is very good no more whiteproblem

Two obeservations your F is 2 much too low ; you need more light I am sorry to say(that will automatically up your F unless your camera program prefers to reduce exposure time first in which case you still need MORE light )
Also I think on the second picture you were not completely parallel with the coin which at F2 is crucial
So in a nutshell ; if you get more watts this camera of yours will surprise you and yes the second picture is vastly better

I put the two pictures side by side at 300 dpi to get them on one page without loss of detail

[Paint Your Wagon]

ps
The first thing your camera did with your lighting was increas shutterspeed from one fifht of a second to one fifthieths of a second
So the improvement is shutterspeed and no whitebalance problem

[Paint Your Wagon]

I can't tell any difference in the two pics.

Thanks for the info PYW.
All these camera setting are to complicated for me, I just switch to macro, set it on auto and snap the pic.
They seem to come out reasonably good.

This was the last photo I took, any suggestions would be welcome.

Your picture gave no camera name nor shooting settings ( maybe the pic was manipulated )
An instantaneous autocontrast and autosharpening improved the quality of the pic for a photograder : I do not know you like it better because the
sharpened pic highlights the defects

[Paint Your Wagon]

I took ten minutes to change contrast and color without sharpening and like the result better
So you need to improve contrast before or after . Because of lack of info I do not know why color changing was necessary
Maybe I made the result better then reality 

[triggersmob]

Thank you PYW.

I might have to play with the editing software a bit more.
I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager.
My camera is a FujiPix S5600.

I do like that last pic, very nice.

[Paint Your Wagon]

Thank you PYW.

I might have to play with the editing software a bit more.
I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager.
My camera is a FujiPix S5600.

I do like that last pic, very nice.

Thanks
I tried microsoft office mgr autocorrect first but did not like the coin being too bleak (attached)
So I did a full edit in Photoshop

[Paint Your Wagon]

What I meant is you need F between 7 and 10 if you make close ups ( best compromise between depth and non edge blurring )
You need the maximum lense spec you got if it is a zoom ; ideally 100 mm but I only get to an equivalent of 88 mm myself
You need at least a speed of 1/100 seconds higher is allways better and a tripod helps
You need max 400 ASA sensitivity to avoid grainyness . If you go to extreme close ups you need 100 but that means an orphul lot of lighting
I use 400 which I have done for 40 years on a non digital and up to 20x30 cm print out you see no grainness
For me the most difficult is to get all that watts lighting without reflection especially when the coin is in a capsule

I took like 40 pictures to have 5 that were good

[nohope587]

After a lot of playing I found out how to adjust the F on the camera. l also rounded up a couple of desk lights in addition to the lens ring light.
Unfortunately I am not sure I like the results half as much as I was getting with just the ring light and low F. What am I doing wrong?
I suspect the vibration of the vessel has a lot to do with it.

http://www.mycoins.us/forum/1864Obv300dpi.JPG
http://www.mycoins.us/forum/1864Rev300dpi.JPG

[Paint Your Wagon]

I am happy to say the vibration of the vessel is not the problem
You got again a blue shift meaning the white balance is off again
Two possibilities ; never mix several types of lighting ,; allthough this is a general rule I do not think the problem is located there
I saw you use point measurement . My camera offers four types of measurement  ; yours probably two at least . Try to find how to set
balanced or multiple point or averaged or whathever your camera calls it ( it is mainly used for focus and colorbalance)
Point measurements mean that only a single point is used for whitebalance and exposuretime and F and focus etc
That is only a good idea for very uniform objects but never for coins close up
I use average of nine points for measurement and sharpness controll
If you lost the operating manual of your camera the operating manuals can be found on line
Your picture is sharp so no vibratin problem and the F insures depth so no depth problem

[nohope587]

Thanks Paint Your Wagon will try to find the right button to change the multipoint function. it supposedly has eight sensors. So I will find the setting that uses all 8.
This is keeping me entertained. I hope I am not putting everyone to sleep with all my shots of the same coin. The only frustrating thing is I am limited to uploading about 2 shots a day due to bandwidth constraints on my satlink.

Oh and Merry Christmas to you all.

[Paint Your Wagon]

Thanks Paint Your Wagon will try to find the right button to change the multipoint function. it supposedly has eight sensors. So I will find the setting that uses all 8.
This is keeping me entertained. I hope I am not putting everyone to sleep with all my shots of the same coin. The only frustrating thing is I am limited to uploading about 2 shots a day due to bandwidth constraints on my satlink.

Oh and Merry Christmas to you all.

Merry Christmas
ps if you crop the pics to 1000 by 1000 pixels you will have smaller files without loosing any info for our use here
pps Old Dan is happy watching the flock of sleeping damsels around him

[nohope587]

I have not forgotten this post I have just been kind of busy. I am also playing with my cameras settings.  If I go about 4.3 on the F then the image becomes grainy. I tried a 1000watt halogen as my light source everyone had a good laugh when I blew the circuit breakers on the bridge. I will have to settle for a 30watt compact fluorescent bulb and a lot of aluminum foil for a reflector cage.  Once i seen any improvement on my images rest assured I will post here.

[Paint Your Wagon]

I have not forgotten this post I have just been kind of busy. I am also playing with my cameras settings.  If I go about 4.3 on the F then the image becomes grainy. I tried a 1000watt halogen as my light source everyone had a good laugh when I blew the circuit breakers on the bridge. I will have to settle for a 30watt compact fluorescent bulb and a lot of aluminum foil for a reflector cage.  Once i seen any improvement on my images rest assured I will post here.

Real grainy photos can only be due to an ISO or rather ASA bigger then 400
400 has been my standard for 40 years in films and now electronically
an ASA of 1600 will give you grainy
If F bigger then 4.3 gives the impression of grainy it is lack of light upping the exposure time and with a larger exposure time the shaking and vibrating of your platform will be visible
I use full daylight plus 3 times 80 watts fullspectrum lights and barely squeeze by on all parameters 

Anyway all the best for 2009 and I will wait for your next Shot