Sovereign Photo Thread...

[SheepStacker]

Just now, Silverlocks said:

Some more new lights - and a 1911 Gorgeous George This is a NewMowa SL-60AI flat LED panel with a clamp for a smart phone sitting at about 7 O'Clock and illuminating the bottom of the coin, and a Smallrig RM-01 LED spot illuminating from 11 O'Clock (the clamp for the macro lens is in the way otherwise).  After some confabulation with @Charliemouse, there are is also a ham-fisted attempt at replicating his RGB curves in the Raw importer on Photoshop CS6. I've also refrained from pulling the bottom end of the levels so far down, and the result is something that looks the most like an actual gold coin of any of my photos so far.

looks a bit too bright. have you tried putting a filter over the LED panel?

[Silverlocks]

4 minutes ago, SheepStacker said:

looks a bit too bright. have you tried putting a filter over the LED panel?

The top end has been pulled up a little to emphasize the lustre - this is an attempt to portray a shiny gold coin - although the raw isn't quite so bright.  The 11 O'clock lighting is a spot deliberately, so it makes bright reflections.

I'm trying to find a lighting setup that shows the coin's lustre better than the axial lighting rig does.  

Edited February 24, 2023 by Silverlocks

[Silverlocks]

Weak strike - a tale of two sovereigns Something a little different, here's a weak strike.  We've got two 1876 sovereigns in similar condition - actually the weakly struck one has slightly less wear, which is more visible on the reverse.  You can see the weak strike in example B's obverse, most visible in the lettering around 5 O'clock to 7 O'clock, and on Victoria's pony tail.
Coin A: lettering fully struck and detail in hair.	Coin B: weakly struck lettering and detail of hair not fully impressed.

The reverses tell a story - Coin B is visibly less worn than Coin A - you can still see more detail on George's helmet with the visor on coin A noticeably more worn than the visor on coin B.
Coin A: In spite of the strong strike, George's visor has noticeably more wear.	Coin B: Weak strike is not obvious on the reverse but a bit less wear on George's helmet, the horse's head and the dragon's body.

[Silverlocks]

1880 Young Victoria (two views)

[Tamcddd]

My first 3 sovs 😏

[Silverlocks]

4 hours ago, Tamcddd said:

My first 3 sovs 😏

Welcome to the addictionclub.  The first step in your addiction to sovs is admitting you've got an addiction to sovs.

[Charliemouse]

On 24/02/2023 at 20:20, Charliemouse said:

2022 Memorial BU Quintuple Sovereign

This is using my default set-up:

• Camera square on, close to the coin's primary axis.
• Variable, wide light panel above the camera, providing primary illumination
• One small panel at 12 o'clock in-line with the plane of the coin, to emphasise depth.  Without this, the coin can light very flat.
• One small panel at 3 o'clock, in front of the coin at about 45 degrees.  This give a little asymmetry.

Taken as a panorama with focus stacking, generating a single image 8.3k x 7.7k pixels.

Since it's a BU coin, I will experiment with using point light sources, to show off the texture.  It will be challenging while it's still in the capsule, as I am trying to protect the coin as much as possible.  Point sources tend to make ugly reflections on capsules (and proof coins).

2022 Memorial Proof Quintuple Sovereign

I took two different angles, one straight on and one with a tilt towards the light.  The first has the usual deep, dark fields.  The tilted one really shows off the texture of the fields but could be mistaken for the BU.  And we wouldn't want that.  🤔

[Silverlocks]

Axial lighting redux - using a less diffuse light source. I've got a spot source from Smallrig and tried with Dr. Dave's dohickey.  This is less diffuse than the panels and produces a less flat output. 1877 Young Victoria (George Rev)

1872 Young Victoria (Shield Rev)

 

[Silverlocks]

A couple of lustre shots - this time with a different lighting setup.  I've got a couple of flat panel lights that I can fit under the phone, and I've gotten the lens's clip out of the way now.  The hardest part is stopping the glare from picking up on the handling marks too much.  But, you can see a good bit of the original finish picked up by the lighting, especially on the 1877. 1889 Jubilee Victoria - lighting from 12 and 6 o'clock with a spot at 10.

1877 Young Victoria - lighting from 3 and 9 o'clock with a spot at 4:30. You can see the original finish still visible in the fields under the shield design on the reverse (reasonably common on shields), but also in the fields on the obverse and in Victoria's hair but worn off the relief.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Silverlocks

[Britannia47]

A legitimate ‘Sovereign’ in my view, from the ‘Pobjoy Mint’, and legal tender! Always good to have one in your collection - good colour, and condition. Norse warrior on horseback, and could give George a good fight?  Machin obverse. No longer minted for the I of M. but about the same price and spec.as an RM Sov…..

[Silverlocks]

Test with a ring light - 1918S Georgeous George Got a little 4" ring light today, so I've been giving it a tryout.  I think we really need it to be a bit further away from the coin.

And now, moving the camera and light away to reduce the incident angle.  This illuminates the coin better and makes it look a bit less ghostly, but with the macro lens the phone won't focus at this distance.  This one will really need a proper camera, i suspect.

In related news, I now have way too much photographic equipment and not enough sovereigns.

Edited March 20, 2023 by Silverlocks

[Silverlocks]

1974 Machin Taken with axial lighting - now I need to flog a bit of silver to pay for it.

[Simonz]

So I've made a DIY axial lighting set up and just purchased a macro lens and LED light. Surprised how a small change of light position makes a big difference to results, see attached comparison. 1 is too flat, 3 shows lots of modelling depth. I realise this is quite subjective but I think 3 is the clear winner, what do you think?

[Zeuk]

My first one of these, not quite the calibre of photo of others I'm afraid.  She's looking good for her age I think.

 

[Spyder]

8 hours ago, Simonz said:

So I've made a DIY axial lighting set up and just purchased a macro lens and LED light. Surprised how a small change of light position makes a big difference to results, see attached comparison. 1 is too flat, 3 shows lots of modelling depth. I realise this is quite subjective but I think 3 is the clear winner, what do you think?

I think a blind man can see that your 3rd set up is the best.  With better lighting, you have improved the grade of that coin.

[Silverlocks]

15 hours ago, Simonz said:

So I've made a DIY axial lighting set up and just purchased a macro lens and LED light. Surprised how a small change of light position makes a big difference to results, see attached comparison. 1 is too flat, 3 shows lots of modelling depth. I realise this is quite subjective but I think 3 is the clear winner, what do you think?

Depending on how flat your lights is, you're seeing a reflection of the spot projected onto the coin.  You can put a diffuser (tracing paper works for this) in the light path to the glass sheet, which will further diffuse the light.  Or, you can get LED panel lights that project a fairly flat light.

3 works the best.  If your light is being reflected straight down onto the coin, you will see the biggest contrast.

Note that axial lighting usually won't really show the lustre of the coin very well.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Silverlocks

[Simonz]

36 minutes ago, Silverlocks said:

Depending on how flat your lights is, you're seeing a reflection of the spot projected onto the coin.  You can put a diffuser (tracing paper works for this) in the light path to the glass sheet, which will further diffuse the light.  Or, you can get LED panel lights that project a fairly flat light.

3 works the best.  If your light is being reflected straight down onto the coin, you will see the biggest contrast.

Note that axial lighting usually won't really show the lustre of the coin very well.

Thanks @Silverlocks yes I'm using a large LED panel light that is nice and flat. Surprised how much difference a small change in light position affects the pic. Will try some shiny new proof coins next to see what they do!

[Silverlocks]

1 hour ago, Simonz said:

Thanks @Silverlocks yes I'm using a large LED panel light that is nice and flat. Surprised how much difference a small change in light position affects the pic. Will try some shiny new proof coins next to see what they do!

With flat lighting you should get an effect something like this on a coin with shiny surfaces -

[Simonz]

Old and new with exactly the same set up and finally making progress with getting a consistent set up that works for both.

These both have the LED panel set at 45° horizontal angle to axial light set up. Also tipping the light forward 20-30° gives the darker gradient at the bottom of the coin to try and show field texture. I think I've got a G5 with nice lustre so will try that next.

[Midasfrog]

Bullion 2022 Memorial's I like these I think they will do well over time 

[Silverlocks]

An attempt at calibrating the camera Another attempt at calibration - figured out how to get Opencamera to calibrate off the grey card after getting mixed results correcting through the Adobe raw importer tool.  Here we have 5 different sovs taken through the same settings calibrated off a grey card.  No diddling anything except pulling the bottom level down to darken out the background. The lighting highlights the original satin finish, which is still substantially present on these coins.  The alloy in the 1887 has a bit more silver so it's a slightly different colour to the others.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Silverlocks

[andrewse]

On 20/03/2023 at 23:33, Silverlocks said:

Test with a ring light - 1918S Georgeous George Got a little 4" ring light today, so I've been giving it a tryout.  I think we really need it to be a bit further away from the coin.

And now, moving the camera and light away to reduce the incident angle.  This illuminates the coin better and makes it look a bit less ghostly, but with the macro lens the phone won't focus at this distance.  This one will really need a proper camera, i suspect.

In related news, I now have way too much photographic equipment and not enough sovereigns.

I have a ring light i used for a bit but took it off eventually... - the images always seemed to look a bit 'textbook' ish..  Nowadays I use get this..... a WORX light (the torch style one) with the wand pulled out on the second setting.. with the light pointing up away from the coin at an angle haha - seems to be better than all my fixed equipment...

 

[andrewse]

Quick and dirty one just now - slightly out of focus as I bashed the camera with the worx light haha.

Camera is a samsung NX1 with a 60mm f2.8 macro lens, subject is around 11.5cm from lens. lighting by worx, diving lead weight on the camera tripod to stop it tipping! lol.

 

[Charliemouse]

On 25/03/2023 at 09:15, andrewse said:

Quick and dirty one just now - slightly out of focus as I bashed the camera with the worx light haha.

Camera is a samsung NX1 with a 60mm f2.8 macro lens, subject is around 11.5cm from lens. lighting by worx, diving lead weight on the camera tripod to stop it tipping! lol.

 

Thanks for sharing your setup.  The results are excellent, with particularly good white balance and exposure.

You may consider moving this post, or at least part of it, to the new Photography Guides, Tips, Discussions & Questions - The Silver Forum section that has just been opened.

We can reduce the amount of technical photography content in these photo-only threads, now that it has a new home.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Charliemouse

[Petra]

On 25/03/2023 at 09:15, andrewse said:

Quick and dirty one just now - slightly out of focus as I bashed the camera with the worx light haha.

Camera is a samsung NX1 with a 60mm f2.8 macro lens, subject is around 11.5cm from lens. lighting by worx, diving lead weight on the camera tripod to stop it tipping! lol.

 

Great pictures 👍 looks a great coin