Extreme closeup photo

i wanted to share a photo of a penny i took today at extreme closeup.
this is an actual crop from the image, it isn't enlarged or enhanced
by photoshop. this was taken on a new a nikon d300 and 60mm macro
lens. for comparison the inset shows the actual size of the coin held
out to a foot or so away which is about normal viewing distance.

http://www.dirtyoldbooks.com/temp/test.jpg

whikle working this way with coins is awkward, not to mention the gear
being so expensive to view a coin this big in "real time" on a big
monitor is a jaw dropping experience. the setup itself is a bit
complicated. you need first of all a tv/monitor with HDMI "high def"
inputs and a camera that can output in hdmi. then you need to have the
coin placed under the lighting rig you normally shoot from with the
camera and monitor tethered via a usb cable. lastly the working areas
have to be close enough to each other that you are able to rotate the
coin while viewing the image on the monitor. you can then take
screenshots of areas of interest. in fact, if you pull the lens back
enough you can take an image of the coin without ever pressing the
shutter!

ras
http://www.dirtyoldcoins.com/services/

On Tue, 25 Dec 2007 13:11:49 -0800 (PST), wrote:

i wanted to share a photo of a penny i took today at extreme closeup.
this is an actual crop from the image, it isn't enlarged or enhanced
by photoshop. this was taken on a new a nikon d300 and 60mm macro
lens. for comparison the inset shows the actual size of the coin held
out to a foot or so away which is about normal viewing distance.

http://www.dirtyoldbooks.com/temp/test.jpg

Good sharp photo. Although my camera has a super macro mode for taking
shots like that I need to rig up some type of steady tripod before I
can get pictures that are not blurry. Or at least get them easily
without a lot of trial and error. For now, I just use the continuous
shooting mode and take 5-10 pictures at a time without 1 or 2 of them
being pretty good.

whikle working this way with coins is awkward, not to mention the gear
being so expensive to view a coin this big in "real time" on a big
monitor is a jaw dropping experience. the setup itself is a bit
complicated. you need first of all a tv/monitor with HDMI "high def"
inputs and a camera that can output in hdmi. then you need to have the
coin placed under the lighting rig you normally shoot from with the
camera and monitor tethered via a usb cable. lastly the working areas
have to be close enough to each other that you are able to rotate the
coin while viewing the image on the monitor. you can then take
screenshots of areas of interest. in fact, if you pull the lens back
enough you can take an image of the coin without ever pressing the
shutter!

Anyone ever look at a coin with a powerful microscope? I've wondered
what a PCGS MS-70 coin would look like with enough magnification?