Macro lens question…
Do the dedicated macro lenses have a finer adjustment for manual focus than standard zooms?
I am just getting in to the coin shooting, mainly to document my collections. I’ve done tons of astro shooting and most of my lenses were picked for the infinity side of ranges and little light lol.
For the coin setup, I’ve got a low end Nikon D3400, mounted on a swing arm. Built an axial light box (45degree glass setup) to really try out some lighting. Still tweaking on lighting and color, but focusing is my issue right now.
The lenses I have available that can focus in the 12-24” range all have very very sensitive focus rings. A tiny move one way or another blows past the focus point. Even getting dialed in just ok and then flipping the coin will end up slightly different focus. :-/
Tried different f stop as well to get a deeper focus range but that is still iffy. Looking at a used Nikkor 108 micro AF-S (d3400 is limited on lens comparability). But wonder if the investment will make a big diff. Less temperamental focusing would be diff enough for me lol
Macro lens question…
Do the dedicated macro lenses have a finer adjustment for manual focus than standard zooms?
I am just getting in to the coin shooting, mainly to document my collections. I’ve done tons of astro shooting and most of my lenses were picked for the infinity side of ranges and little light lol.
For the coin setup, I’ve got a low end Nikon D3400, mounted on a swing arm. Built an axial light box (45degree glass setup) to really try out some lighting. Still tweaking on lighting and color, but focusing is my issue right now.
The lenses I have available that can focus in the 12-24” range all have very very sensitive focus rings. A tiny move one way or another blows past the focus point. Even getting dialed in just ok and then flipping the coin will end up slightly different focus. :-/
Tried different f stop as well to get a deeper focus range but that is still iffy. Looking at a used Nikkor 108 micro AF-S (d3400 is limited on lens comparability). But wonder if the investment will make a big diff. Less temperamental focusing would be diff enough for me lol
https://lincolncentsociety.wixsite.com/ev-diagnostics/copy-of-2108?pgid=kxuo4ael-aed37ce1-d57a-4090-aba5-adb145c4950f
https://hipshotphotography.com/
After I get a dedicated macro lens, I’m planning on rebuilding it with a more stable and versatile design. I learned a few things about the layout in this first attempt.
I use a cannon EOS with a 100mm macro lens. I use Helicon as my camera software.
I use a modified axial lighting setup. I don't believe that it is only for glam shots, and I believe that the results are very true to the coin being photographed.
Here is one of my shots...
https://lincolncentsociety.wixsite.com/lcnf/memorial-cents-1987-to-2008?pgid=l2dkwpmd2-bcd8fa6f-54d3-4b53-a008-03acf65b43f4
I ordered an extension tube to do some fiddling with. A work acquaintance (who does insect photography for researchers) thought my touchy focus ring issue might be due to being right on the edge of minimum distance for my lenses.
Tried to increase the distance with the current set-up, but that was a net loss, as the magnification wasn't powerful enough to see if it was in focus via LV at max zoom lol
Trying to use what I've got as much as possible for the casual inventory capturing. But shucks, I guess I might have to get a new camera for the family before too long
Buuut, after seeing well focused coins in LV zoomed all the way in, the pics still came out slightly out of focus. I thought it was the tubes causing some issues I wasn’t seeing in LV.
Just out of curiosity, I cranked up the lighting by blasting the coin with my SuperTac flashlight and dropped the shutter down to 1/200. Voila! Clear photos (albeit very shiny surfaces). My verdict is that my shutter release is shaking my camera ever so slightly. To get a good balanced lighting AND clean photo, I’m going to have to replace my low end spring arm camera mount.