Flatbed scanners

[Ukstu]

Can anybody recommend a decent flatbed scanner for imaging coins. 

Are they worth the hassle or is it better to just stick with a camera. 

I've got a low end scanner but the results are poor as its only 300 dpi. 

 

[Paddy]

I used to use my HP 4500 (Envy) for scanning and the results were "ok" for unimportant coin pictures. The scanner can be set at up to 1200dpi, but at the higher rates gets slower and slower.

I gave up using the scanner when I got a decent digital SLR and I use that on a tripod with magnifying rings, small aperture and long exposures to get the best I can.

Bear in mind with scanners that you never get any depth of focus - the parts of the coin in contact with the glass can be sharp but any depth of detail will be progressively more mushy.

 

[secret santa]

Camera every time. I originally scanned my coins but even at "high" resolution they are much smaller in volume (bytes) and very limited in expandability. The photos from camera and macro lens are infinitely better. No contest.

[Peckris 2]

Scanners - e.g. Canon - will scan at at least 1200 dpi which is good, especially if you gently lay several coins on the glass before scanning.

Pros of them: the coins are absolutely in a completely flat plane and they're easy to set up and use, and attached to your computer.

Cons of them: the resulting scans are dismal for lustre, and can be very flat, though you can lift them in software.

[Matteo95]

I think that depends also on the type of coins that you have to photograph .. generally speaking scanner tends to flat the highest details of the coin and have some problems when the coins are very small and/or very dark. Also with gold coins I got bad results. 

[ozjohn]

On 9/16/2020 at 8:45 AM, Matteo95 said:

I think that depends also on the type of coins that you have to photograph .. generally speaking scanner tends to flat the highest details of the coin and have some problems when the coins are very small and/or very dark. Also with gold coins I got bad results. 

I agree flatbed scanners tend to make the high points appear to be flatter than they are also the lustre of the coin is not captured. Having said that I find it very hard to get a good image with a camera and as a result mostly use a scanner. Any insights on taking a good coin pictures would be appreciated. I've tried natural lighting and LEDs but the results are variable. I think getting the lighting right is critical for good coin photography.

[Matteo95]

last year I bought a cheap digital microscope on amazon ... at first, I was quite disappointed but then I started to get better results and now I use it very often, especially on small coins.

Here an example ( diameter is 12 mm)