Celestron Handheld Digital Microscope Pro

[VAB2013]

Viv, here's a link for the gel sheets. I currently use the gold one in combination with white printer paper to actually cover the LED's and shoot close-ups.
I cut them to match the LED's putting the paper on top with the gel sheet portion facing downward towards the coin. Your color won't be perfect but it will
enable you to capture notching and separation without any external lighting on most coins. However, it won't help much on the full coin shots using the LED's.
I've haven't tried them yet but I've always wanted to try one of these gel sheets in "Daylight" color on my external light sources. If you search Amazon, they do
offer the Daylight sheets somewhere on there but they're hard to find in just that color. They usually make you buy them as part of a bundle like the link below.

And remember not to try too hard to be perfect with this stuff! . Your pics are plenty good for what we do here. Anything better is just gravy!

Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-12-Inc...l+filter+sheet

Thank you so much Tracy! That is exactly what I was wondering about, and what color to use! That is a great idea to try these on your external lights, I would have never thought of that!

[VAB2013]

The cap comes right off from mine. I just left it off after removing it.

Thank you very much Ray! The grey thing on the end of the pole is not wanting to come off and I took the little screw out. Wanted to ask you if it was needed in order to use the pole extender before I damage it trying to pry it off.

[duece2seven]

Viv, here are a few examples of what I was talking about. These pics were taken with my 1.3 mp DinoLite using only plain white printer paper fixed over the LED's for diffusion. The 3 closeup pics were set and kept at default settings for brightness,etc., which is pretty bright compared to where I would normally set it using the built-in Dino software. If I remembered correctly, you don't have much built-in adjustment with your Celestron so I'm trying to give you a similar comparison to your situation. Can you see with the close-ups how the variance in distance changes the glare? You just kinda have to find your sweet spot with your close-ups but even that will change for different coins with different textures and brightness. If you were to add the gold gel sheets to this equation, it would reduce the glare by roughly 20-40 percent on the edges of the devices. I couldn't find my gel filter ring tonight which highly annoys me but I think this comparison will give you a pretty good idea of what I mentioned in my earlier post.

Now, check out the my whole coin shot, Viv. It was taken with built-in LED's off and using 2 Jansjo LED lamps diffused with a ripped up T-shirt at 10 and 2 o'clock and angled downward about 60 degrees. I also placed a plain piece of glass angled slightly downward and facing opposite the 2 lamps. It was edited in post but I simply brightened this one just a bit. I know you don't like the Janjo LED's, Viv, but give this technique using the glass a try and let me know how it works for you. It's the only technique I've found that works for my shorter working distance DinoLite. The color isn't perfect and I'd prefer more overall light but it's as close as I'm capable of getting at this point. For these shots my scope was only about 5 inches over the coin. Good luck!

[Petespockets55]

They look good.
And the angled glass helps reduce the glare that is reflected back to the lens, correct?

[VAB2013]

Thank you so much Tracy for this explanation and photos! Just waiting on the coffee to finish brewing so I can sit and read over this a few more times. One thing about the LED's on the Celestron that I really like is, you can turn them off completely or slowly turn them back on adding small amounts of light as you go. But, I prefer to have the LED's completely off. The smallest amount of LED light and the coin starts looking like cotton candy.

[duece2seven]

They look good.
And the angled glass helps reduce the glare that is reflected back to the lens, correct?

Well, Pete, I'm really not sure to be honest. It just seems to even out the color on the coin and helps to shine light on the the bottom
of the devices opposite the light source. To be clear, though, I am not using axial lighting. I am simply leaning a 4x6 pane of glass
against the scope opposite the lights. It sits just short of vertical. I wish my technical knowledge were better but I'm really just a
hacker. I just keep firing bullets until I hit something! Luckily, when I do hit the target, I can always go into Forrest Gump mode and
find someone around here to " explain things to me so I can understand them" !!

[Petespockets55]

Well, Pete, I'm really not sure to be honest. It just seems to even out the color on the coin and helps to shine light on the the bottom
of the devices opposite the light source. To be clear, though, I am not using axial lighting. I am simply leaning a 4x6 pane of glass
against the scope opposite the lights. It sits just short of vertical....

Ah, so a little light reflects off the glass onto the coin being imaged. Interesting tidbit.

......I wish my technical knowledge were better but I'm really just a
hacker. I just keep firing bullets until I hit something! Luckily, when I do hit the target, I can always go into Forrest Gump mode and
find someone around here to " explain things to me so I can understand them" !!

Thanks for the chuckle. I feel like that most of the time myself.

[VAB2013]

Viv, here are a few examples of what I was talking about. These pics were taken with my 1.3 mp DinoLite using only plain white printer paper fixed over the LED's for diffusion. The 3 closeup pics were set and kept at default settings for brightness,etc., which is pretty bright compared to where I would normally set it using the built-in Dino software. If I remembered correctly, you don't have much built-in adjustment with your Celestron so I'm trying to give you a similar comparison to your situation. Can you see with the close-ups how the variance in distance changes the glare? You just kinda have to find your sweet spot with your close-ups but even that will change for different coins with different textures and brightness. If you were to add the gold gel sheets to this equation, it would reduce the glare by roughly 20-40 percent on the edges of the devices. I couldn't find my gel filter ring tonight which highly annoys me but I think this comparison will give you a pretty good idea of what I mentioned in my earlier post.

Now, check out the my whole coin shot, Viv. It was taken with built-in LED's off and using 2 Jansjo LED lamps diffused with a ripped up T-shirt at 10 and 2 o'clock and angled downward about 60 degrees. I also placed a plain piece of glass angled slightly downward and facing opposite the 2 lamps. It was edited in post but I simply brightened this one just a bit. I know you don't like the Janjo LED's, Viv, but give this technique using the glass a try and let me know how it works for you. It's the only technique I've found that works for my shorter working distance DinoLite. The color isn't perfect and I'd prefer more overall light but it's as close as I'm capable of getting at this point. For these shots my scope was only about 5 inches over the coin. Good luck!

Thank you Tracy for these photos! Sorry it has taken me a day to digest all of this but I have been thinking about it and trying to figure out all of the steps you have mentioned. I am not sure, but I have been wondering about this. Do you think that adding the paper filter over the scope LED's, or even the gel paper, causes the scope to show less detail, clarity, not sure of the right word, sharpness, the edges of the devices look out of focus. I've been experimenting with that and ended up taking the paper filter off and I think that helped. I can focus better that way but the LED lights are a bust... they have to go. Even with the LED's turned down as low as they will go... the light on the coin is horrible, especially up close. So, I am not sure what the glass would do in this equation but I will have to get some and try it!

Edit: Tracy I am referring to the on board LED lights above. I am willing to try Jansjo lights, but wanted to find something cheaper without LED's if possible.

[duece2seven]

Thank you Tracy for these photos! Sorry it has taken me a day to digest all of this but I have been thinking about it and trying to figure out all of the steps you have mentioned. I am not sure, but I have been wondering about this. Do you think that adding the paper filter over the scope LED's, or even the gel paper, causes the scope to show less detail, clarity, not sure of the right word, sharpness, the edges of the devices look out of focus. I've been experimenting with that and ended up taking the paper filter off and I think that helped. I can focus better that way but the LED lights are a bust... they have to go. Even with the LED's turned down as low as they will go... the light on the coin is horrible, especially up close. So, I am not sure what the glass would do in this equation but I will have to get some and try it!

Edit: Tracy I am referring to the on board LED lights above. I am willing to try Jansjo lights, but wanted to find something cheaper without LED's if possible.

I fought this for years, Viv. It's frustrating I know. Tell me something- what is your maximum usable height from scope to coin? This will tell me alot. Using natural light is tough. The problem with natural light is inconsistency. It's just too hard to light the entire coin evenly. And, when you only have light from one side, it causes you to see things that aren't there and miss things that are there. No matter which light source you use you really need light from 2 sides to even out the image.
Oh yeah, I should have mentioned the main reason I switched back to the Jansjo lamps was flexibility. They are the only lamps I've found that have are small enough and flexible enough to put light exactly where I want it. This is a big deal because every coin is different. I don't prefer their color either but they're just so easy to use. I've arrived to the conclusion that these types of scopes-even mine- will likely never interpret color the way I want them to so I now just focus on WHERE I shine the light. If you can't get the light where you need it, there is no post adjustment program that can truly fix that. Does that make sense?

[duece2seven]

Also, I don't think that filtering your on board lights cuts down on detail. It does, however, lower the total amount of light which can lower detail. You just have to play with the brightness until it works for you. Overall, I think the combination of paper and gold gel filter yielded my best results.

[VAB2013]

I fought this for years, Viv. It's frustrating I know. Tell me something- what is your maximum usable height from scope to coin? This will tell me alot. Using natural light is tough. The problem with natural light is inconsistency. It's just too hard to light the entire coin evenly. And, when you only have light from one side, it causes you to see things that aren't there and miss things that are there. No matter which light source you use you really need light from 2 sides to even out the image.
Oh yeah, I should have mentioned the main reason I switched back to the Jansjo lamps was flexibility. They are the only lamps I've found that have are small enough and flexible enough to put light exactly where I want it. This is a big deal because every coin is different. I don't prefer their color either but they're just so easy to use. I've arrived to the conclusion that these types of scopes-even mine- will likely never interpret color the way I want them to so I now just focus on WHERE I shine the light. If you can't get the light where you need it, there is no post adjustment program that can truly fix that. Does that make sense?

Yes, thank you! You just described perfectly what I am going through now! The closest I can get the scope to the coin and still focus is 5/8". That does not allow much natural light to come into the equation. I really appreciate your comment on the flexibility of the Jansjo's because now that makes perfect sense! Anything else bigger with less flexibility will not work. Dang... if someone made a light, like the Jansjo but with a different bulb, that would be awesome! I want to get away from LED's really bad, they mess things up too much!

Edit: Tracy, that is why the plastic guide on the scope had to be removed. That 2/16 of an inch difference, makes a difference when trying to zoom into mint marks, etc.

[VAB2013]

Also, I don't think that filtering your on board lights cuts down on detail. It does, however, lower the total amount of light which can lower detail. You just have to play with the brightness until it works for you. Overall, I think the combination of paper and gold gel filter yielded my best results.

Bingo, that is exactly what it is doing! Wow Tracy, if you could design a scope and lighting and put that on the market, you'd be rich!