Ebay - Is this a bargain ?

[Stephan]

... and is this a real or synth one ?
Thanks !

 

[Stephan]

When you see the color, it looks like a natural, but it''s surely not a VS like the description says.

 

[riogems]

I would say it is no bargain. The background color of the incandescent picture leaves me to believe that the photos are highly editted.

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 5/20/2006 1:52:26 PM
Author: riogems
I would say it is no bargain. The background color of the incandescent picture leaves me to believe that the photos are highly editted.

I have to disagree, Adam. Having photographed quite a few alexandrites I know backgrounds vary considerably from daylight to incandescent. I''d be a lot more suspicious if they were the same.

For a nearly 1-carat natural stone the price seemed very reasonable when I checked the bidding a few moments ago. As for clarity, Alex is a Type II stone and some inclusions are to be expected. In fact they''re somewhat desirable as proof of natural origin.

Richard M.

 

[pyramid]

Ebay - Is this ....................................

 

[widget]

Here''s a recap of this seller''s mutually withdrawn feedback comments...there have been 16. I''ve heard that lots of mutually withdrawn feedback ratings is not a good thing:

http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=asiagem&Dirn=Received+by

widget

 

[riogems]

The background of the pic in the incandescent lighting looks pink. This makes me think that the color balance of the photo was adjusted in the red direction. I don''t think you''ll see the same colors in person.

They also have a poor return policy:

"Items returned 7 days receipt. Full Refund minus shipping and restocking fee 13% of sales"

 

[Richard M.]

I don''t mean to quibble but the difference between incandescent light and daylight is a predominance of red over blue wavelengths. This image shows my early not-so-good experiment at making an alexandrite montage. The daylight picture was shot at 6000 K. fluorescent and the "nighttime" picture was 3000 K. incandescent. The hue/saturation levels in both images are exactly what the camera recorded, with no PhotoShop "improvements."

My comments concerned the images and price only: the seller could be a major crook for all I know -- I''m not an Ebay expert. But I think it''s unfair to suggest image manipulation unless you know for sure it''s been done. Based on personal experience I''d give the seller the benefit of the doubt in this case.

Richard M.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Richad, does your camera (assuming you are using digital) have a provision for setting the white balance?
I use a Nikon D70, and can control the white balance so that with practically any light, I can produce a pure white. By setting the white balance correctly, the background should be the same color, and only the stone will look a different color. I think this is what Adam is refering to.
If you are not using a digital camera, then you need to either match the film to the type of lighting, or us color correction filters.
Before shooting my pictures, I meter off of a white paper, and the camera corrects the white balance to produce a pure white from this paper.

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 5/22/2006 10:16:45 AM
Author: PrecisionGem
Richad, does your camera (assuming you are using digital) have a provision for setting the white balance?...Before shooting my pictures, I meter off of a white paper, and the camera corrects the white balance to produce a pure white from this paper.

That''s a good suggestion and something I''m aware of but haven''t yet tried. Your gem images are first-rate, BTW. Have you tried photographing alex? It''s a bit of a challenge but I make no claim to being a "pro" at photography.

I use a Nikon 4500 and the only way -- so far -- I''ve been able to capture real-world colors of alex in different lighting is by setting white balance to "incandescent" for tungsten and "daylight" for fluorescent. I''ll check to see if the metering works as you suggest in that situation. If it does it would relieve me of a great annoyance.

Richard M.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Richard,
I see your camera does have a manual preset for the white balance. This usually operates by turning the feature on, then taking a picture of of a white paper, where the entire viewfinder is filled and lit evenly by the white image. THis will then set the white balance for virtually any light to produce a nice clean white.

I shoot all my pictures with a cloud dome, and two Solux lights on goose necks. Overhead there are also 2 florescent bulbs in a shop light. This kind of gives me a mixed light, with most of the light coming from the Solux bulbs. These are very close to the color temperature of natural daylight. The cload dome has it''s draw backs however. I don''t get a nice sparkle from the stones, and they tend to look a bit less lively than in person. Some of this may be do that usually when viewing a gem, you tend to rock it a bit, and see various flashes coming off it, which are impossible to capture in a picture.

I haven''t had an alex to try to photograph, but do have a few color change garnets. THe tough part is to get the same intenstity of light. I think I would need to have lights similar to the solux bulbs, but at the same color temperature as the florescent light. With the one over head florescent light, by the time the light gets through the cloud dome, the stone is pretty dim.