Camera Scan Whitepaper

[peterkrogh]

Here's a white paper I wrote for the Archiving 2009 conference on making camera scans.
http://thedambook.com/downloads/Camera_Scanning_Krogh.pdf
Peter

[Doug]

Peter,
Thanks for that well done whitepaper. I may be embarking on a job to scan (someone else's) 35mm color slides. I had assumed that I would buy a regular Nikon film scanner but its pretty obvious that this is the way to go. For the quality needed for this particular project, the 40D I already own will provide plenty of pixels and the EF-S 60mm macro is as sharp as they come.

[billseymour]

Peter-

Can you give us (me) a rough idea of the cost of the setup (apart from camera, of course) that you discussed in the article (ie, "Really Right Stuff Camera Rail with Nikon PS-5 negative stage").

I went to the Really Right Stuff site, and I see the following macro rail: B150-B: Macro focusing rail, at a cost of $345. Is this what you were referring to? And is there a more modestly priced rail system that might do the job?

The idea of using the camera to do the scans is quite appealing, but I am a bit unsure of gathering the necessary gear.
(Also, I am considering either a Nikon D90 or one of the Canon equivalents- I assume these cameras will do a satisfactory job).

Thanks for any info.
--Bill

[peterkrogh]

Bill,
A D90 should do a great job.
The rail is a little over $200 as described here:

http://thedambook.com/smf/index.php?topic=3675.msg20000#msg20000

but you also need the Nikon PS5 or PS6 (ebay?)
Then you need to modify it for so that it can be attached to the MPR113 ($50 or so for the part)

You'll also need a light source.

All in all, cheaper than any comparable scanner, but not as easy to acquire. (Assuming that you can find another use for the D90 and Macro lens)

We do have a limited number of the PS5 and MPR113 ready to go for $200, so you'd be looking at a bit over $400 for the 10 inch rail.

Peter

[billseymour]

Thanks, Peter- I will explore both the DAM book and the thread you referred to. Very interesting white paper. It definitely seems like the camera scan approach, while more of a chore to set up, offers both good quality and also flexibility in capturing the images. I will look into equipment and keep an eye on the threads here.

Appreciate the info. --Bill

[peterkrogh]

Bill,
What it really offers in massive throughput.
Peter