Best Camers for A Genealogist Copying Old Photos & Tombstones

I am getting more confused by the minute, and really wanted something to take to Missouri this coming weekend 9-29-01.

I have many old photos to copy (and the ones I have at home, I can do on my scanner, but I need something that is really good if I go to someone's home and they bring out an old photo I want a copy of, and I can't borrow it.

Second, I will also be shooting pictures of tombstones as proof they existed.

Will not be doing any scenery pictures--may take pictures of some individuals, but that is not my primary purpose.

I have had 35 SLRs, and never learned all the manual stuff--didn't use it often enough, and my husband was a real whiz, so he did the picture taking. I don't need anything spectuarily fast, but want something that does well for the most part on auto; am more interested in good optical, as opposed to digital; don't know what resolution would be best for my purpose, but think it would not have to be too great. Want GOOD storage capacity (thought about CDR or CDRW, but as I am 66 years of age, and don't like HEAVY things, that may not be a good idea; GOOD battery life, ease of use, particularly ease in downloading, and perhaps descent wide angle for copying small photos, and all-around excellent camera for my purpose. Was thinking of a price not to exceed $1,000, but might go for more for something really good, because I don't want to have to be repurchasing something new in a few months or a year or two and have to relearn everything.--Charlene Hook

Charlene Hook said:

I have many old photos to copy (and the ones I have at home, I can
do on my scanner, but I need something that is really good if I go
to someone's home and they bring out an old photo I want a copy of,
and I can't borrow it.

Second, I will also be shooting pictures of tombstones as proof
they existed.

Click to expand...

My work is somewhat similar, so let me take a stab at a suggestion. In view of your upper limit ($1000) there are plenty of very good choices.

One thing you'll certainly want is lots of pixels, given the need to copy photographs - you don't want to have unneccessary loss of detail.

My suggestion would be an Olympus C4040, which you can pick up for maybe $700. As you must have learned from your work with film, you'll also want a good copystand (for copying photos and documents) and tripod (for tombstones).

One nice thing about the C4040 is that if it doesn't work out for you, you could resell it on eBay at a loss of no more than $100 or so. One really nice thing about Olympus is that they have really good warranty service and that parts, accessories, and information are readily available.

I've always wanted to try photographing grave markers, but I've never had a real need. My guess is that it's important to shoot each marker from several angles, some shots using flash and some not. It might be good to use a separate flash, so you could use it to tease out every possible shadow from almost worn away type and indentations.

I wouldn't worry too much about the "correct" form of mass storage. The price of cards has dropped to about 50 cents per megabyte, so the answer I've arrived at is to buy enough cards to hold the data until you can get back home or at least to the hotel where you have a serious laptop. When cards cost several dollars per megabyte, that strategy wasn't cost-effective.

Mark,

I also gearing up for some genealogical research.
See my questions below.
Thanks,
Sergio

Mark Grebner said:

Member said:

I have many old photos to copy (and the ones I have at home, I can
do on my scanner, but I need something that is really good if I go
to someone's home and they bring out an old photo I want a copy of,
and I can't borrow it.

Second, I will also be shooting pictures of tombstones as proof
they existed.

Click to expand...

My work is somewhat similar, so let me take a stab at a suggestion.
In view of your upper limit ($1000) there are plenty of very good
choices.

One thing you'll certainly want is lots of pixels, given the need
to copy photographs - you don't want to have unneccessary loss of
detail.

My suggestion would be an Olympus C4040, which you can pick up for
maybe $700. As you must have learned from your work with film,
you'll also want a good copystand (for copying photos and
documents) and tripod (for tombstones).

Click to expand...

What would be a good copystand for a Sony DSC-S85?
Is it good enough for photographing old family photos and
documents, i.e. just the built-in macro capability is OK, or
some kind of macro lens would be required?

Regardind the tombstones, why a tripod is needed?
I suppose that if there is not enough light then just a flash
would be good enough.

Member said:

One nice thing about the C4040 is that if it doesn't work out for
you, you could resell it on eBay at a loss of no more than $100 or
so. One really nice thing about Olympus is that they have really
good warranty service and that parts, accessories, and information
are readily available.

I've always wanted to try photographing grave markers, but I've
never had a real need. My guess is that it's important to shoot
each marker from several angles, some shots using flash and some
not. It might be good to use a separate flash, so you could use it
to tease out every possible shadow from almost worn away type and
indentations.

I wouldn't worry too much about the "correct" form of mass storage.
The price of cards has dropped to about 50 cents per megabyte, so
the answer I've arrived at is to buy enough cards to hold the data
until you can get back home or at least to the hotel where you have
a serious laptop. When cards cost several dollars per megabyte,
that strategy wasn't cost-effective.

Click to expand...

I use a Sony 505v for my genealogy stuff.

For docs and photos, I have two small battery powered flourescent lights that I use to illuminate the doc/photo. I get the camera as close as possible. My tripod allows the center bar to be inverted - camera hangs down then. Lights are stuck on Velcro to the legs.

For grave sites, I shoot around the grave and then try the stone using sunlight but looking for ways to get the text to shadow. Use the flash the same way. I carry a brush (hard one) to brush the stone to clean letters. Also carry fat black watercolor pen to fill text.

That's about it.

Any questions you can email me.
RON C

Sergio Liberman said:

I also gearing up for some genealogical research.
See my questions below.
Thanks,
Sergio

Mark Grebner said:

Sergio Liberman said:

I have many old photos to copy (and the ones I have at home, I can
do on my scanner, but I need something that is really good if I go
to someone's home and they bring out an old photo I want a copy of,
and I can't borrow it.

Second, I will also be shooting pictures of tombstones as proof
they existed.

Click to expand...

My work is somewhat similar, so let me take a stab at a suggestion.
In view of your upper limit ($1000) there are plenty of very good
choices.

One thing you'll certainly want is lots of pixels, given the need
to copy photographs - you don't want to have unneccessary loss of
detail.

My suggestion would be an Olympus C4040, which you can pick up for
maybe $700. As you must have learned from your work with film,
you'll also want a good copystand (for copying photos and
documents) and tripod (for tombstones).

Click to expand...

What would be a good copystand for a Sony DSC-S85?
Is it good enough for photographing old family photos and
documents, i.e. just the built-in macro capability is OK, or
some kind of macro lens would be required?

Regardind the tombstones, why a tripod is needed?
I suppose that if there is not enough light then just a flash
would be good enough.

Sergio Liberman said:

One nice thing about the C4040 is that if it doesn't work out for
you, you could resell it on eBay at a loss of no more than $100 or
so. One really nice thing about Olympus is that they have really
good warranty service and that parts, accessories, and information
are readily available.

I've always wanted to try photographing grave markers, but I've
never had a real need. My guess is that it's important to shoot
each marker from several angles, some shots using flash and some
not. It might be good to use a separate flash, so you could use it
to tease out every possible shadow from almost worn away type and
indentations.

I wouldn't worry too much about the "correct" form of mass storage.
The price of cards has dropped to about 50 cents per megabyte, so
the answer I've arrived at is to buy enough cards to hold the data
until you can get back home or at least to the hotel where you have
a serious laptop. When cards cost several dollars per megabyte,
that strategy wasn't cost-effective.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Ron C said:

I use a Sony 505v for my genealogy stuff.

For docs and photos, I have two small battery powered flourescent
lights that I use to illuminate the doc/photo. I get the camera as
close as possible. My tripod allows the center bar to be inverted

• camera hangs down then. Lights are stuck on Velcro to the legs.

For grave sites, I shoot around the grave and then try the stone
using sunlight but looking for ways to get the text to shadow. Use
the flash the same way. I carry a brush (hard one) to brush the
stone to clean letters. Also carry fat black watercolor pen to
fill text.

That's about it.

Any questions you can email me.
RON C

Click to expand...

Don't forget the post-shooting processing. I've had quite a bit of luck increasing the detail in worn statues and stone engravings by messing with the contrast, brightness and sharpness controls in a photo editor.

Sergio Liberman said:

What would be a good copystand for a Sony DSC-S85?
Is it good enough for photographing old family photos and
documents, i.e. just the built-in macro capability is OK, or
some kind of macro lens would be required?

Click to expand...

My experience is that a 3 or 4 megapixel camera has enough resolution that the macro capabilities are not an issue. I generally shoot documents from about 16 inches or so - whatever distance makes the image fill the frame. It's surprising how much detail from even handwritten documents is picked up.

Sergio Liberman said:

Regardind the tombstones, why a tripod is needed?
I suppose that if there is not enough light then just a flash
would be good enough.

Click to expand...

I'm not mainly thinking about shutter speed and lighting, but about the ability to position the camera perfectly in relation to the stone: centered over the text area and perpendicular to the surface. The problem isn't whether there's "enough" lighting, but to position the lighting so it helps rather than drowns out the relief and shadows.

Much of the detail of engraved or etched stone will be obscured by head-on flash. And very little of the detail is different in color or reflectivity from it's background - the image is the same stone as the field. Oblique lighting can make shallow depressions and slightly raised areas move visible.

As I said, I've never shot headstones, but I think it might be interesting to workat night with a handheld floodlight. With the camera in a fixed position, you could move the lighting while watching the effect on the stone. When you see a good effect, you fire the camera with an IR remote control. (Included with the C4040 - I don't know about other cameras.) You might decide to shoot with lighting in a number of orientations, in order to make sure that you capture everything you can.

Mark Grebner said:

I'm not mainly thinking about shutter speed and lighting, but about
the ability to position the camera perfectly in relation to the
stone: centered over the text area and perpendicular to the
surface. The problem isn't whether there's "enough" lighting, but
to position the lighting so it helps rather than drowns out the
relief and shadows.

Much of the detail of engraved or etched stone will be obscured by
head-on flash. And very little of the detail is different in color
or reflectivity from it's background - the image is the same stone
as the field. Oblique lighting can make shallow depressions and
slightly raised areas move visible.

Click to expand...

You might want to try a 'reflector' to light the stone from an angle, increasing the shadow in the script. You could use something as simple as a piece of white poster board or some aluminum foil on cardboard.

Charlene,

Two suggestions:

1. Consider the FujiFilm FinePix 6900Z for these reasons:

a. It has an integral 6x telephoto - you might not able to get as close as you would wish to every tombstone.

b. Its 6MP resolution will ensure that the finest detail will be available - ignore the comments about its "true" 3.3MP - see the FujiFilm forum for copious debate about the subject, the fact is that it really does provide results equivalent to at least a "true" 5MP

c. It has an excellent macro facility should you need one

d. Its hotshoe is non-proprietary - i.e. it can take any flashgun you want.

2. Consider buying a powerful flashgun plus a remote trigger.

This little baby has a hotshoe on top, and a (wide-beam) photo-electric cell below. Site both on a tripod at an angle to the tombstone and use the on-camera flash to provide minimal front lighting, which will in turn fire the main 'gun. You will have to experiment with camera settings, but essentially you will be setting the exposure according to the parameters of the remote (and more powerful) 'gun.

Hope this helps, and goodluck

Regards,

Robin [Redbreast]

Is it possible that using water to clean or wet the tombstone surface may
improve the contrast of the text?

Or even some more exotic methods such as infrared filter
with a camera that is capable of taking IR pictures?

Sergio

BobTrips said:

Mark Grebner said:

I'm not mainly thinking about shutter speed and lighting, but about
the ability to position the camera perfectly in relation to the
stone: centered over the text area and perpendicular to the
surface. The problem isn't whether there's "enough" lighting, but
to position the lighting so it helps rather than drowns out the
relief and shadows.

Much of the detail of engraved or etched stone will be obscured by
head-on flash. And very little of the detail is different in color
or reflectivity from it's background - the image is the same stone
as the field. Oblique lighting can make shallow depressions and
slightly raised areas move visible.

Click to expand...

You might want to try a 'reflector' to light the stone from an
angle, increasing the shadow in the script. You could use
something as simple as a piece of white poster board or some
aluminum foil on cardboard.

Click to expand...

Sergio,

I've tried a number of things and find a soft wire brush helps get the weathering off and doesn't damage the stone. I've also used a hard tooth brush.

Haven't tried IR but doubt it would help as weathering is so much like the stone.

Earlier in this thread I mentioned using sunlight to get shadows but didn't mention really how I do it. I have a reflective windshield screen that is always in the car and it is great as a reflector. It folds by twisting to a small 12" x 2" volume so is easy to lug along.

I have done a couple of old cemeteries for an organization and gave it to them on CD. None of my relatives there though. Mine must have been horse theives on the run or something as it is hard to find some of them.

RON C

Sergio Liberman said:

Or even some more exotic methods such as infrared filter
with a camera that is capable of taking IR pictures?

Sergio

BobTrips said:

Mark Grebner said:

I'm not mainly thinking about shutter speed and lighting, but about
the ability to position the camera perfectly in relation to the
stone: centered over the text area and perpendicular to the
surface. The problem isn't whether there's "enough" lighting, but
to position the lighting so it helps rather than drowns out the
relief and shadows.

Much of the detail of engraved or etched stone will be obscured by
head-on flash. And very little of the detail is different in color
or reflectivity from it's background - the image is the same stone
as the field. Oblique lighting can make shallow depressions and
slightly raised areas move visible.

Click to expand...

You might want to try a 'reflector' to light the stone from an
angle, increasing the shadow in the script. You could use
something as simple as a piece of white poster board or some
aluminum foil on cardboard.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Ron,

I actually have a windshield like yours in my car.
This is a great idea. Of course it seems that its use
require a second person to hold it in the right angle
to illuminate the tombstone.

Thanks,
Sergio

Ron C said:

Haven't tried IR but doubt it would help as weathering is so much
like the stone.

Earlier in this thread I mentioned using sunlight to get shadows
but didn't mention really how I do it. I have a reflective
windshield screen that is always in the car and it is great as a
reflector. It folds by twisting to a small 12" x 2" volume so is
easy to lug along.

I have done a couple of old cemeteries for an organization and gave
it to them on CD. None of my relatives there though. Mine must
have been horse theives on the run or something as it is hard to
find some of them.

RON C

Sergio Liberman said:

Is it possible that using water to clean or wet the tombstone
surface may
improve the contrast of the text?

Or even some more exotic methods such as infrared filter
with a camera that is capable of taking IR pictures?

Sergio

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Sergio,
You know that you shouldn't go to cemerteries by yourself. Beware of ghosts.

Sometimes you either need another person or use a tripod to hold the screen.

I use Velcro to attach things to my tripod and monopod. Neat stuff.

CHEERS,
RON C

Sergio Liberman said:

I actually have a windshield like yours in my car.
This is a great idea. Of course it seems that its use
require a second person to hold it in the right angle
to illuminate the tombstone.

Thanks,
Sergio

Ron C said:

Haven't tried IR but doubt it would help as weathering is so much
like the stone.

Earlier in this thread I mentioned using sunlight to get shadows
but didn't mention really how I do it. I have a reflective
windshield screen that is always in the car and it is great as a
reflector. It folds by twisting to a small 12" x 2" volume so is
easy to lug along.

I have done a couple of old cemeteries for an organization and gave
it to them on CD. None of my relatives there though. Mine must
have been horse theives on the run or something as it is hard to
find some of them.

RON C

Sergio Liberman said:

Is it possible that using water to clean or wet the tombstone
surface may
improve the contrast of the text?

Or even some more exotic methods such as infrared filter
with a camera that is capable of taking IR pictures?

Sergio

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...