Need to photograph old newspapers - lens/equipment recommendations?

I need to photograph some old Chinese newspapers that are bound and slightly reduced in size (for a research project - I only have access to these papers until end of June). They are approximately 12"X8.5". I'm going to shoot around 2000 pages all in all -What would be the best equipment to use for this kind of stuff? My budget is limited, but if it's equipment I can use later, I can justify a bigger expense now.

I was also thinking of a scanner or even copying machine, but I think photographing is probably much faster and easier to do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Definitely a razor sharp prime lens for this job for maximum resolving detail. Based on your financial restraints - I would get the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 which is very sharp @ f/8. The lens itself is only $100. It will take some setup though - you'll need some good lighting, and a little distance since the lens is really 75mm on a 1.5 crop - what camera are you shooting with? Someone may have another suggestion regarding lens distortion - but good distance removes any distortion...

--
'Procrastinate now, don't put it off.'

That was fast - thanks.

I'm shooting with a D80, sorry for providing so little information. I do have a 50mm, but in order to get the whole page, I need to be too far away to capture enough detail to enlarge sufficiently.

Do I need a wider angle lens so I can get closer?

PD70 said:

I'm shooting with a D80, sorry for providing so little information.
I do have a 50mm, but in order to get the whole page, I need to be
too far away to capture enough detail to enlarge sufficiently.

Do I need a wider angle lens so I can get closer?

Click to expand...

Any lens that will allow you to fill the frame with the whole page should work...

Of greater concern might be ability to focus close enough for your close up purposes. freedom from barrel or pincushion distortion and sharp focus across the field. If your lens is not sharp enough in the corners, consider shooting from farther away to keep the subject in the center and cropping to the subject edges in the computer...extra effort but it may work...

I'd try photographing something similar to your project material to see if your current lens is good enough. Consider close-up attachments for your current lens, also...

Your D80 might also allow selective cropping and still retain enough detail.

Are you printing the images? Or projecting them...printing will require more image quality than projection (your D80 should be quite sufficient)

I think that scanning would be a better option. You could
set the dpi you need and not worry about lighting. Even the
low-end scanners are pretty fast IMO. I copied some photos
for a friend recently using my D200 and a macro lens. It does
take some time to position everything just right, check to see
if everything is parallel, correct exposure etc etc. This project
seems to be better handled with a scanner I think, especially
with 2000 pages.

--
Lou

http://loutent.smugmug.com/

PD70 said:

I need to photograph some old Chinese newspapers that are bound and
slightly reduced in size (for a research project - I only have
access to these papers until end of June). They are approximately
12"X8.5". I'm going to shoot around 2000 pages all in all -What
would be the best equipment to use for this kind of stuff? My
budget is limited, but if it's equipment I can use later, I can
justify a bigger expense now.

Click to expand...

If you're not going to go with a scanner, the 60mm macro, would be ideal. Access to some kind of a basic copy stand would simplify things a great deal.

--
'Here, look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey!'

Tom Young
http://www.pbase.com/tyoung/

scanner would be better

taking 2000 pics, than post processing each of em to crop and alligned and stuff.. i;ll stick with a scanner

Thanks thanks.

The reason I want them in digital form is so that I can a) read them easily (the originals are reduced in size and cause terrible eye soreness) and b) be able to print them out as needed in the future. I don't think I will need to use these in presentations, only print. The main thing for me is to have personal access to them when I no longer have convenient access to the bounded copies.

I tried photographing a few pages with the 50mm and I need to be pretty far away to capture the whole page, which means that when I try to make it a comfortable size, there's simply not enough detail to zoom in like that. If I used a wide angle lens I could get closer, but then of course there would be other issues related to distortion. I'm not even sure if I can get enough detail that way either.

So maybe scanning is the way to go - I know that it ultimately is the best option, but also time consuming. I haven't looked at scanner recently, just use my old Canon lide35 which is slow but fine for occasional use. Can anybody recommend a scanner that has good mac support and perhaps also a good workflow for this kind of thing?

Again, I greatly appreciate all the suggestions...

I too think the scanner method is the best choice. You have a flat object , equal resolution all over the entire page, and no distortion. If the scanner is not large enough you can take several scans and stitch them together.

The photo method needs a distortion and vignetting free lens without field curvature. At least a very good macro lens. Equal lightning in't that easy too. And if You flatten the paper You need a glass large enough. Then You could have reflections.

You can position it on a wall. But then You have the problem to fix it rectangularly with straight borders.
WoVo

So it looks like photographing it will be a hassle if I want to do it nicely - even though I always wanted to get the 60mm macro (I'll get it anyway...). These are bound copies so to keep the pages flat will be difficult and scanner would be much easier in that sense

The pages just fit my canon Lide35 so that shouldn't be a problem. I do need something faster than this though and then I need to streamline the workflow so that I don't have to process it after each scan....I'm not very savvy with scanners and scanning software. The main reason I was thinking htat I could take photos of the newspapers was that I could do it quickly and then postprocess over time. With a scanner I need to spend lots of time now.

So, given all your input:

• any suggestions for a fast, relatively inexpensive scanner with good mac software?
• suggestions how to streamline the workflow for speed since I have so many scans to do?

Pete

PD70 said:

So it looks like photographing it will be a hassle if I want to do
it nicely - even though I always wanted to get the 60mm macro (I'll
get it anyway...). These are bound copies so to keep the pages flat
will be difficult and scanner would be much easier in that sense

The pages just fit my canon Lide35 so that shouldn't be a problem.
I do need something faster than this though and then I need to
streamline the workflow so that I don't have to process it after
each scan....I'm not very savvy with scanners and scanning
software. The main reason I was thinking htat I could take photos
of the newspapers was that I could do it quickly and then
postprocess over time. With a scanner I need to spend lots of time
now.

So, given all your input:

• any suggestions for a fast, relatively inexpensive scanner with

good mac software?

• suggestions how to streamline the workflow for speed since I have

so many scans to do?

Pete

Click to expand...

i think there are scannners available with auto feed trays,
saw hp 4200 with auto feed abt 3 years ago .

dont know any current models, but shouldnt be a problem, just look around for auto feed trays

I wish I could use the autofeed function...unfortunately the newspapers are bound so I can't just put them in and watch them be scanned.

I'll look around to see what is available now. The main thing is that the software is good and that the scanner is fast....

tyoung said:

PD70 said:

I need to photograph some old Chinese newspapers that are bound and
slightly reduced in size (for a research project - I only have
access to these papers until end of June). They are approximately
12"X8.5". I'm going to shoot around 2000 pages all in all -What
would be the best equipment to use for this kind of stuff? My
budget is limited, but if it's equipment I can use later, I can
justify a bigger expense now.

Click to expand...

If you're not going to go with a scanner, the 60mm macro, would be
ideal. Access to some kind of a basic copy stand would simplify
things a great deal.

Click to expand...

I do this kind of copy work rather frequently; and find that my setup using a copy stand, D1X camera, and 60mm Micro lens works perfectly. The D1X resolution with this setup is usually more than adequate, but I also have a D2X and D2Xs if more resolution is needed.

For lighting, I've replaced the four 250W hot lights on the copy stand with a pair of AB400 strobes. Using diffusers and polarizing filters [LP on lights, CP on camera], I get a uniform, consistent lighting.

well i'd go a different route, for that number of pages and simply for a research project, i'd do a photo of two pages at a time, with a medium wide angle lens, all on a stand or tripod, lens stopped down and very well lit with flash. i think that will give you adequate resolution to get the major elements of most articles and certainly the headlines and page numbers. fwiw.

Unless you bought a seriously expensive scanner it wouldn't fit the newspaper size would it?

Also being old newspaper you wouldn't want to risk sticking it into an auto feeder and watch it jam.

If budget allows I would get a 17-55DX nice sharp and usable lens for later on also. In any case if you needed the money back you can easily sell it.

If budget permits then I can't see much wrong with a 18-70dx

--
-------------
Steven
17-55DX f/2.8 + 70-200VR f/2.8 Great Combo!

let me ask: would it be better to use a 18-70mm or a 60mm macro for this kind of thing? I've never used a macro lens so I'm not sure how they work...if that makes sense.

PD70 said:

let me ask: would it be better to use a 18-70mm or a 60mm macro for
this kind of thing? I've never used a macro lens so I'm not sure
how they work...if that makes sense.

Click to expand...

Macro lenses are generally designed to have a flat field and low distortion at close ranges. Zooms are designed more for all-around performance. I'd go with a macro for this sort of work. If it were me, I'd just pick up an old 55mm macro, put the camera on a tripod, set up something to align the subject against (you could even just use the wall for one edge and a piece of tape on the floor to align in the other direction. Set the subject on the floor with one edge against the wall, put a desk lamp to either side of the subject, align the camera directly above the subject and make sure it is level. Set the camera to aperture priority or manual. Set the lens to f/8. Take a few test shots to be sure you have the right exposure and settings (probably want to set contrast and sharpness towards the higher end of things, but try it and see) and go to work.

You could even download a free trial of nikon capture and use it to shoot tethered to your PC.

A little work getting things set up straight and level in the beginning will pay off over the course of 2000 shots.

Not sure if your D80 has a remote trigger, but that will also help minimize camera shake and the possibility of bumping the tripod.

I have a Mac and use a 2 yr old Caonoscan 8400F which will only do
8.5x11. I think that they have another similar model that will
do 8.5x14. The software is great (I have a DP G5) and it takes
about 1 minute to scan/auto crop/straighten a full size scan
in color. If you scan in B&W the time may be less. After
scanning, the file is deposited in a folder of your choice or
opened in PS (or other) for editing. You can also make PDF files
immediately (joined or not). I still think scanning is your best
option unless you want an excuse to get the macro lens ;-)
--
Lou

http://loutent.smugmug.com/

I would use a Nikon 55/2.8 AIS. It is a manual focus macro lens perfect for reproduction and one of Nikon's sharpest lenses. When you are short on budget you can lay the newspaper on the ground and take the photos from a stable tripod. A HAMA bubble level is useful to have your camera level. The distance from you camera to your subject stays the same. You just have to exchange newspapers after each shot. Try several f stops in case the newspapers are not flat, and continue using this f stop. Way faster than using a scanner.

Thanks everybody for the great suggestions and comments - what a great forum this can be!

I found a used 60mm micro for $200 and bought it. What a lens! I think it's the first really good lens I've have. I decided that I'm going to go with the lens option instead of scanner because of the time involved. What I really need now is just some suggestions on the best

way to set this up. I don't want to spend lots of money on new equipment. Here are some questions I have:

• what is the best way to light these pages using regular lamps?

• What is the best way to keep the bounded newspapers flat? A piece of glass on top?

• Does anybody have a good recommendation for a light weight and relatively inexpensive tripod I can use? (up to $150 but the cheaper the better). What do I need to think about with tripods?

Thanks again,

Pete