Need camera for book photography

[zoltan]

As part of an ongoing project, I've been given access to several books in the National Hungarian Military Museum in order to convert them to digital images, and then into searchable PDFs. The books cannot be removed from the library, photocopied, or damaged in any way. They have, however, allowed me to use flash photography.

After looking at several options, it looks like the best compromise is using a high resolution digital camera, taking a picture of each page individually while holding the camera by hand, and holding the book so the page lays flat as possible. If I used glass to flatten the page, then I wouldn't be able to use a flash, and would require a rig to hold both camera and book completely still. I've already tested this technique using my point and shoot and it'll work for our purposes.

However, I want to purchase a better camera; something better suited to the task than my point and shoot. It would need (probably) image stabilization and good macro capability. Since I can use any camera, I want to leverage as much improved picture quality as possible from it. Since I'm not a photographer, I've been looking at cameras like the Canon G7 and the Nikon CoolPix C5000.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[table1349]

Any good camera should do. A fast sharp lens will go along way to make things easier. If you have the time to do so, I would suggest a document stand similar to this for what ever camera you use. It can make this kind of project much easier to accomplish.

With a little checking you may find that you can either rent or purchase a document stand once you get to Hungary or at least in Europe.