to scan or to photograph

HKB

HKB

Well-known member
I'm working on a documentary and I was wondering which options would give the best results overall.
Images would be scanned or photographed from a book, which gives the best results and highest
defintion? Camera is a D800 using a 100mm fixed lens. Leaning towards scans for several reasons
what do others say? Thanks!
 
I did a test earlier and one issue was keeping the pages flat. Had to go to manual focus.
Appears to be a good image but I was expecting more. Rubber bands might help. :undecided
 
I've always achieved better results from photographing things like this. It's worth the effort to come up with some rig which can hold the pages flat, perhaps just some heavy square metal tubes or aluminium bars. The bit depth and colour fidelity you get from a D800 will beat most domestic or office scanners. There might be some awesome professional scanners out there but the cost of accessing them would make it not worth your while, I would guess.
 
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Thick books makes it a challenge to photograph. You have to ensure lighting is right so that the shadow of the camera doesn't fall on the book. One thing you have to realise is that you are not shooting a live subject. You are shooting a reproduction of a photograph in print. The books often have less details. Old black and white photos in the books means photographing may reveal texture of the paper more rather than details of the photos.

If you are able to somehow overcome the difficulties of placing the page and lighting it evenly and the camera perfectly parallel to the page then you can shoot.
 
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