kirpi on "Shooting at newspapers"

kirpi — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:42:34 +0000

This is a case where DxO software can help a lot.

Tanja on "How to choose the right digital camera"

Tanja — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:56:42 +0000

The new Canon S90 seems to be quite interesting. Shoots Raw, full manual, and it's tiny!

kirpi on "Shooting at newspapers"

kirpi — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:29:19 +0000

Cutting the pages into pieces, scanning and rebuilding the whole page digitally will take a lot of time and effort and, in case you are going to process many pages or, worse, many newspapers, you will probably feel the pain. It will be a very complicated puzzle. But the results will be surely good. Even with the cheapest scanners on the market you can have a decent quality for your scans of newspapers. Just to give an idea, please look at these color pages, which where scanned using one of the cheapest Canon scanners available some 5 years ago; such devices are good enough for general purposes.

The idea of shooting photographs instead of scanning is not a bad one, and will save you a lot of time. On the quality side, be assured that you can have quite good results, provided that you can control the light sources and place your camera on a sturdy tripod.
Lighting is the key issue here. You have to evenly light the paper surface, and light has to be sufficiently angled (45° is the standard setting) in order to avoid reflections, and has to be a mix of hard and soft light thus allowing for crisp details and an overall low contrast.
Set the aperture to an average value (say f/8 to f/11), so to obtain a not too shallow depth of field and gaining the best performance from the lens.
In case you have a prime lens available, use that; consider that a normal focal length or a slightly long lens is better than a wide angle.

Stick the newspaper page to a wall with some pieces of Blu-Tack, place your camera at some distance right in front of the paper, take care that the light hits the page properly but does not directly hit the lens (a lens shade might be appropriate).
Instead, you could alternatively lay the paper on the floor and rig your camera somewhere above it.
Mind to shoot with a remote control or a self-timer, in order not to shake the camera.
Also, double-check for focus (blow up some details on camera both at the center and at the border of the page, and check for sharpness) and exposure: you should find details both in the white paper and in the black ink areas.

Evita on "Shooting at newspapers"

Evita — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:03:11 +0000

Far too expensive, here's why!

Andrea Sullach on "Shooting at newspapers"

Andrea Sullach — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:41:58 +0000

Why not having them scanned in the right manner by a professional service?

Evita on "Shooting at newspapers"

Evita — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:12:52 +0000

I have some old newspapers and would like to have them digitally available. Scanning them is not an option as I would need to cut them into pieces, scan them all and then assemble the scans just like a big puzzle. Too much labor intensive and also a complete loss of the original paper sheets.
What if I take photographs of the whole pages? Will the quality suffice? Is there any way I can do that easily?

kirpi on "How to choose the right digital camera"

kirpi — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:16:26 +0000

One of the best small cameras you might buy today is the Canon Powershot G11 (or G10, which has just been superseded by the G11 model and thus would most probably sell at a bargain price). While not the cheapest camera on the market, it is really handy and offers a set of features which could rival many bulkier (and much more expensive) cameras. If you can afford it, I suggest you consider it as a real advice.
In case you are looking for a much cheaper choice, what about the Fuji FinePix Z30 digital camera? It would really make sense for family snapshots.

Yesim on "How to choose the right digital camera"

Yesim — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:38:19 +0000

Hello Kirpi,
thank you for very useful suggestions. About your questions: actually, I need a camera for my family life and holidays, I don't need a sofisticated camera; solid, easy to use and good results is enough. It's better if it's compact, has zoom and of course not very expensive!
I visited google but now I am so confused than before. If you help me, really I'll be glad.

Have a nice day.

kirpi on "How to choose the right digital camera"

kirpi — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:31:15 +0000

Digital cameras are not so cheap as film ones today: due to the ongoing trend towards electronics, connectivity and the "virtual" world, most of the people dropped interest in the "old" chemical imaging system and just started to buy digital.
This is cause of a sheer drop also in the prices of classic cameras: you can buy astonishing film devices on the second hand market at risible prices today.

That said, and just to answer to your question the straightest way, there are plenty of primers and articles about this topic; try and google for it and you'll discover even too many of them: http://www.google.com/search?q=How+to+choose+the+right+digital+camera

Yesim, do you need a camera for yourself or is it going to be a gift?
Moreover:

Do the future owner of such camera know anything about photography?
What kind of photography will the camera mainly be used for? General photography, family life and holidays? Macro of insects and flowers? Landscapes? Buildings and architecture? Sport photography? Mission to Mars?
Is size a priority?
Any rough idea of a budget?

Please provide us with some hints, and we will help and put you on the right path.

Yesim on "How to choose the right digital camera"

Yesim — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:39:25 +0000

Hi,
I would like to buy a digital camera, but I don't know anything about. Where should I go to research? Thank you.

Yesim