Digital copy stand experience?

I would be most appreciative of first hand accounts of using a digital
copy stand for document imaging.

From my tests, I can get almost acceptable results using a 3.2mp
camera.

I am seeking an upgrade to a 7 or higher megapixel camera with the
specific purpose of imaging about 1000 stamp collecting journal pages
(200 to 300 dpi).

The copy stand beats scanning since it takes 3 seconds per image.

A copy stand is simply a camera mounted on a special tripod used to
take fixed focal length images.

I'm not endorsing or affiliated with either of these two links.

A good basic introduction is he
http://www.marietta.edu/~mcshaffd/macro/copy.html

Canon makes just the special monopod mount:

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQueri...q-locale=en_US

300 dpi is absolutely fine if you are providing text and copy material
for illustrative purposes. The usual publishing standard would be
300dpi when providing copy to say GSM (I can only talk from
experience).
If you wish to study the images produced for research purposes I find
that 600 dpi in .tiff or bitmap is required. If your resolution is only
300 dpi you will not get the clarity required for intensive study of
the image. I know this is simplistic but I am a simple soul.

Cheers

Robert

wrote:

I would be most appreciative of first hand accounts of using a digital
copy stand for document imaging.

From my tests, I can get almost acceptable results using a 3.2mp
camera.

I am seeking an upgrade to a 7 or higher megapixel camera with the
specific purpose of imaging about 1000 stamp collecting journal pages
(200 to 300 dpi).

The copy stand beats scanning since it takes 3 seconds per image.

A copy stand is simply a camera mounted on a special tripod used to
take fixed focal length images.

I'm not endorsing or affiliated with either of these two links.

A good basic introduction is he
http://www.marietta.edu/~mcshaffd/macro/copy.html

Canon makes just the special monopod mount:

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQueri...q-locale=en_US


I have used a copy stand with a 35mm film camera; it was similar in
design to an enlarger, i.e. a baseboard with a column which had a
sliding attachment on which the camera was mounted. I had a macro lens,
and I also needed a right-angle viewfinder attachment for the camera,
because I couldn't use the normal viefinder due to the position of the
column. With some digital cameras (i.e. those with a fold-out
viewfinder) this wouldn't be necessary. If the camera has an auto-focus
capability you probably wouldn't need to refocus when photographing a
thick book immediately after a thin one, for example. Otherwise, some of
the speed advantage compared with scanning will be lost. You might get
some distortion at the edges of the field of view; it will depend, I
think, on the capabilities of your lens. Also, unless you are working in
strong natural light you will need some artificial, colour-corrected,
lighting for good results.

Hope this helps.

--
John Ray, London UK.