<snip>I am interested in knowing what digital camera other projects are
using,
and how you would rate the cameras that you're using.<snip>

At Lambeth we are digitising plans and drawings using a Phase One LightPhase
C645 on Contax 645 body with 45mm Zeiss lens. This is a single-shot (rather
than a scanning back) camera, which takes around 10 seconds to capture an
image and another 6-7 seconds to "develop" it. This means we can take
digital photographs quickly - and in a timber-framed medieval building the
effects of traffic & other vibrations on the equipment are minimised.  If we
had chosen a scanning back, which can take up to 6 minutes to take a shot at
this resolution, often colour artefacts (random blobs) appear on the images
owing to vibrations in the building from the traffic - or even from people
walking across the floor!  Pixel resolution is 3056 x 2032 pixels - the
resulting tiffs are at 300dpi in 24bit colour.  Average image size is 18Kb.

The camera is mounted on a fully automatic column, by which the camera
height can be adjusted. The column, camera and reflective lighting are fixed
to a base unit (pictures of similar set-ups can be found on the "recent
installations" page of our supplier ICAM archive systems
<http://www.icamarchive.co.uk/>).  The table also includes a ruler system by
which original documents can be centered quickly and accurately. The camera
is controlled with its own dedicated software.
We are extremely pleased with the equipment, which suits our particular
environment and the needs of the material being digitised very well.  We
choose this camera & supplier after seeing full demonstrations of three
systems, including one using a scanning back (which is how we know about the
serious effects of the vibrations!), and speaking to other people using the
particular products and suppliers.  The camera, lighting and base cost
around 25,000 UKP.
We use glass to flatten some of the material (the majority of which is bound
in files & has sharp creases); other loose material is in melinex sleeves
for conservation reasons.  We experimented for a couple of months with the
lighting conditions and are now using 4 Osram Dulux 24v bulbs which give a
warm, Tungsten-like light; baffles have been used to even out the light
across the entire table.  We have not experienced problems with reflection
from glass or melinex in the images.
Finally, we have made available detailed information, including the metadata
we are recording for digital photographs, in our faqs at
http://www.churchplansonline.org/.
Hope this is helpful
Best wishes
Sarah Wickham
Church Plans Online Project
Assistant Archivist
Lambeth Palace Library
London, SE1 7JU
http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org
http://www.churchplansonline.org

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