I'm looking at digital cameras, but need some additional advice. I want a camera that will take pics of documents that I can then read at a later time. What kind of things should I look for in a digital camera as a result?
I figure a high megapixel is needed, but when I tried a Kodak 5MP, it didn't perform like I wanted. Anyone know anything about this and can offer some ideas?
As with most things in life - you've got to decide on a budget: how much you willing to spend?
I was in a similar situation to you... wanting to buy a digi camera but knew very little about them.
In the end i bought a Fuji 410 for £150 (there was a sale in a local shop, £100 off - my eyes lit up!) Its 3.1 mp, very small and light and has its own rechargable battery. I'm very happy with it. it also uses those new XD memory cards -appearently they can store more pictures and won't drain the battery.
Bob is right visit the experts but make sure you know what you want first.
Leave it to Bob to be the paragon of helpfulness.
I guess I was looking for any first-hand accounts on these things. Unfortunately, to see if it will do what I want, I have to use the thing and we have a lack of camera shops around here.
I tried taking pics of documents with mine and it doesn't work quite well, although it all depends on the size of the letter. For the average 12pt size letter, it still looks kinda blurry when you take a picture of a document, even if you have a tripod that will hold your camera still.
The best thing to take pictures of documents is definitely a scanner, but for something that you can carry anywhere a 5MP or 6MP might be the best. For best results on taking pics of documents, it would probably be better to take pics of different parts of the document and put the pieces together in Photoshop. Although it can be kind of annoying and it takes a bit of time.
deleted user 03.08.2004 09:20
You are not getting into the spy game are you Zeni? ;)
ive the same as agneepath! ish. very good camera- im pleased. but i dont think its what you need. seriously, go in with your desired spec in your hand and say to the guy 'this is what i want'
I was considering the Spy Game, but announcing it on a public notice board probably blew my cover.
I plan on using it to help my research and try to save some valuable time. I did not think about taking multiple pics of a document and try to piece them together, Danny, so that was helpful. I suppose getting a high megapixel and making sure the macro setting worked well would be necessay.
The only things I really pay attention to when I look for camera's is the optical zoom and megapixels. I'm personally hoping to purchase
atleast a 5 megapixel camera with a decent optical zoom when the prices drop a bit more.
My old camera is 1 megapixel. The quality is rather 'ouch'. So anything is an improvement.
I agree.
My camera is 3X optical zoom, and though is not that bad I wish I had a 10X when I went to the zoo so I could have taken awesome picks of all the animals. Some of them were kinda far and they can barely be seen on the pics.
I have a 3.2 Megapixel, but I don't feel the necessity to get one with higher pixel resolution.
I think most important is the optical zoom. I wouldn't buy a camera with less than 8x optical zoom. Megapixels are not THAT important. I have a 3.2 megapixel Olympus camera and it's sufficient (just imagine that - 2000x1500 resolution is IMO much bigger than it's necessary).
But I assume that the higher megapixel helps with clarity. Again, I need to be able to read documents I take pictures of, and that's more important to me than landscapes or portraits. Anyone know if a higher megapixel is going to help there?
And a question about digital zoom. How helpful is that?
In this case higher resolution of megapixels would really help.
Although blurring of possible camera movement while shooting is another issue. So it's important to hold the camera very still since it's a document with small print the one that is being photographed.
As I mentioned before, a tripod or a holding device like that would be very helpful as well.
The best advice would be Bob's... Go to a camera shop and ask a sales person who knows about digital cameras.
Sometimes in stores like Best Buy or Circuit City they have cameras up for display and testing. So you can bring a document there and see which camera works the best for you.
Also avoid a camera that needs AA batteries. That'll increase its weight and its a hassle to replace / recharge.
Try to look for a camera that has its own Lithium-ion battery.
Digital zoom is senseless, I don't think I ever used it.
With 3 megapixels you can perfectly take high resolution photos of documents. The only problem is that you have to hold the camera very carefully and not to move it at all otherwise the scan will be blurred.