Taking pictures of or scanning old pictures

[terrypatrick]

What is best?

I have a ton of old pictures that we just found. Should I buy a good scanner and scan them or take a picture of them and try to improve them through photoshop?

thanks...

[andrewrodney]

Re: Taking pictures of or scanning old pictures

You'd be surprised at the quality of a good copy setup with a decent DSLR (I use a Canon 5DMII). No it's not true, non interpolated color but man, it's fast. With the right setup, you'll capture far more images than scanning. Much depends on the quality of the originals and what you hope to do with the captures. 1:1 is no issue. Shot them in raw, process in Lightroom which will allow you to do a lot of batch work.

[Tony W]

Re: Taking pictures of or scanning old pictures

While it can be convenient if you already have a scanner as Andrew said a good DSLR and lens is capable of producing excellent results.

It can also offer some advantages such as not being limited by the scan bed size so you can copy any size artwork. Having a 'ton' of images to copy suggests that DSLR may be the best way to tackle this type of job.

If you are really going to be doing a lot then you really should invest in a copy stand and lighting - or better yet fabricate your own it is quite simple to do and will save a lot of money. Have a look at the attachment for something that should be easy to copy. An old enlarger bought cheaply can form the basis of a good copy stand after you figure out the best way to attach the camera to the vertical arm after head removal