Tips on photographing slabs? 1 1

[oldrover]

I have a scanner, but it comes out a bit blurry. And my iPhone takes a heckuva picture, but avoiding glare and my own reflection seems nigh unto impossible.

Recommendations? Apologize if this is the wrong forum.

 

[Bomber-Bob]

I think many of us have the same problem. To eliminate glare, it's obvious the book must be angled. I found that moving the book while it is upright is better than laying the book flat and trying to angle the camera. I like to tilt the book back and forth as oppossed to side to side. I got lucky on a couple pics with my camera that came out really good and I think the lighting situation helped. Bright, LED lighting seems to look sharper and more clear. WIsh I coule help more, it is a lot of trial and error. Each book seems to have it's own unique challenge.

[oldrover]

2 minutes ago, Bomber-Bob said:

I think many of us have the same problem. To eliminate glare, it's obvious the book must be angled. I found that moving the book while it is upright is better than laying the book flat and trying to angle the camera. I like to tilt the book back and forth as oppossed to side to side. I got lucky on a couple pics with my camera that came out really good and I think the lighting situation helped. Bright, LED lighting seems to look sharper and more clear. WIsh I coule help more, it is a lot of trial and error. Each book seems to have it's own unique challenge.

Yeah, I can see where LED would work better. Mrs. Rover cannot abide LED lights, so all my photos attempted at night have a yellow tinge, and during the day it is a real cr-pshoot as you inferred. I guess I should have bitten the bullet more often on the $5 CGC scan.

[comicdonna]

I use a combination of a little light from the windows, the ceiling lights on fairly low (not LED) and the flash.  I can usually get some good pics.  Never owned a scanner.  

[namisgr]

I use a scanner that doesn't make slabs look blurry.  

[oldrover]

5 minutes ago, namisgr said:

I use a scanner that doesn't make slabs look blurry.  

Don't tell me the brand or the model, though. That wouldn't be helpful at all.

Edited December 14, 2018 by oldrover

[oldrover]

17 minutes ago, comicdonna said:

I use a combination of a little light from the windows, the ceiling lights on fairly low (not LED) and the flash.

Interesting. I specifically was avoiding the flash. Have to try it. Thanks!

[somewhereintexas]

This thread has everything you could ever want to know about what scanners are good for CGC slabs.

 

[oldrover]

1 minute ago, somewhereintexas said:

This thread has everything you could ever want to know about what scanners are good for CGC slabs.

 

I saw this thread, looked into a few of the options. None of the recommended scanners were easily acquired or even available. The thread IS upwards of 10 years old.

[somewhereintexas]

 

14 minutes ago, oldrover said:

I saw this thread, looked into a few of the options. None of the recommended scanners were easily acquired or even available. The thread IS upwards of 10 years old.

The thread started in 2010, but is updated regularly.  Most of the scanners described are readily available on eBay, some costing more than others.  VueScan is pretty much a necessity, and the settings make a huge difference.  I have a scanner just like this one currently on eBay, and it works great!

Scanner Listing on eBay

Here is an example of a recent scan:

Edited December 14, 2018 by somewhereintexas

[Bomber-Bob]

1 hour ago, oldrover said:

 I guess I should have bitten the bullet more often on the $5 CGC scan.

Unfortunately, the CGC scans are not very good quality. The few I got had a small glare and made the book look dark and dingy. Here's a couple examples. 

 

[namisgr]

1 hour ago, oldrover said:

Don't tell me the brand or the model, though. That wouldn't be helpful at all.

You seemed set on taking photos.  And my comment is quite helpful, especially considering there are at least a half dozen threads on the boards already covering in much more depth than I could in a single post the merits of different scanner types and software.  Besides, the scanner I use is a multifunctional photoscanner (the Epson Perfection V600) that takes ultrahigh resolution scans of film negatives and 35 mm slides, and is more expensive than several scanners that work great just for slabs and documents.

And  to you, too.

Edited December 14, 2018 by namisgr

[SuperGrover]

I set up as far away as I comortably can and use the zoom on my camera (6ft or so). then if I need a flash the angle to miss the glare is minimal...

[oldrover]

54 minutes ago, somewhereintexas said:

 

The thread started in 2010, but is updated regularly.  Most of the scanners described are readily available on eBay, some costing more than others.  VueScan is pretty much a necessity, and the settings make a huge difference.  I have a scanner just like this one currently on eBay, and it works great!

Scanner Listing on eBay

Here is an example of a recent scan:

Thanks. That’s what I’m looking for!!!   

[oldrover]

9 minutes ago, namisgr said:

You seemed set on taking photos.  And my comment is quite helpful, especially considering there are at least a half dozen threads on the boards already covering in much more depth than I could in a single post the merits of different scanner types and software.  Besides, the scanner I use is a multifunctional photoscanner (the Epson Perfection V600) that takes ultrahigh resolution scans of film negatives and 35 mm slides, and is more expensive than several scanners that work great just for slabs and documents.

And  to you, too.

I was set on solving the problem in a reasonable fashion. I'm not a super tech guy... as my handle should indicate, I'm old.

Thankfully, I got a lot of helpful info, and somewhereintexas may have solved my problem for me, quite nicely.

So it's all good. And I didn't mean to hurt your feelings... I thought the smiley face would have indicated I was kidding. Which I was. I apologize for offending you.  

 

[BriD.]

I usually hold my camera sideways as if if recording a video and position the slab all the way to the right or left of the viewing screen. This way you can use the flash but it's off to the side and doesn't reflect directly off the slab. You'll get some glare on the edge but the pics usually come out pretty good. Then you just have to crop the photos after taking them. It's not perfect but it's decent  Here's an example - there's a little glare on the left side just above Jo-Jo that kind of looks like scratches. That's one thing I can't figure out how to stop. But at least you can't see my reflection in it or a big white spot.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2018 by BriD.
posted duplicate pics

[oldrover]

2 minutes ago, BriD. said:

I usually hold my camera sideways as if if recording a video and position the slab all the way to the right or left of the viewing screen. This way you can use the flash but it's off to the side and doesn't reflect directly off the slab. You'll get some glare on the edge but the pics usually come out pretty good. Then you just have to crop the photos after taking them. It's not perfect but it's decent  Here's an example - there's a little glare on the left side just above Jo-Jo that kind of looks like scratches. That's one thing I can't figure out how to stop. But at least you can't see my reflection in it or a big white spot.

 

 

Dang, that is clever. Great result, too! Thank you so much! I'm gonna test a few of these camera strategies out tomorrow before taking the plunge on another scanner.

[comicdonna]

Here's some old pics of books I no longer own.

[somewhereintexas]

12 minutes ago, oldrover said:

Dang, that is clever. Great result, too! Thank you so much! I'm gonna test a few of these camera strategies out tomorrow before taking the plunge on another scanner.

If you end up taking the plunge on another scanner, you can send me a PM for the VueScan settings I use.  I got them from the scanner thread, but at this point it would take a while for someone to dig up that post.  Otherwise it's quite a bit of trial and error to come up with good settings.

And while I'm thinking of it, another tip is to scan with the lid open.  That provides the black border you see in my scan, as opposed to the inside of the lid.

Edited December 14, 2018 by somewhereintexas

[oldrover]

3 minutes ago, somewhereintexas said:

If you end up taking the plunge on another scanner, you can send me a PM for the VueScan settings I use.  I got them from the scanner thread, but at this point it would take a while for someone to dig up that post.  Otherwise it's quite a bit of trial and error to come up with good settings.

Wow. I can’t thank you enough. Is the scanner compatible with older versions of Windows? I use Windows 7, trying desperately not to upgrade. LOL (actually it’s due to recording software I use)