Camera attachment (new build, planning stage)

[onre]

Just an update...

Now, some 30.000 pages later, the scanner design still feels OK. Better glass for platen would be in order, because the kind I have now isn't really all that good.

Just a thought - what if I just used regular window glass and polarizing filters on cameras?

[dtic]

What is your take on the free hanging platen after so much use? Must even an experienced user concentrate to aim it at the middle of the bookspread on every pull down or do you get that right more or that automatically after some practice?

[jck57]

Have you considered foot treadle operation? Your design looks ideal for this.

[onre]

dtic, operating the free-hanging platen is very easy actually, it's as if the book pages somehow just guide it into right position. Hard to explain, must be tried out to understand how it feels like. Other users of this scanner found it easy, too. This is because you don't have to actually aim it, because it slides on pages. You can even use it to "flatten" the book a bit if the binding is tight and pages are slightly curved because of this.

jck57, that's actually what I originally planned But time ran a bit short, and I didn't have time to build the mechanism until the scanner had to be ready to be used, and what was supposed to be a "one weekend" project turned out to last seven months, the scanner hasn't still returned home... Foot-operable platen is on "wishlist" for the next, smaller version of the scanner.