Minimum Camera for Book Scanning

[homgran]

Does anyone have any experience with the Canon SD780 IS? I've noticed that it is listed as "supported" with CHDK, but it's current status is "beta".

It looks like a pretty nice camera (12.1MP, which is ~340dpi on an A4-sized page), but I can't find any specific details regarding remote-triggering and image uploading.

[daniel_reetz]

There's an SDM yahoo group ( http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/StereoDataMaker/ ) -- if anyone has used it for stereo photography, they are likely to be there. Please let us know if you find out more on any specific camera -- replacing the A590 as the camera of choice is a priority at the moment.

I've personally used the SX200, A590, A530, A540, and all are OK, provided the resolution is OK for the given page size.

I've also helped with porting the SD630 (I think it's unsuitable), and used Casio EX-F1 and EXF100 as well as the Nokia N900 and now a Motorola Droid. All of these are OK in a pinch but unsuitable for the main design on this forum.

[homgran]

Thanks for the info, Daniel!

I stumbled upon this video on YouTube earlier on today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaKrMdCFdMU

It would appear that the "Image Capture" application (which is built-in to OS X) allows for remote control of compatible cameras. Tethered shooting, automatic downloading to a user-prescribed directory (and, depending on how you set it up, automatic deletion from the SD card), ...etc. This sounds like quite a nice alternative for people who already have a Mac, since it pretty-much negates the need for CHDK. I guess this also means that you're no longer limited to just Canon cameras.

The only problem is that I couldn't find a definitive list of cameras that are compatible with Image Capture...

[daniel_reetz]

There's one other problem, which is that Canon has been removing the remote control feature from their compact cameras -- it's called "PTP". Some new models may not work.

Good luck, looking forward to hearing what you discover!

[Aegre Reminiscens]

Hey,

now, finally, I have the financials clear and nice. So I am able to afford a Bookscanner. YEAH!

I am still thinking about Cameras. I live in Germany, and I have 400€ in total. 50€ for Material and Lights, so I can spend 350€ on my two Cameras.

What I dont understand: There is this new software in beta stadium, which helps a lot with the Work after Scanning. It uses GPhoto2. There is a list of Cameras which are compatible to GPhoto2, but none of the compatible Cameras are listed on the CHDK-List

Does GPhoto2 needs CHDK to remote control my cameras? Is every CHDK-compatible Camera usable with this "new Software" ?
Can I trigger a CHDK-Camera without Computer?
Can somebody give me a tip or an advice which camera to buy? I want at least 8MP, better would be 10, because I'll be scanning a lot of A4-Papers.

I want to make the experiment of the "Paperless Bachelor" by scanning all Books I need and carry them on my Notebook. Every Paper that I got will be scanned, and everything I'll write down will be either scanned or written on the Computer. The aim is to carry never a sheet of Paper or a Book back to the University. I just wanna grab my notebook and wanna have every infromation I ever got/need/have with me.

Cheers Aegre Reminiscens

PS: I'll be studying Communicationmanagement by 1st of September

[daniel_reetz]

So, you have two paths.

1. You control your cameras with CHDK/SDM. The reason for using SDM or CHDK is to trigger your two cameras at the same time. Since CHDK/SDM is a custom firmware that is loaded on the camera, it has nothing to do with unloading the images. The triggering is achieved with a 5 volt pulse over the USB port.

2. You control your cameras with GPHOTO2. Gphoto2 is not compatible with CHDK or SDM, because when you have your cameras running CHDK or SDM they do not communicate over PTP (the protocol Gphoto2 uses to speak to your cameras over USB). Triggering is achieved by sending a PTP command over the USB port. A nice thing about Gphoto2 is that you can unload your images from the camera using Gphoto2. A disadvantage is that the unloading process is slow.

[translucent1]

2. You control your cameras with GPHOTO2. Gphoto2 is not compatible with CHDK or SDM, because when you have your cameras running CHDK or SDM they do not communicate over PTP (the protocol Gphoto2 uses to speak to your cameras over USB). Triggering is achieved by sending a PTP command over the USB port. A nice thing about Gphoto2 is that you can unload your images from the camera using Gphoto2. A disadvantage is that the unloading process is slow.

Last week I was looking for info on using CHDK and gphoto2 at the same time, and google failed me (either nobody has tried this, or it's completely obvious), so I just went ahead and tried it. Everything seemed to work fine EXCEPT that the camera kept shutting down after a certain period of time (approx 10 minutes). I suspect this problem has something to do with running the camera from the DC power adapter (no batteries in the camera), but I'm really not sure. I was able to capture and download images with gphoto2 while the camera was running CHDK, so I'm pretty sure it's possible to get the combination working.

[Misty]

2. You control your cameras with GPHOTO2. Gphoto2 is not compatible with CHDK or SDM, because when you have your cameras running CHDK or SDM they do not communicate over PTP (the protocol Gphoto2 uses to speak to your cameras over USB). Triggering is achieved by sending a PTP command over the USB port. A nice thing about Gphoto2 is that you can unload your images from the camera using Gphoto2. A disadvantage is that the unloading process is slow.

gphoto2 also supports MTP (which is an official extension of PTP) and PictBridge in addition to PTP. I'm not sure if PictBridge support is fully featured, but it looks like some PowerShot models support that. Maybe they can be used gphoto2 that way? It does look like the A590 and A4xx cameras support PictBridge.

[Tim]

While this thread is active, I just wanted to post links to two other camera related threads for people that want the information. They cover a lot of settings related topics, but would be useful in selecting cameras as well. Daniel had posted these in another thread and I thought they would be useful here:
http://diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=65
http://diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=75

Specifically related to this thread, one of the important bits from those threads is that the some of the A series powershots have real apertures as opposed to the SD series powershots that likely just use a ND filter to block out light to mimic a smaller aperture. Here is the post that as of that time listed the camera with real aperture settings:
http://diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtop ... &t=75#p767

Also of note is that the SD series cameras don't have an input jack for AC power, they require a type of battery compartment adapter, which are quite a bit more expensive even on ebay. I think that's true across the board for the SD series.

Overall then if you're searching Ebay or Craigslist for cameras, the A series seems to be better if you find one with a resolution that seems appropriate. As Daniel mentioned in the first post in this thread, look for SDM/CHDK compatibility first of course. I've found Craigslist is a pretty good source for camera listings lately. I've seen an A590 listed for $125 and several A series for less.

[smartechs]

It is really easy to connect a power adapter to a camera that doesn't have a dc jack. Just manually solder the wires from the dc adapter to the camera and there is no need for batteries.