Martin Evans
New member
A while ago my university library at last permitted readers to take photographs of printed material in the library collections. For years the Cambridge University Library had resisted any form of copying, except that done by the library's own photographic unit, in spite of the fact that the National Archives in Britain had for several years been encouraging researchers to use their own cameras in preference to the photocopy machines.
Now we can photograph documents etc, but the camera must be completely silent - which rules out the usual DSLR, with its noisy mirror. The rule about silence is strictly enforced. I generally use an old Canon A620 compact, as all the synthesized shutter clicks etc can be turned off. One day I had forgotten to turn off the very faint 'shutter click' that my wife likes to have on. It was almost inaudible, yet one of the reading room staff came across and admonished me!
Can anyone suggest a somewhat better alternative to the A620? Its low-light sensitivity is barely able to cope with the dim lighting in the "Rare Documents" room. I would like a bit better resolution than its 7 MegPx, - perhaps an APS C sensor. One needs a lens that will autofocus, fairly fast and accurately in poor light, onto smallish parts of a page or document: say about 3 x 5 inches. Fast lenses are not necessary: one needs the DoF that modest apertures give. Needless to say, flash is totally forbidden and one must hand-hold the camera - no tripod or monopod allowed. I am not interested in top-end 'pro' grade cameras: they are too expensive for a retired academic to contemplate!
I don't mean to exclude Canon and Nikon brands - it's just that I assume that all their interchangeable lens cameras will be DSLRs with non-silent mirrors.
Forgive this simple-minded question. For the past 50 years my main camera has always been a Pentax SLR - currently the nice K-x - so I have virtually no experience of any alternatives.
Thanks,
Martin
Now we can photograph documents etc, but the camera must be completely silent - which rules out the usual DSLR, with its noisy mirror. The rule about silence is strictly enforced. I generally use an old Canon A620 compact, as all the synthesized shutter clicks etc can be turned off. One day I had forgotten to turn off the very faint 'shutter click' that my wife likes to have on. It was almost inaudible, yet one of the reading room staff came across and admonished me!
Can anyone suggest a somewhat better alternative to the A620? Its low-light sensitivity is barely able to cope with the dim lighting in the "Rare Documents" room. I would like a bit better resolution than its 7 MegPx, - perhaps an APS C sensor. One needs a lens that will autofocus, fairly fast and accurately in poor light, onto smallish parts of a page or document: say about 3 x 5 inches. Fast lenses are not necessary: one needs the DoF that modest apertures give. Needless to say, flash is totally forbidden and one must hand-hold the camera - no tripod or monopod allowed. I am not interested in top-end 'pro' grade cameras: they are too expensive for a retired academic to contemplate!
I don't mean to exclude Canon and Nikon brands - it's just that I assume that all their interchangeable lens cameras will be DSLRs with non-silent mirrors.
Forgive this simple-minded question. For the past 50 years my main camera has always been a Pentax SLR - currently the nice K-x - so I have virtually no experience of any alternatives.
Thanks,
Martin