Digital cameras that can take pics of print?

[Tommyturtle]

I sell things online...mostly printed materials...much of it is in odd sizes and am unable to use my scanner(collections...oversized books...things like that)

I do also occasionally sell other types of things depending on what I come across while looking for books so I really need a halfway decent camera too(I have two of them currently...unfortunately I bought cheap and got what I paid for)

I have been researching digital cameras online and have also checked other threads of people asking about digital cameras here too

I need to know...how many pixels do I need to take close ups of the title pages of old books(people like to KNOW the book I am selling was in fact published when I say it was...naturally enough)?

Some people get very picky about the condition of the books...comics...magazines and while I describe them accurately nothing beats allowing them to see for themselves any deal breaker flaws

I am not a big picture taker in my normal life and would just use the camera for my work so the storage media isn't too important to me since I take the pics then transfer them to my computer right away

Like I say earlier I am kind of a cheapskate but only because it seems like every year the cameras get better and better for the same price or less...I'd hate to pay big then later gnash my teeth seeing how good the new cameras are and so much cheaper too

It's bad enough I have to go through that with computers every year

So can I buy a camera in the $200-300 range that will do what I need?

And any suggestions as to which one you've had luck with personally?

Thanks

[RTFirefly]

I have an Olympus D-510 with 3X optical zoom, as well as digital zoom. It's nearly 2 years old, so you probably can't get that specific camera any more.

It can take a completely readable photo of a printed page. (Email me if you want me to email you an example or two.) Its resolution is 2.1 megapixels. You look through the digital camera ads in Best Buy and whatnot these days, and almost all the cameras you'll see there have that level of resolution. So you shouldn't have much trouble getting a camera in your price range that does what you want.

[Pergau]

I have a Nikon Coolpix 2100 2Megapixels (bought it about two months ago for about €200 and it takes perfect pictures of text - it even has a text photo mode.

I bet you could get away with a 1 megapixel camera but 2 would be great.

[handy]

Seeing as display monitors don't displaynet photos of more than 70-90dpi, a camera wouldn't need to be much greater than that......Of course, you have to get a tripod for a steady shot & a macro lens for closeups. I use a Fujufilm digital camera.

[Trigonal Planar]

I too have a Fuji digital camera and it has a "macro mode" setting. It can take fully screen-readable shots of text.

[heresiarch]

I was going to suggest a flatbed scanner ($80) until I noticed you would occasionally want to take pictures of other things. But a flatbed would still be easier and better for books, as long as it wouldn't damage the book's spine.

I agree that 2 megapixels is enough. Just keep the camera steady and try to use good, even lighting.

Also, your basic camera meter isn't too intelligent. It is programmed to let in a certain amount of light and doesn't understand that you have zoomed in on a white sheet of paper. You'll probably get better results if you overexpose the picture by a couple of stops. That might even help with the cheap cameras you already have.

[Tommyturtle]

Thanks for the advice on the cameras

You can find almost everything you want to know about these cameras except for what I really needed to know(the taking pics of print thing)

It's nice to know 2 pixels is all I really would need to take clear pictures of text

I did find one that I was leaning toward FINEPIX A303 (3.2MP, 2048x1536, 3x Opt, 16MB Pic Card) for less than $200 so the price was right and if I need to buy some extras for whatever reason it still won't go over my price range

The place I found it had 16 reviews written by other people who bought this particular camera and almost all of them gave it 5/5 stars...a few complained it didn't have more features but to me that is more of an advantage since I wasn't looking for all the bells and whistles in the first place

BTW Pergau I checked the camera you have and the cheapest place charges MORE than for the FINEPIX camera

Jeez things change so fast...I am going to be buying a new computer in the next couple weeks and am NOT looking forward to it...I just know that even before taking it out of the box I will hear about far better computers at a far cheaper prices and I'll be depressed thinking about it

Thanks guys...I knew this was the place to go to find out what I needed to know

[Pergau]

Tommyturtle, That's annoying because the Coolpix was cheaper (and only 2megapixels) than the finepix when I was buying.

Caveat emptor

[rjung]

2 megapixels is fine for what you need.
3 megapixels is great if you want to take 5" x 7" photos someday.
4 megapixels is great if you want to make poster-size prints.

(I'm mostly a "family photo" guy, but got a 4 megapixel camera so I won't be caught short if I want to do something really big and/or memorable)

[Tommyturtle]

Pergau Don't feel too bad...in ten years even better digital cameras will be the free prize in Cracker Jacks

Tell ya what...in a month when I begin to see better cameras cheaper than what I pay now I'll drink a beer in commiseration for the both of us

Skoal

[Pergau]

But will the beer be cheaper and better than the stuff you can buy now?