digital camera for photographing 2 dimensional art

[kylkee@charter.net]

Hello, What digtial camera would you advise for photographing flat, 2D ,art? Would I need an additional lense? I would like to make prints up to 13x19 inches. Thank you! Kyle

[almo]

I would imagen that you would need to think about your final product to decide what's the best camera for you. If you just want a clear true to life image of your art then you could get away with a good quality P&S like a Canon G5, or a prosumer camera such as a K-M A200. If you want an extreamly high quality image then you need to look into a DSLR like the Canon 20D or the Nikon D1X.

Think about your specific needs then repost and maybe I can be of more help to you...;)

almo

[Sebastian]

Camera has very little to do with it, what you need is a good quality copy stand, designed specifically for making dupes of 2d artwork. Go to B&H through our partner links here and do a search for copy stands.

[almo]

Duh! I should'a mentioned that. I only shot flat art at a lab for 3 years.

Altough we used an old manual Nikon and velvia.

almo

[Flight]

Doesn't it have to do with the lens to make the photo flat. I read something about how the shape of the lens effecs the picture.

[almo]

If i remember we just used a 135mm prime. I never really paid that musc attention to the equipment, as I was just a fill in for the actual flat art guy.

almo

[Sebastian]

Some lenses tend to distort, either pincushion or barrel. Primes do so much less than zooms, but good zoom tend to do it less, and often has at least some range that is largely free of such distortions. Wide angles especially tend to distort, unless they are very well corrected. I think you will have to look at SLR systems and find a lens that has minimal distortion. Don't worry too much about the camera, old 35mm bodies can be found used in great shape, the lens and a good stand will dictate the quality here.

[hellinvader]

on 135mm format cameras, a 50mm prime lens is the NORMAL lens which produce no distortion and closest to human eye prespective. so i would say any SLR or high res. D-SLR w/ a gd 50mm lens and a copy stand would do the job.