Reproducing Old Photographs

[antique]

I have hundreds of old photo prints but unfortunately no negatives for these. Is it possible to set up a tripod and take photos of these with my digital camera so that I can download them onto my pc? I realize the quality won't be great, but they would only be shared with family and I can't afford to have them reproduced professionally and can't invest in a flatbed scanner because I just purchased a slide scanner for the other half of my project, which was to scan thousands of 35mm slides. Any suggestions out there on a solution to my dilemma would be most welcome!

[rsimmons]

Well, I don't know your budget, but you can get a flatbed for less than a hundred bucks these days. And believe it or not, I went to Staples one day and got a refurbished HP something (I can't remember the model) for $25 that scanned just as well. i used that one for when I had to travel and scan stuff. People return stuff all the time. I don't know if you have a Microcenter or Compusa near you, but they put returns on the table and mark them pretty cheap.

[Medley]

It's not only possible, but may archives use this method for storing photos of paintings, tintypes, and any other media that doesn't lend itself to flatbed scanning. A couple of points to consider:

1) realize that the photos are probably going to need some editing (cropping at the very least). Take the photos in RAW format, if possible, to maximize the editing potential.

2) There is some form of table form built for this exact purpose (as opposed to a tripod). It would also not be hard to fabricate one (I'm guessing).

Actually, I've done this sort of thing at a family picnic using a 4mp point and shoot (in jpg format) using a white napkin as a backdrop. While not very professional, it was good enough to be able to hang some prints on the wall.

-Joe U.