I need to photograph my drawings

[margherita]

I make drawings on hand made paper. I want to be able to photograph them myself to make my own files and to be able to send to news paper magazines or print in a best quality catalog.
Once in a while I need to make a poster out of these photographs.

Is a Nikon 40D enough for that?

Which other camera should I choose ?

Please send me your advice or experience

Thanks Margherita

[Norm in Fujino]

I make drawings on hand made paper. I want to be able to photograph them myself to make my own files and to be able to send to news paper magazines or print in a best quality catalog.
Once in a while I need to make a poster out of these photographs.


That depends on how big the drawings are. If they're small enough drawings, it would probably be easier and cheaper to buy a scanner for high quality reproductions. The biggest problem is the fact that at close range with a camera you're shooting a flat surface with a lens that is going have curvature to it; the center and edges of the drawing are different distances from the sensor, so there may be some issue getting both in focus. In that sense, it's easier to photograph large paintings since all else being equal the camera is farther away from the surface and it tends to flatten things out. A tripod or copy stand will let you use smaller fstops for dof while preventing camera shake with the resulting slower exposures. Also, light them from the side if you want greatest 3d effect.

[margherita]

Hello from cambodia, Thanks so much for the response.
I have some small drawings but most of them are quite big (2m40X1m20). They have alot of texture since the paper is not flat and the drawing is very minute.

What camera and lenses do you advice to me?

[coldrain]

The camera body is not the most important choice here.
The lens is a lot more important... You will need a sharp lens, with good conrast and little barrel distortion, and little light fall off towards the edges.

3 candidates come to mind.

The Olympus 7-14mm wide angle zoom. Expensive, but very good. No distortion to speak of, very sharp.

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-5.6 USM. No distortion again, it does have light fall off but that is in a very gradual manner, so it will not interfere much.

The Tokina 12-24mm f4. The most affordabel of the bunch. Has some barrel distortion at the widest setting, but way less than kit lenses, and it improves a lot when you zoom in a little bit. No light fall off, very contrasty and sharp.

The Nikon D40 will not be a good candidate, as it will not be able to use any of above lenses with autofocus. The only lens that will mount is the Tokina, but then without autofocus.

Better choices will be:
Olympus E-500/400 with Olympus 7-14mm lens.
Canon XT with Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens.
Canon XT with Tokina 12-24mm lens. (cheapest option I guess).

I am guessing that your budget is not all that big, that is why I limit my camera choices to these cheaper models.

I have been photographing paintings for someone, and the best way to make photos of them I have found is to do it in indirect sunny day light.
Set your custom white balance on a white piece of paper, at the same direction to the light as the drawing is that you are trying to photograph.
Set your camera to M (Manual). Set the aperture you need for depth of field (5.6 to f8 will do most probably with these wide angle zooms).
Then get something that is a midtone, and place it against the drawing, to set the correct exposure (meaning, you change the shutter speed till the camera says the exposure and aperture settings will give a correct exposure on the mid tone you are metering on).

Then you will have good settings to photograph your drawing. If the light stays the same, you can photograph many drawings without having to change the camera settings.

The wide angle lenses will give you the ability to photograph your bigger pieces, and their low barrel distortion will mean you will not end up with distorted drawings.

[tim11]

Margherita,
Not often we get a Hello from Cambodia. But margherita is not a Khmer name, is it? What kind of drawings are you making? Ancient temples? Apsara? Or paddy field with sweet palm trees?
I don't have any additional comments for your need; but Coldrain sort of covered it all. He knows his stuff.
I long to go back photographing that beautiful land of my birth. I was there Jan 2004 but it was before I knew anything about photography so another visit is now called for. Hope all is well over there?

[margherita]

Thank You very much to take your time for deep explanation I am going now out in the city and see if anything you adviced me is available. If you like to visit my website you can go to www.margheritadelbalzo.com click on french flag (the other languages are not ready...
Thanks again Margherita

The camera body is not the most important choice here.
The lens is a lot more important... You will need a sharp lens, with good conrast and little barrel distortion, and little light fall off towards the edges.

3 candidates come to mind.

The Olympus 7-14mm wide angle zoom. Expensive, but very good. No distortion to speak of, very sharp.

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-5.6 USM. No distortion again, it does have light fall off but that is in a very gradual manner, so it will not interfere much.

The Tokina 12-24mm f4. The most affordabel of the bunch. Has some barrel distortion at the widest setting, but way less than kit lenses, and it improves a lot when you zoom in a little bit. No light fall off, very contrasty and sharp.

The Nikon D40 will not be a good candidate, as it will not be able to use any of above lenses with autofocus. The only lens that will mount is the Tokina, but then without autofocus.

Better choices will be:
Olympus E-500/400 with Olympus 7-14mm lens.
Canon XT with Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens.
Canon XT with Tokina 12-24mm lens. (cheapest option I guess).

I am guessing that your budget is not all that big, that is why I limit my camera choices to these cheaper models.

I have been photographing paintings for someone, and the best way to make photos of them I have found is to do it in indirect sunny day light.
Set your custom white balance on a white piece of paper, at the same direction to the light as the drawing is that you are trying to photograph.
Set your camera to M (Manual). Set the aperture you need for depth of field (5.6 to f8 will do most probably with these wide angle zooms).
Then get something that is a midtone, and place it against the drawing, to set the correct exposure (meaning, you change the shutter speed till the camera says the exposure and aperture settings will give a correct exposure on the mid tone you are metering on).

Then you will have good settings to photograph your drawing. If the light stays the same, you can photograph many drawings without having to change the camera settings.

The wide angle lenses will give you the ability to photograph your bigger pieces, and their low barrel distortion will mean you will not end up with distorted drawings.

[margherita]

Yes it is an italian name... I have been drawing landscapes inspired by temples, now I am drawing portraits. You are welcome to visit my site: www.margheritadelbalzo.com (please go to french flag..the others are nor ready):)There is a lot about Burkina (where I lived for 7 years) and Cambodia where I am now living.
Cambodia is beautiful and there are young photographers here in Phnom penh. The FCC gallery and Java gallery and Meta house have nice exhibitions and there is also the Ängkor Photography festival every year. Think about it!
Cheers and let me know when you decide to come to Cambodia
Margherita,
Not often we get a Hello from Cambodia. But margherita is not a Khmer name, is it? What kind of drawings are you making? Ancient temples? Apsara? Or paddy field with sweet palm trees?
I don't have any additional comments for your need; but Coldrain sort of covered it all. He knows his stuff.
I long to go back photographing that beautiful land of my birth. I was there Jan 2004 but it was before I knew anything about photography so another visit is now called for. Hope all is well over there?