General Chat

Last winter whilst in England I started to visit my local county archives and found some very interesting family documents. I attempted to photograph them with my own digital camera and the results were very disappointing.
As this site is so helpful just hoping someone out there can advise me what camera or other equipement they use or would advise me to buy for my continued visits this next winter.
I also want to photograph or record what I find in the old copies of the local newspapers.
Anything I buy needs to be simple as I am not very technically minded!! thanks guys any help would be appreciated. Cindi

usually I find the Records centres have photo copying facilities . and you can get help there with the best way to get a good image. The copies range from 10p to 50p per copy so cheaper than buying films.

i have got good copies of Parish records from the late 1700,s that no way would have photographed well These were so old you couldn't view the originals anyway but they were on microfiche

Shirley
sorry yoy have misunderstood my question. The documents are not able to be photocopied and even with my own camera it cost me £5.00 to take a photograph hence my question. The documents consisted of 4 seperate articles and I just thought a good piece of equipment for these legal papers and others in the future might be a wise investment. Also the newspapers in a different building on film were not able to be copied -- so back to my original question does anyone have experience of working with old newspapers and documents of considerable age that can be photographed with the right piece of equipment. Thanks Cindi

Ah.... then your question wasn't very clear... I immediately thought the same as Shirley! So we both, erm, misunderstood.

I have taken some excellent photographs of old documents and yellowed newspapers myself, and all I used was my little digital camera... it cost about £80 and was the highest whatsit you could get at the time... 10 mega pixels, but I know they do them with a greater megapixel now. I used a variety of settings... and found that macro worked on some of the smaller docs... and the rest I just used the universal setting. I had some success with the sport setting as well... if you have a problem with shaky hands it seems to work well, but be prepared for 30 shots of the same thing if you are slow at taking your finger from the trigger.

I would suggest you pop along with your equipment into places with similar lighting and conditions, and taking bits of stuff you already own, so that you can practice with your camera before needing it in the winter.

Daff

**pulls tongues at Daff** Actually I thought Cindi was very clear and I understood her perfectly.....does that mean I qualify for Mensa? ;)

I've taken photographs in my local Record Office but had to take a few shots before getting the results I wanted. I was lucky because it was near a window so very light. I have more problems taking photographs inside when there's not much light and get camera shake sometimes.

So I'm very interested in any suggestions too. :)))))

well our local FamilyArchives/ Records centre doesnt allow cameras ,if you do get old documents up from the archives you have to put them on a special stand and wear white gloves and be very careful turning the sheets

Some Workhouse original records i looked at i had to write down the info as no copyng facility was available for them

*sticks tongue back out* well I must have my chemo fog thing going on, cos I thought exactly the same as Shirley... and I feel so stupid when someone I have given info to then tells me that I have misunderstood.......... Of course, I would usually say, in those circumstances, sorry, I haven't worded that very well, thank you for replying, rather than YOU have misinterpreted. But maybe I have a grumpy head on...

And yep... you are definitely Mensa material ;¬))) Mwah!

my experience has been that local archives haven't wanted me to photograph many of the documents they have... the flash deteriorates the original or something. My experience comes from the ones that folk have shown me that they have got themselves, and the light has been horrendous... but I was lucky enough to be able to try lots of settings before getting what I wanted....

Also, my mother has loads of old *newspaper cuttings* with things like birth marriage and death notices, of my uncle getting a special art award when he was 14, etc etc etc....that she has paid the local rag to photocopy for her..... they must use a small independent scan... we used to have one that just sort of *walked* over the page, many years ago... well, before Princess Di died, as that was the last thing we scanned with it... because they don't send her the page, just the section she wants and the quantity she asks for

I don't understand all the techie stuff either..... the sports thing was as a result of littlie fiddling with the camera, so I have used it for some great action shots... and brilliant for taking close ups of flowers nodding in the breeze with bees perched on them! To me, the secret would be to try to re-create the conditions... go into a church on a dull day with and old yellowed document of your own, and take different shots using different settings....... take a notebook with you (actually, go into properties and settings etc on the photo, and it will tell you what you have used, these days) That way, you don't waste time practicing... you can just get straight on and take the photos when you are doing it *for real*

Good luck

Love

Daff

~~Daff~~~

I don't think I've used my flash in the archives.....It's probably not allowed but because of the reasons you've mentioned I wouldn't use it anyway. We're quite lucky because of the Natural light if (it's daylight that is).

I asked about photographing a particular document because it wasn't on microfilm and because the book was too fragile to photocopy. However, they didn't charge me £5 EEK! so fortunately I could practice lol

lol...pity it wasn't you issuing Mensa certificates....lol

One of my old digital cameras, you couldn't stop the flash... it automatically used it if the light wasn't good. But the two I have now you can switch the flash off. My Canon SLR is too heavy to hold without shaking if the light is poor though, while it focuses, so then I need the tripod, or to make sure that I have a sturdy surface to rest on, and my little camera will shake a bit, too... have recently discovered an anti-shake thingy on it, but haven't tried it yet.

£5 does seem rather a lot to charge, doesn't it? I don't know at all if there is a way to photograph films mind..... is that negatives or fische (sp) film, I wonder?

Love

Daff xxxxx

I assumed it was the microfilm/microfiche which you read of the monitors. I've seen people photograph them at our local record office although I've always taken prints - maybe I should take my camera lol

To all of you that has responded- thank you. Yes I used my own digital camera and I did not shake and I had to wear white gloves as the document was placed between special covers/protectors and the man in charge took each sheet out of the protector to be filmed. If the library did the photographs they would cost £10.00 each sheet and if I wanted them transcribed it would cost me a further £20-50 pounds. My idea was to read them at my leisure but all 30 shots I took did not work.
Not sure whether I can get any help with copies of the newspapers as the girls at the small local library were not even sure how the machine worked so I think I stand very little chance there! It was little announcements from papers in 1860's I attempted to photograph without sucess but I will invest in a new digital camera as ours is a few years old.
Again thank you and sorry if I offended Shirley by saying she had misunderstood people must be getting very touchy on this site these days. Cindi

You will also need a small tripod for your camera.so you can take the pics properly.

These tripods that fit screw into the bottom of the digital cameras are only £1 from Poundland shops are they are very good tripods.

Took mine to Dublin and took photos of documents that came out ok.

Cindi, it wasn't Shirley who was offended. I was the one who was a bit miffed at the insensitivity of the way you replied by turning the answer that was given into Shirley's (and mine, as I had interpreted you question in the same way) problem of misinterpretation, straight away... rather than acknowledging that just maybe you hadn't worded it in a way that was easily understood... or is easy to misunderstand!... it is a classic way of passing the buck, and not accepting even basic responsibilty!! So I feel that your reply in the first instance was a bit rude... the *you misunderstood* bit got my back up... I am over it now, but still feel you could have worded your response a little better. I have begun to get just a little bit fed up when people do not use courtesy.... so yep, I am touchy, if you like. But not Shirley. She wasn't touchy at all. Just me. Ce la Vie.

I certainly wasnt touchy but I think you could have explained things a bit better I replied according to my experience of using several Archives, I dont live in the area my families came from so have done some travelling to read parish records in other Records Offices like Chelmsford Essex .National Archives AND even done some at the local Archives in Medway Kent where I now live, for others who I have found a distant connection too.
I read it that you had found famliy record info and had photo'd them but they didnt come too well, I too found 1700 marriages and baptisms and burials at the Chelmsford Records office and was able to get photo copies.so was giving my take on your query

Ok sorry for all of you that thought I was rude. Why Espana came into the subject I have no idea. I know one thing I will think twice before I even think of asking for help in the future as I can do without so much agro. Cindi

Sue in Leeds

Thank you very much will find a Pound shop when back in Uk and hopefully I will have more success next visits. Cindi