Has anyone tried to shoot a pic of the screen on a microfilm viewer? The result I'm getting with a microfilm printer doesn't seem to be as good as the image I see on the screen. Has anyone tried using a digital cam for this? Can it be done? What equipment do I need?

-- Ted Schmitz (tvschmitz@zianet.com), June 18, 2000

Answers

Yes - 0ddly enough I did try this and got pretty lousy results too.
The problem is that our eyes have much more exposure lattitude than does film or a digital camera. The illumination on the cheap microfiche viewer is extremely uneven - very bright in the center and about 5 stops different on the edge. Remove the image and just do a light meter reading on the illuminated screen to see my point.
Fortunately I had only a few items I needed - so I was able to make due. If you have any volume of stuff you would like to do you may want to make sure you:

• Turn all the lights out in the room
• Clean the screen and the light source

Depending on the unit you may be able to install a smaller - frosted bulb to try to even out the illumination in the light chamber. You may be able to put a small piece of frosted glass in there, or simply try moving the bulb around. Use a light meter on the screen (with no fiche in place) to fenagle it so you have the most even illumination possible.

Des

-- Dan Desjardins (dan.desjardins@avstarnews.com), June 18, 2000.

How about a snoot or hood for the camera? You can easily knock one up out of black card or cartridge paper. This'll save working in the dark, and it'll steady the camera and keep it at the right distance from the screen. Remember to switch the flash off on the camera! :^)

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), June 19, 2000.