Help verify my design

[kentsin]

As shown in the draft, it is a frame with two camera mount. The main structure is like a ladder. Book is hold by hand under the v-shape acrylic. The two camera mount is buy from the market.

All angles are 90 degrees. The lamp is come with the camera mount, I planned to place them on the top of the ladder.

The camera mount is the one from a copy stand which identical to the one show in the portable scanner thread, I buy two from taobao.com. They are mounted by the screw on the bottom to the ladder.

The two arcylic is mount to the ladder with screws.

I want to build it with Aluminum.

Will this work?

Thanks

[spamsickle]

Kentsin, it should work. I wonder how you're attaching the cameras to the ladder. If it's really a standard ladder, the steps will be horizontal, and if the camera is pointing horizontal, it won't be photographing the book. But if you have already worked that out, and the cameras are aimed perpendicular to the legs of the ladder, it should work fine I think.

[kentsin]

The camera mount actually is taking out from a copy stand. It is exactly the same shown in the thread below

http://www.diybookscanner.org/forum/vie ... rt=10#p285

Which designed to mount the camera facing down 90 degree. So, if the v-cardle is 90 degree, which means the camera is facing the book.

Can someone give me a rough idea about the size? I got two 2nd hand canon 350D. Which can operated with a infrared remote control.

[Cabe]

Kentsin, I really would use a wired remote. On my 300d the IR remote is hit and miss unless you are basically looking straight down the lens.

http://martybugs.net/photography/remote.cgi

It is then just a matter of Y-Splitting the cable to both cameras.

[kentsin]

Thank you for the remote control. Is it plug in to middle plug under the video ?

I found one problem of the design : the camera mount is not 90 degree, if the page size change, I need to change the position of the camera. Then the v cardle should change the vertical position to adjust for the new position of the cameras.

If I separate the two, then I really need to make sure the two separate part are 90 degrees in relation, which may be not so easy to sync.

I need to change the design again,.

Thanks

[Cabe]

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/mg.maestro ... Manual.pdf

Page 12 details the precise location, but yes, its the one between the video and USB sockets.

[sixtysix]

complete newbie here so apologies if these questions have already been asked.

is there any reason why you could not use two camera tripods as a camera mount?

e.g http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4758

if using two cameras do you need two switches?

is this an example of a switch?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15042

thanks

[daniel_reetz]

Hey SixtySix,

Welcome to the forums!! Well, if you're a complete newbie I suggest you read through the original Instructable and all comments there -- most every noobie question is answered there.

You could use tripods, but most of us are interested in a more stable solution. The idea is not to hack something together to scan one book one time, but rather to hack something together to scan dozens or hundreds of books reliably. As far as the remote goes, that might work, if the camera supports it, or maybe if you connected two IR leds to the remote and pointed one at each camera. But SDM + a battery box/switch is our current fave.

[spamsickle]

Sixtysix, while I'm in the process of building a second-generation scanner on which the cameras will be attached to the platen, the first scanner I built (and the one I'm still using) has cameras on tripods. It also has a platen which is not attached to anything (I just lay it in the book), and a v-shaped cradle for the book which doesn't move at all. I'm still manually pushing buttons on both cameras to snap the pictures.

And it all works great.

I started out without Powershots, and in fact had two different makes of cameras. That worked fine too, but I got two Powershots for the still-under-construction scanner, and am currently using them on the tripod setup.

One thing that I've found helps in getting quick consistency is to get everything set up correctly (white balance, manual exposure, manual zoom, manual focus), and then save all those settings in the camera's "Custom" setting.

One thing I've discovered about my Powershot's "Custom" setting is that two things will cause me to drop out of "Custom setting" mode:

1. The "powersaver" function of the camera turns off the display.
2. I switch briefly from "Shoot" mode to "View" mode to verify that the previous picture was good.

In both cases, simply turning the camera off and back on (with the mode selection dial set to "C") gets me back where I want to be.

I think most point-and-shoot digitals these days have a custom mode, and I recommend spending a little time with the manual to figure out how to use yours. It's really saved me a lot of time.

[Turtle]

... Book is hold by hand under the v-shape acrylic...

This design will work but...1st issue is that holding a book up against the platen will get your arms tired. Second, each book must press flat against the platen. Third, you'll need a third hand to press the trigger button.