Adventures with Microfiche

[Hasher]

Hi all

So I'm playing with Microfiche over the festive break it saves me getting fat (or fatter) on the Xmas feast Today I Mcgyvered a microfiche scanner using an old microfiche machine , cut the top off with a table saw (good fun) and made a basic camera stand above it .Between the Lens and the camera is a opaque panel that I project the image onto. From this I took some pics with a basic point and shoot camera

Below are some results . I haven't played with settings on the camera and I am still manually clicking the camera , but I run out of time to rig up rest . As you can the camera isnt directly over the screen . Besides all this is the light source is too intense in the center of the pic.... . Can anyone think of an easier way to more evenly distribute light, I am using the original globe and I am thinking of replacing it with something smaller. I tried placing some opaque paper over the light source but it seems that didn't do much . I'm also thinking that all this opaque sheet is distorting the image ever so slightly.

The original opaque screen was sun damaged and I cant get a replacement in town so I am using a piece of polycarbonate with opaque tint over the top. I could get frosted glass, but I don't like the breakage factor.

Scan Tailor is awesome but I need to better results before i can hand it over to the software.

I will persist with this method for a bit but I am thinking that this is not the best method . Been scoping out commercial machines and they seem to project the image directly onto a ccd. like this video: . Check from 13 seconds in. Just wondering what CCD specs would be needed and if a normal DSLR would work.

At the end of this , if possible, I would love to have something I could OCR for genealogy records . Of course this largely depends on the condition of the microfiche as some are fairly worn

[daniel_reetz]

You need to collimate the light before it hits your screen. Get a fresnel magnifier and put it between your light source and the diffusing screen, it should improve the hotspot in the middle.

[Hasher]

2nd try , dirty optics on a mock up direct to 1/3inch ccd using a logitech webcam

[daniel_reetz]

That's pretty impressive. Are you using microfiche optics to project the image on the webcam sensor?

Do you know anyone with a Micro 4/3 camera? They have a large-ish sensor that is pretty easy to get access to, and they are almost all high-resolution.

[Hasher]

I started with the standard microfiche lens but it lacked aperture and focus control . Im thinking the webcam will not have enough true resolution but enough to play with for now. Will look into the four thirds thx Lighting is still an issue as its so important. Looking into a more 'flat light' solution.

[daniel_reetz]

hasher, I don't know where you are located, but if you have a sample piece of film or fiche I can help you develop an optical setup. It's definitely doable.