height

[sixtysix]

what is the minimum height the camera can be from the book?

[Woeka]

My logic would be as close as possible and certainly without any digital zoom. I think it really depends on the camera you've got.

[you1]

First, you don't want to bring the camera as close as possible to the platen; otherwise, when you raise the platen you will keep bumping the cameras. Thus, I suggest giving yourself at least five inches (5") of clearance from the platen to the cameras (horizontally). I would even suggest giving yourself more space; that way, the camera is more likely to fall behind the lights and you wont get a reflection of the light from the camera in your pictures. My cameras are within 5", and to remedy this reflection, I simply put a black electrical tape on the part of the camera that reflects into my pictures.

Second, how wide is your platen. For sake of argument we will assume that the width of your platen is eleven inches (11") wide.

Third, what is the width of the thickest book (to determine maximum height). For sake of argument, we'll assume the biggest book/magazine can be as wide as your platen (11")

Forth, where do you measure the height of the camera from? For sake of simplicity, we will measure distance from bottom of the platen (vertex)

Now that you know 1) the width of your platen, 2) determined how much clearance you want for your camera, and 3) where to measure your height from, you can determine your minimum and maximum camera heights with the following formula.

min height = ( Platen Width / Sqrt( 2 ) ) + Camera Clearance = 11"/1.414 + 5" = 11.8"
max height = (2 * Platen Width / Sqrt( 2 ) ) + Camera Clearance = 2 * 11" / 1.414 + 5" = 20.6"

minHeight.JPG (71.58 KiB) Viewed 6895 times

[sixtysix]

thanks for the replies-on the verge of completing this scanner which is getting bigger by the day-may need to move house to accommodate it-am also hoping to transport it in the back of my small car so measurements are important.