Steve'sDigicams

Ecin · Oct 4, 2010, 8:36 AM

What is the best camera that can be had for less than $300 street (not retail), that can scan books and documents. I would like the pictures to come as sharp as possible for OCR and post processing if need be.

Some concerns I have are lag from one picture to the next, darkness (I have a lamp and can get more if needed), and distortion. I'm not too picky on how natural the colors are as long as everything isn't pale. Also i prefer a camera that is or will be chdk compatible.

imut · Oct 4, 2010, 5:49 PM

You should look for a faster scanner not a digital camera. That would be a shortcut. There are special scanners for that. They are called V-shaped book scanner or you may want to look here.

Ecin · Oct 6, 2010, 7:25 AM

Thx for the reply. I also want to take pictures of my notebooks, notes, notecards, and references from libraries such as charts and tables. Sometimes I even write on transparancies, since it is erasable.

TerryR · Oct 9, 2010, 9:58 PM

Any cheap scanner can do that.

Probably get a used scanner for about $20-30 USD.

chengbin · Oct 11, 2010, 12:25 PM

It is MUCH faster to take pictures than scanning. I know that because I used to do that.

I can take a picture of every single page of a 500 page textbook in about an hour. With a scanner? I'll be lucky to finish in 10.

I'd check out the Canon SX 20.

Oct 4, 2010, 8:36 AM	#1
Ecin Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 2	Scanning books and documents What is the best camera that can be had for less than $300 street (not retail), that can scan books and documents. I would like the pictures to come as sharp as possible for OCR and post processing if need be. Some concerns I have are lag from one picture to the next, darkness (I have a lamp and can get more if needed), and distortion. I'm not too picky on how natural the colors are as long as everything isn't pale. Also i prefer a camera that is or will be chdk compatible.

Oct 6, 2010, 7:25 AM	#3
Ecin Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 2	Thx for the reply. I also want to take pictures of my notebooks, notes, notecards, and references from libraries such as charts and tables. Sometimes I even write on transparancies, since it is erasable. Last edited by Ecin; Oct 6, 2010 at 7:26 AM. Reason: appending

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Oct 4, 2010, 5:49 PM	#2
imut Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: tr Posts: 224	You should look for a faster scanner not a digital camera. That would be a shortcut. There are special scanners for that. They are called V-shaped book scanner or you may want to look here.

Oct 9, 2010, 9:58 PM	#4
TerryR Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 54	Any cheap scanner can do that. Probably get a used scanner for about $20-30 USD.

Oct 11, 2010, 12:25 PM	#5
chengbin Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 64	It is MUCH faster to take pictures than scanning. I know that because I used to do that. I can take a picture of every single page of a 500 page textbook in about an hour. With a scanner? I'll be lucky to finish in 10. I'd check out the Canon SX 20.