No legal scanner.... Lightbox? or OhNatural??

[1904 Comics]

need a second opinion on using a lightbox as a light source because I'm too broke to afford a flatbed legal scanner at the moment:

 

no lightbox

 

lightbox

[Tony S]

With both lightbox / no lightbox pictures you have done a good job of eliminating glare and shadows. The real problem with camera pictures - if the photographer can take pictures without glare - is detail. It is easier to read the label on the picture with the lightbox. Which means you are getting a sharper, more detailed picture with the lightbox.

[Artboy99]

I bought a functioning legal size flatbed scanner at a pawn shop for 10 bucks.

Maybe have a look around.

 

 

[W16227]

I bought a functioning legal size flatbed scanner at a pawn shop for 10 bucks.

Maybe have a look around.

 

 

ya - but the trick is to find one with the right sensor - I have a brother scanner that does 11 x 17 - works awesome for raw - and I can scan 2 books at the same time. Lousy for slabs. Bought one of the older HP off of ebay (one that was recommended in the board thread) - for slabs. wuick edit - get a list of possibles from the scanner thread - as Artboy said you can sometimes find a cheap one (the latest released with the good sensors are like $1K so way out of reach)

 

agree with artboy - lightbox. The lines are sharper.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

I bought a functioning legal size flatbed scanner at a pawn shop for 10 bucks.

Maybe have a look around.

 

 

I bought my HP at a Goodwill for $1.96. Thing is a workhorse.

[thunsicker]

Man, I wish mine was less than $10. I think I wasted $50 shipped to get mine. Still less than a Portacio sketch costs.

[1904 Comics]

you guys find some awesome deals. I am finding "as-is" models for that much. that and I own a mac which has low integration with some of the scanner beds out there. The downloadable drivers are antiquated.

 

hopefully I can increase quality of photos at no cost. thanks for the feedback!

 

[Jonesin4Comics]

Light box all the way. Are you using a cell phone or digital camera. With a camera you can adjust the settings for the type of light used so that it's not as yellow.

Overall the pics look good. What are you using to diffuse the light, if I may ask?

[IntoAnother]

From what I can tell on my phone I appreciate the darkness the pics with no light box has. It appears that the light box washes the color out a bit IMO.

If you'd like a scanner check Craigslist and just search legal scanner. I picked one a HP 8250 that was complete and barely used for $20. They are around, I'd skip eBay because the shipping is brutal. It has greatly reduced my listing time by messing with taking pics. In addition to greatly improving the quality of pics to view.

[Chip Cataldo]

"Oh Natural?"

 

!

 

Really?

[valiantman]

"Oh Natural?"

 

!

 

Really?

 

Some people spell it "Au Naturel", but those kind of people are just correct.

[Tony S]

My current in use scanner is HP Scanjet 8300. They were popular in offices and government agencies. You can catch them under $100 on eBay all the time. Like someone else said, watch Craigslist and you will at some point find one that is local.

 

The deal is to make sure the scanner uses CCD imaging. Not CIS. Contact Image sensors can only "see" clearly that which is right on the glass. Slabbed comics are held away from the glass. Charged Coupled Device image sensors can "see" items as much as 3/16" off the glass.

 

CIS is cheaper and smaller - and what you will find all new scanners except the really expensive ones. But CIS is newer - so old scanners are much more likely to be CCD

 

The HP's have up to date scanner drivers from the factory. Other brands like Microtek you'll likely need to purchase some third party scanning software that includes drivers. VueScan is popular and relatively inexpensive