Large Format Digital Scanning Camera System User’s Manual featuring… Digital Scanning Camera Software Revision D March 2007
Acknowledgements Better Light acknowledges and is grateful for the hard work and dedication of its employees. Additionally, Better Light acknowledges the contributions of its Beta testers and industry colleagues. This manual may not, in whole or part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or converted to any electronic form without written consent of Better Light. All product names and trademarks are the property of their registered owners.
CAUTION! PINCH HAZARD: DO NOT OPERATE INSERT OUTSIDE CAMERA. ATTENTION! DANGER DE PINCEMENT: NE PAS EMPLOYER AVEC L’INSERTION A L’EXTERIEUR DE LA CAMERA. ACHTUNG! ZWICKGEFAHR: NICHT AUSSERHALB DER KAMERA BETREIBEN VERLETZUNGSGEFAHR. Warning: This is a class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause radio interference in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures.
Contents Parts List .......................................................................................................................................10 Connector Identification ...............................................................................................................11 Getting Started..............................................................................................................................12 Installing and Configuring the ViewFinder™ Software .....................
Automatically Naming Images ...................................................................................................31 Adding Notes to Your Picture ....................................................................................................32 Exposure Evaluation ......................................................................................................................33 Digital Spot Metering .......................................................................................
Changing Existing Color Balances ......................................................................................52 Deleting Color Balances ......................................................................................................52 Altering Color Balance for Mood or Effect ..........................................................................52 Reverting to a Previous Color Balance .................................................................................
Adding Notes to Your Pictures ............................................................................................68 Exporting Notes ..................................................................................................................68 Automatically Saving Files to a Folder .................................................................................69 Automatically Opening the Image .......................................................................................
Appendices ....................................................................................................................................84 Appendix A - Cleaning the CCD Cover Glass ...........................................................................84 Appendix B - Manipulating Exposure ........................................................................................85 Exposure Adjustments ...................................................................................................
Parts List 1. Control Unit (1) 2. Insert (1) 3. Double shielded cable (1) 4. USB cable (1) 5. Power supply(1) 6. Power cord(1) [not shown] 7. Filters (1 daylight, 1 tungsten) 8. Focus card (2) 9. Viewing overlay (3) 10.
Connector Identification 11
Getting Started Installing and Configuring the ViewFinder™ Software Insert the CD containing the ViewFinder™ camera control software and copy the entire camera software folder and its contents to the Applications folder on your computer’s hard disk. You may also wish to copy the additional items on the CD to your computer’s hard disk for future examination. Remove the CD and keep it in a safe place.
Memory Requirements The ViewFinder™ software requires about 20,000K bytes (about 20 MB) of memory to operate, as shown in its Get Info window. System Requirements Macintosh G3 processor or better Mac OS 10.4.
Quick Start Guide 1. Connect the camera insert to the control unit Plug the male end of the insert connector into the DB-25 socket on the camera control unit into the (marked as “DB-25 Insert Connector” in the connector identification image on page 8). Make sure the plug is firmly seated in the socket before securing it to the connector with the two connector screws. Connect or disconnect this cable ONLY when the camera power is turned OFF.
3. Connect the AC power to the control unit Use only an approved power cord with a plug appropriate for the power receptacles of the region. The camera has an external universal power adapter, able to operate from any AC voltage between 100 and 240 volts nominal, 47 to 63 Hz single phase, without changing switches or jumpers. The camera consumes a maximum of about 60 watts of power, and should be operated from the same circuit supplying power to the computer connected to the camera.
of the ground glass to position the viewing area correctly. The outside of the mask can be trimmed with a pair of sharp scissors for a better fit in certain view cameras. 7. Install the infrared blocking filter For normal color imaging, one of the infrared blocking filters supplied with the system must be installed on either side of the lens to block unwanted infrared light (wavelengths from 700 to 1000 nm., just beyond the red end of the visible spectrum).
a lens shade is recommended to reduce possible filter flare. The infrared filter can be fitted to most smaller 4x5 lenses by means of a clip-on filter holder (not supplied), usually sold for use with 35 mm cameras. An easily available alternative is to use photographer’s Mounting the filter with a rubber band on the inside of the lens, top and side views. black tape or a large rubber band (using crossed loops to secure alternate corners of the filter) to affix the filter to the inside of almost any lens. 8.
12. Prescan Click the button to take a quick scan of the image. Check the prescan image to make certain that the intended image is displayed in the preview. Adjust the camera and software settings and make additional prescans until the intended image is achieved. 13. Take the picture When satisfied, click the button to take the final image.
Prescanning The usual method of operating the Better Light camera centers around the tasks of prescanning the scene, adjusting parameters to achieve the intended image, then scanning the final image. This method Prescan and Scan controls. allows for iteratively adjusting the composition, lighting and exposure to give the photographer confidence that the image on screen will be the same one captured in the final scan.
Fast Prescans The Fast Prescan checkbox in the main control area selects between normal prescans (unchecked), performed at exactly the line time and color balance (sensitivity) selected, and Fast Prescans (checked), which are Fast Prescan option. performed at the highest sensitivity and shortest line time that will still yield the same color balance and effective exposure.
Cropped Prescans Prescans always scan and refresh the entire image area unless the Crop Prescan box is checked. When the Crop Prescan box is checked, only the cropped area indicated in the preview screen will be scanned, which Crop Prescan option. can greatly reduce the overall prescan time. Outside the cropped area, the prescan image will remain unchanged.
Super View Prescans This is a feature that allows a quick scan of a prescan sized area in the image at the current resolution. This is a great feature for checking focus and depth of field without having to make a full scan and opening the image in Photoshop. When Super is checked, a red Super Prescan option. rectangle corresponding to the area of a preview-size image at the current camera resolution will appear in the prescan image. The Prescan button name is changed to Super View.
Saving and Viewing Prescans After a prescan has been made the Save Prescan… option may be selected from the File menu. When selected, the current, adjusted preview image data is saved as a TIFF image file into the folder selected in the Save File dialog box that will appear. The image file is given the default name entered in the main control area, with the appended suffix “_pre”, to distinguish it from a final scan and prevent accidentally overwriting the file.
Rulers Selecting Show Rulers from the Display menu will cause rulers to be displayed on the top and left edges of the preview image. Command-R (Control-R in Windows) can also be used to turn rulers on and off. The rulers are shown in the current units selected on the Size tab panel. The origin for the rulers is set by default to the upper-left corner of the preview. The origin can be changed by clicking on the upper-left corner of the rulers and dragging into the preview image.
Image Capture Settings Resolution To change the selected resolution, click the Resolution Increase or Decrease button. Each click will select the next higher or next lower setting. Click and hold either button to advance rapidly through the available selections. Hold the Option key down and click on the Increase or Decrease buttons to jump to the Resolution control. maximum or minimum resolution values.
fewer, effectively larger pixels. This process always samples the entire image area, does not skip lines, and thus is immune to aliasing caused by subsampling (skipping pixels). These lower resolution selections average more CCD data values together to produce the larger pixels; this averaging lowers the CCD noise levels, and increases the bit depth of the image beyond the specifications of the (14-bit) data converters alone.
Line Time These up/down pushbuttons select the integration time for each line in a scan, and are the digital equivalent of the shutter time. As with film, the primary controls for determining exposure are the lens aperture and the line time (shutter time) along with the amount of light (which is also controllable to some extent in many studio setups). Line Time control.
The Scan Time readout displays the overall scan time for the selected Scan Area, Resolution, and Line Time settings. The overall scan time is simply the (actual) time per line multiplied by the number of lines in the scan. Remember that moving your light in half the distance from the lamp to the subject will increase your light level by two EV (2 f-stops).
Exposure Lock Clicking on the Exposure Lock button switches the exposure lock on or off. When on , changing the Line Time will automatically change the ISO to maintain the same exposure. Changing the ISO will correspondingly change the Line Time to maintain the same exposure. It is a fast, accurate means to optimize the balance of Line Time and ISO for shorter scan times or less image noise.
Scanning After the prescan image has been inspected and the exposure and other image characteristics have been adjusted to give the desired results (as viewed in the preview) then the final image is captured by clicking on the button. The camera will then begin the final scan process, storing the image on the Control Unit disk drive. The time required to complete the scan is displayed above the Scan button.
used for other operations while the scan continues in the background. If, during a scan to the camera’s disk drive, the program is exited, the scan will continue until its normal conclusion and cannot be canceled until the ViewFinder™ program is re-entered. While the scan is in progress, the scan bar movement across the preview area will continue in the background, allowing for monitoring the scan while working in another program.
If Auto Naming is active, you can add more words, edit or replace the auto entry data by editing the entry in the filename field on the main control panel before the scan is made. The image file name will have a “.tif ” filetype extension automatically appended to the filename when saved to the host computer. The computer’s operating system may, or may not, display this extension in the file name, depending on the system settings.
Exposure Evaluation Digital Spot Metering The camera control software includes two types of digital spot meters. The first is a “live” spot meter that displays information about the image as the cursor is moved within the preview area. Specific areas of the image can be metered at any time by moving the cursor to the area of interest in the preview image and reading the various displays.
Determining Relative Exposure The digital spot meter can be used to quickly measure exposure values in an image and to help determine proper exposure and tone curve selection. After performing an initial prescan, meter an important shadow or highlight area (where detail must be maintained) to determine this region’s RGB data values, which are affected by exposure and processing changes. If this region does not have the desired values, consider changing any of the exposure conditions.
Static Spot Meter Tool During exposure, color balance, and tone curve selection, the same regions in an image often that need to be metered repeatedly as changes are made. The digital spot meter features static spots mark locations on the image and display the metered values for these points on the Color and Tone tab panels. This allows the photographer to mark specific points of interest in the image and recall their exposure values at any time.
Setting the Spot Meter Size The number of pixels used to determine spot meter readings can be selected from the Spot Meter Size popup menu above the histogram. The choices for displaying the data are either a single pixel (1x1), or the average of a square group of pixels (3x3 or 5x5). In all cases, the centermost pixel is centered within the innermost circle of the spot meter cursor Spot meter size menu. .
Histogram In addition to the location-specific image information provided by the spot meter, a histogram display presents overall image exposure information at a glance for the currently selected crop area. This display has a horizontal scale from zero to 255, representing the possible 8-bit data values for the image data (either any single color or an average of R, G, and B for “gray” data).
against the left (zero) side of the histogram, the image is probably underexposed, and will be dark. Likewise, if a significant portion of the image data is above the desired value for highlight detail, the image is probably overexposed, and will be bright. Data concentrated near both ends of the histogram implies a highHistogram of an underexposed scene. contrast image, with little midtone, while a histogram with a narrow spread of data indicates a low-contrast image.
Tool Bar Magnify Tool The preview may be enlarged (“zoomed in”) by selecting the Magnify tool from the top set of (Control key in Windows) and clicking in buttons or by pressing and holding the Command key the preview at the point of interest. The cursor icon will change to a magnifying glass with a plus sign ( ) in the center to indicate an enlarging function. The preview will be enlarged in size horizontally and vertically to the next higher magnification for each click of the Magnify tool.
Measure Tool (Mac only) The distance between two points in the preview image may be measured by selecting the Measure tool from the top set of buttons. Click in the preview to mark the start of the distance to be measured and drag to the end of the distance. When the mouse is released, the “distance” is given on the Size tab panel in the current units. When the units are changed in the pop-up menu the measurement value will update automatically.
ToneZones™ Tool Selecting the ToneZones™ tool from the top set of buttons will colorize the preview image to allow for rapid assessment of the image tones. When the ToneZones™ tool is selected, the grayscale beneath the histogram display will be replaced by a color zone display and a popup menu. This easyto-use exposure tool assigns false colors to user-defined ranges of data to quickly identify areas within the preview that fall into those exposure levels.
Sets of ToneZones™ may be saved, named and reused by using the popup menu below the ToneZones™ color bar. Once a set of zones is made, click on the ToneZones™ popup and select New Setting, then give the setting a name in the dialog box that appears. The set of ToneZones™ will be saved with that name in the Preferences file when the program is quit (if Auto Save Preferences is enabled in the File menu).
Crop Mask Tool When working with cropped areas for scanning, a crop mask may be displayed on the preview from the top set of buttons or by pressing and holding the Comby selecting the Crop Mask tool mand key (Control key in Windows) and pressing and releasing the slash key (/) (aka virgule key). A crop mask will appear surrounding the cropped area in the preview image. The color and transparency of the crop mask are determined by settings in the Preferences window.
When manual grid adjustment is used, the values in the grid spacing fields in the Preferences are automatically adjusted to reflect the manual settings. When opening the ViewFinder™ program again, the grid values will be those active when the program was previously quit (if the Auto Save Preferences option is checked in the File menu).
Tab Panels Size Panel Scan Area & Cropping For those instances not requiring the full scan area of the camera, fully variable image cropping is provided. Both proportional cropping (using the Scan Area up/ down buttons) and manual cropping (using the crop tool or the Size panel) can be used to select any desired rectangular area within the full scan area.
The crop rectangle may be locked to maintain the aspect ratio proportional to the size indicated by the Scan Area displays by clicking on the Lock Crop Ratio button in the size tab panel. The button will change to a icon and the aspect ratio of the crop rectangle will be locked out to any manual changes. The crop rectangle may be moved while it is locked by clicking and dragging within the center of the cropped area.
on Windows) is held down while the Insert Direction popup is selected, or if the Rotate with Image option is checked in the Preferences. Dimension settings can be stored and reused with the Setting popup menu (Figure D).
Resolution is independent of the crop ratio. Once crop shape and size is set, select the resolution (file size) that you wish to use. However, if you type in a different pixel density (e.g. pixels per inch) the crop box size will change since it alters the size of the file needed. You can restore the desired crop area by lowering the resolution or locking the file size prior to changing the pixel density.
Faster Scans for Free! In many instances, the required image file size will be smaller than the maximum available from the scanning camera. In these cases, it may be advantageous to rotate the insert 90 degrees from its usual orientation and then use the crop tool to redefine the scan area such that the shorter image dimension is parallel to the scan direction (the scan direction is parallel to the longer sides of the full scan area).
Color Panel Color balance adjustments are used to neutralize unwanted color casts, and also to introduce intentional color casts for mood or effect. ViewFinder™ allows the photographer to adjust color balance in increments of 0.1 CC (color correction units), and also provides an automatic balancing function for rapid neutralization of colors under any lighting conditions.
If a grayscale or card is not used, a white background or neutral tones of the subject itself could be used for the color balance. (It is best to use an RGB value that falls in the linear portion of the tone curve, typically between 85 and 200). If not already there, enter the Color tab panel. If a spot has been recorded, the Auto Balance button will be enabled, and the calculated changes to the color balance values will appear to the right of the Adjust label on the tab panel.
Changing Existing Color Balances Any existing color balance setting can be altered by first selecting the setting from the Color Balance popup menu. Then make any desired color changes by entering new color balance or filter values, or by performing another Auto Balance. Then select Update Current Setting from the Color Balance popup menu (Windows). The current setting is now updated without changing the name and these new values will be saved in any preferences or settings file.
Reverting to a Previous Color Balance The Revert button may be used to return to the set of color balance numbers in effect before the last Auto Balance was performed. Revert will also change the filter numbers back to their previous values. This can be useful for experimenting with the filter values, allowing you to try a set of values, then reverting quickly to the previous values without additional typing.
Tone Panel Tonal adjustments are most often used to make changes in the overall contrast range of an image, or to make changes to the placement of midtone values without affecting highlight or shadow values (or to make changes in highlight values without affecting midtone or shadow values, etc.).
also reduced, since the dominant colors are “bright”, and the secondary colors are “dark”, and this difference is reduced along with the overall image contrast. As contrast and color saturation are both affected by tone curve changes, any attempt to profile the camera system must be done with a tone curve identical to the one being used for subsequent (calibrated) captures; any further changes to the tone curve will reduce the accuracy and effectiveness of any such calibration.
The second method for 16 bits per color images is selected by clicking on the small button. The current tone curve will be applied to the image in 16-bit mode. The resulting file size will be doubled as it was for “None 14-bit”, but will open in the image processing application (e.g. Photoshop) with a normal visual range. Brightness/Contrast Tone Curve Adjustments Any existing tone curve can be altered by first selecting the tone curve from the Tone Curve popup menu.
You can change the pivot point of the contrast buttons by sliding the zero position of the scale at the bottom of the tone curve. Drag the zero EV marker to the desired location, then hold the Option key (Alt key on Windows) while the contrast buttons are clicked and the curve will pivot at the zero position. Manual Tone Curve Adjustments Tone curves may also be adjusted manually. On the tone curve graph, there are a number of round dots. Each of these dots is a control that can be moved using the mouse.
Limit Line On the left side of the tone graph is a curved green line that never moves. This is the line that denotes the limit for conversion from the 14-bits/channel of the raw camera image to 8-bits/channel in the image file without skipping any values. If a tone curve is created or modified in such a way as to have the tone curve go into this area, the resulting image’s histogram may have gaps. The gaps represent RGB values that are skipped as tones progress along the tone curve.
Tone Curve Histogram While the Tone panel is active, a histogram of the image data appears in a gray color in the tone curve graph. The shape of this histogram is different from the one in the main window because it is based on the raw 14-bit image data, not the converted 8-bit data shown in the prescan image. The tone curve histogram does not change when the Normalize Histogram option is turned on or off in the Display menu.
Saving Tone Curves After creating or modifying a tone curve, you may wish to save the new curve; either as startup preferences, or as part of a custom setting. Select the New Setting option from the Tone Curve popup menu (Windows), or the Add Setting button next to the Tone Curve popup menu (Mac), at the bottom of the Tone tab panel. Enter the name for the new curve setting in the window that appears and click the OK button. The new setting will now appear in the Tone Curve list.
Focus Panel This digital camera system provides an extremely accurate method of verifying correct image focus after the device has been inserted into the view camera. Focus can be checked and adjusted at any point in the image, using data from the CCD image sensor itself.
Selecting a Focus Site There are several factors to consider when selecting locations within an image for focus verification. The focus-quality algorithm displays the aggregate differences in intensity between adjacent pixels within the selected area; this means that best-focus determination will work best on high-contrast lines or edges.
As the focus is adjusted on a view camera, the image also changes size, and therefore moves slightly as a function of its distance from the optical axis. The human eye-brain follows this movement during focus adjustments, but the digital camera’s CCD remains stationary, sometimes causing confusing focus indications as edges or bright specular highC. Focus display for a poorly chosen focus location without lights move in and out of the sensor’s view as focus is distinct edges. changed.
In addition to the “waveform” graphic display, the pixel data from each line segment is analyzed by the computer, using algorithms that detect and amplify the differences in brightness between adjacent pixels. The result from this analysis is displayed both as a number in large type, and as a bar graph. As the number increases, the bar graph will “fill in” with the color of the selected color channel.
be added to the displays. All three channels may be selected for simultaneous display. As mentioned earlier, this focusing system is so accurate that it is often possible to determine slightly different bestfocus positions for each color, even when using the finest apochromatic lenses. Best focus must be determined by adjusting the focus for a given color to determine if the focus displays were in fact indicating a maximum.
Image File Management and Retrieval Digital scanning cameras can easily generate gigabytes of image data in a single day. The transfer, handling, and storage of this amount of information should be carefully considered to optimize both time and efficiency. Better Light’s USB-2 based camera system stores all images onto a dedicated internal hard drive in raw 16-bit per color mode. The tone curve in effect when the final image was captured is also stored with the raw image.
The ViewFinder™ File Manager Images stored on the digital camera’s internal disk drive can be accessed by using the camera control software’s File Manager dialog, which is started from the File menu, or by typing its keyboard shortcut Command-F (Control-F in Windows). When this dialog window is displayed, the camera is queried as to the contents of its internal disk drive and this information is then shown in a standard list format.
If Auto Save is activated and you wish to save the files to another drive or removable media, be sure to uncheck the Auto Save box in the File Manager window. This will temporarily disable Auto Save (it does not change the Preferences settings). The Save action can be cancelled (with Command-period, Control-period in Windows) if you forget to change the intended location.
Automatically Saving Files to a Folder When the Automatically save scans function is activated in the Preferences, the files selected in the File Manager will be saved to the folder location you have specified in the Preferences. This saving process will begin immediately when you press Retrieve in the File Manager without a Save dialog box appearing. If you need to save to a different location, uncheck the Auto Save box on the lower right of the File Manager window.
Retrieving Image Files The File Manager provides a very flexible method of transferring image files from the camera disk drive to any destination folder on the host computer, including shared folders on other networked computers. If the Auto Save function is disabled, select (highlight) the desired file as described previously, then click the Retrieve button to begin transferring the file.
Selecting the Retrieval Tone Curve (USB controller only) Images are stored on the controller’s internal hard drive in 16-bit raw mode (as though you had selected the “None 14-bit” tone curve in the Tone panel). When you retrieve the images to the host computer you choose whether to keep them in raw mode, or apply a tone curve, and choose whether you want 8 or 16-bits per channel in the retrieved file. None. The image is retrieved and stored as 16-bits/channel without any tone curve applied.
Deleting Image Files Images scanned to the camera’s internal disk drive remain on the drive until specifically deleted. This provides an extra level of backup protection for a job in progress, but can eventually clog the drive if images are not deleted regularly. After retrieving the images, and verifying that the retrieved files are safely stored, enter the File Manager and select (highlight) the image files to be deleted.
Menus File Menu File Manager ⌘F (Control-F in Windows) Opens the File Manager window. Save Prescan ⌘S (Control-S in Windows) Saves the prescan image as a TIFF file (including the adjustments made to produce the current preview image). The default file name is taken from the filename field in the main ViewFinder window with the characters “_pre” appended. Load Settings Loads all the settings that had been previously saved in a file.
Quit ⌘Q (Control-Q in Windows) (under the ViewFinder window on Mac OS X) Closes the program. Edit Menu Cut ⌘X (Mac only) Cut the selected text from the edit field to the Clipboard. Copy ⌘C (Mac only) Copy the selected text from the edit field to the Clipboard. Paste ⌘V (Mac only) Paste the Clipboard text into the selected edit field. Clear (Mac only) Delete the selected text from the edit field. Select All ⌘A (Mac only) Select all the text in an edit field.
Display Menu Insert Direction Selects the insert orientation, as viewed from behind the camera. ToneZones™ Selects the ToneZones™ false-coloring tool. Crop Mask ⌘\ (Control-\ in Windows) Selects the Crop Mask tool. Grid ⌘’ (Control-’ in Windows) Selects the Grid tool. Display Mode Selects the mode for the display as one of the following: Color - a full color image is displayed. ⌘` (Control-` in Windows) R - only the red channel is displayed.
Zoom to 100% ⌘0 (Control-Alt-0 in Windows) Zooms the preview image to 100%. Normalize Histogram ⌘N (Control-N in Windows) When selected, scales the histogram display to fit all the data into the display area. Controls on Right Positions ViewFinder’s controls on the right side of the window. Controls on Top Positions ViewFinder’s controls on the top side of the window. Controls on Left Positions ViewFinder’s controls on the left side of the window.
Capture Mode Selects the type of image capture: Color - a full color image is captured. Red - only the red channel is imaged. Green - only the green channel is imaged. Blue - only the blue channel is imaged. Note: this menu option is linked to the popup menu on the main ViewFinder window and duplicates its functionality. Clean/Park Opens the Clean/Park window to expose the CCD for cleaning. Diagnostics Opens a Diagnostics window. This is reserved for Better Light internal use only.
User Preferences Some of the operating parameters of the camera control software can be customized for easier use, as determined by the type of imaging being done, and the preferences of the camera operator. The default operation of several of the exposure tools, and the default settings of several scan options, can be selected and saved as the software’s startup condition (in the ViewFinder™ Prefs file), or as a recallable condition for future use.
A folder may also be selected as the preferred location for saving prescans when the Save Prescan… menu option is selected from the File menu. Click the Prescan Folder… (PC) or Choose (Mac) button to bring forward a dialog box for selecting the prescan folder. After selecting the folder, its name should be displayed to the right of the “Save Prescan folder:” label. Scans and prescans can be saved to the same folder.
Note that if the name for a saved prescan remains unchanged after a previous prescan with that name already being displayed in Photoshop, the new prescan data will overwrite the existing image file, but Photoshop will issue a warning that the (new) file is already open (since its name is the same as the file already being displayed), and will allow you to open a second window for the (already displayed) image; choosing to open a second window will NOT display the new image data, but instead will display a seco
Grid The default color and spacing of the vertical and horizontal rulings for the Grid tool can be set with the controls in the Grid area of the Preferences window. When the Color button is clicked, the System Color Picker window appears. Select the color for the grid lines and click on the OK button. On the Macintosh the System Color Picker also allows setting the transparency of the grid using the slider at the bottom of the Color Picker. Both the horizontal and vertical rulings will be set to this color.
Using Sounds At the conclusion of each prescan or final scan, a sound may be played. The Play sound when scan finishes and Play sound when prescan finishes options may be used to activate this capability. The sound to be played is selected by clicking on the Choose Sound… button. A small window will appear with a list of the available sounds in your System file. Highlight the desired sound and click the OK button to use the selection. The name of the selected sound is displayed above the Choose Sound… button.
Time Lapse It is now possible to make time lapse sequences. Check the Time Lapse checkbox, then fill in the time in seconds between images and the total number of images to make. When the Scan button is clicked, the time lapse sequence will start. The first image will be captured, then ViewFinder will wait the specifed number of seconds, then capture the next image in the sequence. This sequence will continue until all the requested number of images have been captured.
Appendix A Cleaning the CCD Cover Glass First, position the camera insert face up on a clean, stable surface. Use the Clean/Park menu option to move the CCD to its cleaning position. The camera may remain turned on during the cleaning procedure. We recommend the use of e-wipe™ cleaning pads for the best results with the least effort. 1. Tear open the foil package. Withdraw the e-wipe by holding one end only. Do not touch the other end of the pad. Do not unfold the pad.
Appendix B Manipulating Exposure The Better Light digital camera system provides a very flexible set of controls for adjusting both exposure and processing. Most of these controls are directly analogous to their film photography namesakes, but several have not previously been readily available to the photographer, and none have provided the precision and consistency now available with this system.
Increasing the line time is the “cleanest” method of increasing exposure. Doubling the line time yields one EV (f-stop) of increased sensitivity, but only increases the background noise level by 1.4 times. Color Balance (Sensitivity) Controls the relative sensitivity of each color channel; continuously adjustable in 0.1 CC (1/10 color correction unit) increments. Higher color balance numbers provide increased sensitivity to light, but also increase shadow noise.
The philosophy of stopping down to f/32 (or smaller) that was often done with film and strobes is not the best practice for high-resolution digital capture. Most lens manufacturers say that the best overall image quality is obtained 2 f-stops below “wide open” (e.g. f/11 is best on a f/5.6 lens). As the lens is stopped down to small apertures (f/22, f/32,...) optical diffraction will reduce the optimal sharpness that the scan back is capable of recording.
Appendix C Line Time Settings Selected Line Time 1/3000 sec. 1/1500 sec. 1/1000 sec. 1/800 sec. 1/600 sec. 1/500 sec. 1/400 sec. 1/320 sec. 1/240 sec. 1/200 sec. 1/160 sec. 1/120 sec. 1/100 sec. 1/80 sec. 1/60 sec. 1/50 sec. 1/40 sec. 1/30 sec. 1/25 sec. 1/20 sec. 1/15 sec. 1/12 sec. 1/10 sec. 1/8 sec. Actual Line Time ____________________________________ Exact 0.33 msec. 0.67 msec. 1.00 msec. 1.33 msec. 1.67 msec. 2.00 msec. 2.67 msec. 3.33 msec. 4.33 msec. 5.00 msec. 6.33 msec. 8.33 msec. 10.00 msec. 12.
Appendix D Resolution Selections model 4000E-HS resolution pixels lines 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% preview 3750 3000 2250 1500 750 750 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 1000 file size (MB) 24-bits 48-bits 53.6 34.3 19.3 8.6 2.1 2.1 107.3 68.7 38.6 17.2 4.3 4.3 model 6000-HS, 6000E-HS resolution pixels lines 100% 87% 75% 62% 50% 37% 25% 13% preview 6000 5250 4500 3750 3000 2250 1500 750 750 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 1000 file size (MB) 24-bits 48-bits 137.3 105.1 77.2 53.6 34.3 19.3 8.6 2.1 2.
Super 6K-HS resolution pixels lines 150% 137% 125% 112% 100% 87% 75% 62% 50% 37% 25% 13% preview 9000 8250 7500 6750 6000 5250 4500 3750 3000 2250 1500 750 750 12000 11000 10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 1000 file size (MB) 24-bits 48-bits 309.0 259.6 214.6 173.8 137.3 105.1 77.2 53.6 34.3 19.3 8.6 2.1 2.1 90 618.0 519.3 429.2 347.6 274.7 210.3 154.5 107.3 68.7 38.6 17.2 4.3 4.
Super 8K-HS resolution pixels lines 150% 142% 133% 125% 117% 108% 100% 92% 83% 75% 67% 58% 50% 42% 33% 25% 17% 8% preview 12000 11333 10666 10000 9333 8666 8000 7333 6666 6000 5333 4666 4000 3333 2666 2000 1333 666 666 15990 15101 14213 13325 12436 11548 10660 9771 8883 7995 7106 6218 5330 4441 3553 2665 1776 888 888 file size (MB) 24-bits 48-bits 549.0 489.6 433.7 381.2 332.1 286.3 244.0 205.0 169.4 137.2 108.4 83.0 61.0 42.3 27.1 15.2 6.8 1.7 1.7 91 1097.9 979.3 867.4 762.5 664.1 572.6 488.0 410.
Appendix E Status Indicators Power The camera controller has an LED that indicates the status of the power to the unit. This LED also indicates whether the Better Light rechargeable battery is charging (if connected).
Appendix F Panoramic Adapter The Better Light Pano/WideView can capture images for three types of panoramas; scene, rollout and object. Scene panoramas are when the camera is turned to capture an image of it’s surroundings. A rollout panorama is a single image of the surface of an object as it is turned. An object panorama is a sequence of images of an object at fixed positions as it is turned. Scene Panorama Hardware Setup Affix the camera to the armature of the panorama stepper stage unit.
necessary to know the exact number of rotation degrees in advance. Use the rotate stage buttons at the bottom of the tab panel to position the camera before the desired start of the panorama. Then put a value into the Preview Extent field that will be greater than the actual desired value. Take a prescan. Use the crop tool to select the desired image region in the prescan image. The actual number of rotation degrees is calculated and displayed as the Scan Extent.
Rollout Panorama Hardware Setup For a rollout, the camera is fixed to a tripod and the stepper stage unit is placed on a firm, nonskid surface in such a manner that it will not turn as the motor is activated. A flat platform is attached to the stage armature then mounted to the stepper motor stage. The subject is positioned in the center of the platform such that the center of the object is in line with the center of the stepper motor stage.
Object Panorama Hardware Setup The hardware is assembled just as it is for a Rollout panorama. Software Operation For this operation, begin by selecting the Auto Naming option, Automatically Save Scans and a Scan Destination Folder in the Preferences window. This option will take a series of object images at fixed positions around the object, and these options will allow for easily combining the images into an object movie.
Appendix G Error Messages (not to be confused with Macintosh OS error message numbers) Camera Errors “Camera reported error: Busy” The camera is busy doing something that prevents the requested action. This message is usually encountered after exiting from a scan to the camera’s disk drive and subsequently attempting another scan, or attempting to access the camera’s disk drive (from the File Manager) before the scan in progress is completed.
“Camera reported error: Value Error” The camera controller returns this error when an incoming parameter value is successfully converted to a number, but is out of range or otherwise inappropriate. This message should never be encountered in normal operation. “Camera reported error: Math Error” The camera controller returns this error when the result of its internal calculations (possibly using several parameters) produces an overflow or underflow.
“There is not enough free space on this volume to save the selected file.” This error message may be encountered when attempting to retrieve a file from the camera’s disk, saving a scan to RAM, or saving a preview image. The file volume (the user’s hard drive, removable media, network drive, etc.) does not have enough room to store the image file. Deleting files from the destination volume or switching to another volume with enough free space should solve the problem.
