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First Trip to the NPRC--Help?

Discussion in 'Military Service Records & Genealogical Research' started by adambhoy, Feb 3, 2015.

  1. andrwoo

    andrwoo New Member

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    I can not speak for this specific instance, however, any and every time that you can use a tripod + remote your pictures will be better. No matter how still you think you can hold a camera it will never compare to a tripod. When you are dealing with these films that are already blurry, you don't need to add extra blur with your own movement.

    Just my novice input. :)
     
  2. Raymond Jr

    Raymond Jr Member

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    I agree about the tripod. I'm just not sure if they'll frown on taking up more space with it.

    Drew, do you know if a polarizing filter would reduce the reflection off the screen considerably? Here's a good example of what I want to overcome. I've never used a polarizing filter before. Do I need a circular filter or a linear filter? If a linear filter, doesn't it matter how the filter is oriented on the lens?

    [​IMG]
     
  3. andrwoo

    andrwoo New Member

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    A couple of things to try.

    1. Re-position yourself/camera to try and eliminate the lights. You are shooting straight on, which obviously picks up those overhead lights. Try shooting from a 45 degree angle (downward I believe). This might take the lights completely out of the picture. Of course, it won't be a nice flat straight on picture no more, but at least you might get rid of the lights, being able to read everything. After that, photoshop can fix up the distorted view. Kinda like keystone on a projector.
    2. Try to rig up some kind of black paper/cloth that would block the light from hitting the screen.
    3. You could use a polarizing filter (circular for a dslr) to filter out the stray reflections. It has the downside of loosing a stop or two of light (making for slow shutter speeds), which can be bad for indoor or low-light photography. This will not get all the reflection, but might help it. They can run anywhere from $15 to $130 depending on brands, models, and coatings.
    I hope this helps. I am but a novice. :)
     
  4. adambhoy

    adambhoy Member

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    That picture is indicative of the exact results I was getting.

    As my resources were limited (no tripod, fancy filters, hoods, etc) I just tried to put the reflections in places on the image where they weren't obscuring text. As long as the reflections didn't obscure info I didn't already have (ASNs, names or the like) or couldn't cross reference from another image (like date, since you'll have the two dates on either side of this one in different images) then I figured it was good to go.

    Putting the image through Photoshop/GIMP/etc and inverting the image from negative to positive, playing with the contrast, adding filters, etc. can help too.
     
  5. adambhoy

    adambhoy Member

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    I just held the camera. There wasn't a whole lot of room on the desk in front of the reader (as you're aware of now I'm sure) and that prevented the use of a tabletop tripod. I didn't want to bring a big one because I wanted to cause as little disruption as possible. I wasn't sure if they'd like the idea of me taking screen shots as opposed to paying for paper copies and I wanted to maintain a low profile. As it turns out they really didn't mind a bit (obviously), so maybe I'll bring a tripod next time.

    Yes, I was viewing two cards at a time. Makes each card smaller obviously but I can zoom in and still read the text on each just fine, provided the original picture of the card wasn't blurry. Some inherently are, I found.
     
  6. Raymond Jr

    Raymond Jr Member

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    "blurry" is putting it mildly on some of the cards. I'm of the same mind regarding being a disruption. They didn't mind my taking photographs. In fact, my orientation lady suggested I could make prints, take photographs of the prints and discard the paper and not pay anything. That seems like flawed logic since they had already paid for a piece of paper, some toner and use of the printer. At the end of the day, I showed the attendants a print that said something to the effect of "Reports for the period xx through xx were not available. See master index for items received at a later time." They acted like they'd never seen such a thing and said that the next time I come up there (it was right at the end of the day), to ask about that again and they could check the cards in the back. Sounded like they have the original morning reports in a back room??? So I said let me keep that print to show whomever is there next time. Uh, no. If I keep the print, even to help resolve the problem next time, I'd have to pay $0.40. Or they could throw it away and they wouldn't charge me. I'm sure there's some logic in there, I'm just not seeing it.

    I have a request in for another appointment and I asked if it was acceptable to bring a tripod. I'll let you know what they say.
     
  7. Raymond Jr

    Raymond Jr Member

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    Adam, just to follow up on the tripod:

    When they confirmed my appointment, she said that using a tripod was not a problem and no one there seemed phased by my doing so on Friday. My polarizing filter didn't seem to make any difference, though. One thing I learned about the reflections is to wear dark clothes so that you don't show up so easily on the glass screen. They really should face those viewers away from the room lights and not put lights directly over them. It doesn't have to be a dark room but when you're trying to read a backlit screen, any light over your shoulder is going to be a problem.

    Drew, I tried raising my tripod as high as it goes and shooting down toward the viewer but I couldn't get the camera high enough to matter.
     
  8. adambhoy

    adambhoy Member

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    Yes, I thought that exact same thing myself when I was there--I was very tempted to try to turn the whole microfilm viewer around to avoid those %&#^# lights!!
     
  9. Natman

    Natman Member

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    Ray and Drew, thanks for your continuing updates in this thread. Your personal experiences and observations are appreciated.

    Steve
     

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