Our budget for the entire set: camera, stand, lights, computer and scanner is $4000 per set. So that level of pro camera is beyond us.

You're among a number of people, here and elsewhere, who have questioned why a 24 mp FX DSLR wouldn't do as well as a 36 mp full frame. I'll use your comments and those of some others, to ask the people at the tech lab, where we'll publish all of this, why they tell us we need the full 36 mp camera. It does reduce our options while pushing our budget limitations. From what I've read so far it looks like our lens choice may be as demanding, if not more demanding, then the camera body. I really thank all of you for that.

That D610 was on our list, but we were told my the Portal to Texas History (where we'll publish our work) that they need a 36mp camera to make OCR work on the 21'x32" typewritten Tax Rolls in our beta testing. We had sent them samples from the D610 and the Sony a7R images and they told us to go with the larger mp camera.

Yes we have. We use the rigid stand mostly for large Tax Rolls and scrapbooks which simply do not work with a scanner. Also about two thirds of our documents are too large for a tabloid scanner. We're in the process of selecting a scanner.

Thanks much. I may have some of the technology confused but here's more detail on our project. We shoot all types of documents from hand written Tax Rolls, to women's club scrapbooks, to typescripts, to 8x10 photos of groups of people. We built our own rigid stand using material from 8020.com. The unit, partially disassembled must fit in the back seat of a car for transport across Texas. Commercial stands that could handle these sizes were either not available or far beyond our budget. We're in the DFW area so 80/20 had one of their design engineers help us design the thing. All of our measurements on the stand are based our alpha and beta test prototypes constructed from wood until we got what we needed. Our working maximum image size is 46" by 26" and we've already shot some that large. The vertical riser that holds the adjustable camera diving board is 48" tall so we can get the camera and lights that far from the table top. So far the smallest images we've shot in any volume are 8" x 10". Most of our documents are in the 17" x 24" size range. We can use a scanner for small stuff. The supervisor of the Tech Lab at the Portal to Texas History told us that we needed an FX DSLR camera with at least 36 mp for OCR to work and to be sure we avoided blurring at the corners (the documents we shoot often have marginal notes that are significant to historians.) We worked through the staff at Arlington Camera and they put us in contact with Sony people who came up with the camera and lens. They also recommended that we use a mirrorless camera as it has few moving parts. So far the sample shots we've sent to the Portal lab have passed muster. We're now preparing a grant request to purchase ten of these capture sets, all to be operated by volunteers, the majority of whom are retirees. The Sony has overheated twice, so we use a small fan (not shown) to keep it cool. We tether the camera to the tablet via wifi for our operators to insure images are aligned and to release the shutter. We've learned that Sony has replaced the a7R with the a7RII at a higher price. So, do we stay with Sony or explore other options, and if so, what might they be. Also can we get away with a zoom lens and use lens correction algorithms in Photoshop to address the very slight distortion we're getting in the corners of documents?

I'm managing a state wide project to capture (digitize) historical documents using professional lighting, a rigid stand and a 36 mp DSLR (currently a Sony a7R.) These images will be published on a state hosted free web portal for historical researchers including family historians. We're about to expand the pilot program from one capture set to (hopefully) ten units placed in local genealogical societies around Texas. We are a volunteeer only organization. I am not a professional photographer but would appreciate advice from some. I believe we have the lighting and stand right, but I'm not sure the a7R is the best camera within our budget limit of $2K per camera and lens. Sony recommended we use the f2.8 35 mm fixed lens. Our volunteers would love to have zoom to reduce the number of times the camera has to be moved on the rigid frame. We've so far shot about 75,000 images with this setup.