On 25 Nov 2011, at 6:24 AM, nantes kruger wrote: > Will recommend that you rather take photos of the docs.....we are > lucky > that we can in Pta and the other archives unlike in the Cape > Archives were > the only options is the make copies.(although my waiting time for > these are > normally not more than 4 weeks). I am also full time employed and > have to > carefully plan my spare time to hop in for an hour at the archives. > If you > forward your request per email in advance to > enquiries2@dac.gov.za<enquiries2@dac.gov.za> then > your files are ready and your can peruse and snap very quickly. > Never had a > problem with the staff......although one needs to respect the rules > of the > reading room. It is a waste of waiting for copies...........rather > print > them our from your pics.........much quicker ! I find it more than slightly ridiculous that the various archives have different rules about taking photographs. I wonder whether it is possible to approach the relevant Government Department to see if uniform rules can be arrived at. (I assume central Government, since the various branches of the Archives have never aligned exactly with provincial boundaries and the changes in number and boundaries should therefore make no difference to the Archives.) The reason why photography is discouraged is the fear of damage to the sometimes fragile documents (especially those older hand-written papers on which the ink is fading due to exposure to light). But in these days, with advanced digital cameras yielding excellent results even in very poor light with minimal exposure times and without use of a flash, it should be possible to draw up sensible rules based on the camera specifications. For example, I have a Panasonic, model DMC-FZ8, 7.1 MP (about three years old), with a Leica Elmarit f/2.8 - 3.3 aperture zoom lens, full manual over-ride of automatic functions and a tripod mount, whose built-in flash operates only if the flash button is pressed to (mechanically) open the flash unit, and even then it will operate only if it is needed. Current models are around 12 MP and above. It would be perfectly feasible to mount this on the kind of stand used for photographing books and documents, and to allow its use only if the flash is not opened, as long as the shutter can be operated on a timer to give a long exposure. I have used this in various Churches in the UK and Canada where photography is forbidden, without attracting attention, to avoid having to pack and carry postcards -- not for documents, of course, merely for the architecture, even lying flat on my back to capture splendid vaulted ceilings in the Round Church in Cambridge and elsewhere; and I've done the same during Church services. (I also took a picture a long time ago, with an old- style SLR camera without flash, of the Annunciation in King's College Chapel, without being challenged, though if I had stepped too close to it all the alarms would have sounded -- these were installed after an IRA fanatic took to the painting with a Skarsten scraper. That camera, with its f/2 lens and exposure time of up to 1 minute, could do almost anything, its only limitation being the need to use film.) If the Archives were to stipulate that the flash on the camera must not be used, i.e. if it is automatic it must be suppressible (which can readily be established by test), use of cameras could be allowed without risk to the documents. Tripods and book-frames would of course be up to the user. If the Cape Town Archives is not requiring this now, but allowing any camera, the documents are at risk. One has only to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo during the Festival in August (or see it on TV) to know that all too many cameras fire their flashes whether or not it will do any good, which on that vast open Parade Ground it will not. Such cameras should not be allowed anywhere near valuable and vulnerable documents. Andrew Rodger rodgera@audioio.com