Sample images from digital cameras

The Perseus Project currently uses 2 digital cameras: a higher-resolution one, the Kodak DCS 460, for use in the studio, and a lower-resolution one, the Nikon E3, for use in the field. These cameras were chosen for several pragmatic reasons. First, each accepts standard Nikon lenses, which the project already owned. Second, both store images on removable media, making work go more quickly. Third, the cameras have adequate resolution for our purposes, which do not include printing out publication-quality pictures.

Many factors constrain potential users of digital cameras, not least the fact that cameras are still evolving rapidly. At Perseus, we try to find a balance between our need for high-quality, archival pictures, and our goal of delivering a large archive on line for teaching and research.

In the project archives, pictures are stored at the highest resolution the digital cameras produce. These images are significantly reduced for delivery on the Web, both dimensionally and via JPEG compression. With tools like DeBabelizer and Photoshop, we are able to generate higher-resolution images as needed. We are committed to supporting users with the minimum configurations and smallest monitors, in order that our pictures will reach the widest possible audience.

For more information on image compression, read the JPEG FAQ from the Usenet comp.compression newsgroup, or visit the Unofficial TIFF Home Page.

This sample from the DCS 460 is a compressed JPEG image displayed at 500-pixel width, for people with lower-resolution monitors. JPEG compression is not "lossless" - it introduces errors into the image. Click on the image to display it at the maximum size we've saved it, as a JPEG: 1000 x 665 pixels, 1.9 mb.

You can also download the full-size image, as a lossless-compression TIFF file of 3060 x 2036 pixels (13.3 mb). Without the lossless compression, this file would be 17.8 mb.

Boston 1975.794, Reverse.

About this coin

Name:
Class:
MFA Credit Line:
Date:
Period:
Collection:
Region:
Mint:
Issuing Authority:
Material:
Denomination:
Reverse Description:
Reverse Legend:
Actual Weight:
Diameter:
Coin Die Axis:

Boston 1975.794
Coin
Theodora Wilbour Fund in Memory of Zoë Wilbour
A.D. 46/47
Julio-Claudian
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Latium
Rome
Claudius
Gold
Aureus
Triumphal arch. Equestrian statue on top between two trophies.
Rider extends right hand and holds spear in left.
DE BRITANN
7.80 gms.
20 mm.
7

This sample from the Nikon E3 is a compressed JPEG image displayed at 500-pixel width, for people with lower-resolution monitors. JPEG compression is not "lossless" - it introduces errors into the image. Click on the image to display it at the maximum size we've saved it, as a JPEG: 1000 x 780 pixels, 387K.

You can also download the full-size image, as a lossless-compression TIFF file of 1280 x 1000 pixels (2.5 mb). Without the lossless compression, this file would be 3.66 mb.

Rome, Pantheon: detail of column base.

About this building

Name:
Site:
Date:
Pantheon
Rome, Field of Mars (Campus Martius)
A.D. 118-125

These digital images have been posted in conjunction with an article on digital images in the Spring issue of the newsletter from the Center for the Study of Architecture, at Bryn Mawr College.

Please send comments or questions about these images to webmaster@perseus.tufts.edu
Page last modified April 26, 1999.