On April 26 – 27 2005, the RIT team brought their prototype Sinar 54M camera system to the National Gallery of Art’s Imaging Department. The team included Lawrence Taplin, Mitchell Rosen, and Roy Berns. RIT brought a spectroradiometer to measure the daylight fluorescent viewing illumination and if time allowed, NGA’s CRT display. They also brought a Macintosh G5 to control the camera and for image processing. NGA is using a production Sinar 54M. This enabled a direct comparison between NGA’s digital imaging workflow and the RIT workflow. Both cameras used the same lighting, Broncolor pulsed Xenon, lighting geometry, and photography studio. A set of test targets was imaged by each camera system. In addition, Matisse’s Pot of Geraniums, previously imaged by RIT using their 31-channel spectral camera,1-3 was also imaged. The digital masters from each camera system were converted to an output profile for an Epson Ultrachrome inkjet printer. One-to-one prints were made for the Matisse painting and compared with the actual painting under the daylight fluorescent viewing environment. The RIT prototype camera and the print comparison were evaluated by NGA staff from the imaging, conservation, and finance departments
