Not possible in Michigan (or in many other states) to take digital images.  We're not allowed to take cameras into the vault.   The Register of Deeds OWNS those images and what you suggest doing is considered theft, at least in Michigan.  I even work in one county where I had to sign a 3-page contract stating I would never re-sell the images I bought and could use them only for the search I was working on.

We figure on a fair but competitive flat rate by averaging the copy costs.  Since we cover the whole state, it's fairly easy for us to do.  We know that sometimes we'll lose, but sometimes we'll win (we always reimburse the abstractors for their copies).

Alix