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#1
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Looking for a new scanner for Negatives
I was a corporate industrial aerospace photographer, new to the digital field and am looking for a scanner that won’t coast me bazillion dollars to purchase. I want to use this scanner to input a lot of my 35mm, 2 1/4, 6 x7, 6x9, XPan Panorama and 4x5 negatives and (some slides), for both printing, and for inputing into a web site I am working on. I am considering the: Epson Perfection 4990 or the Microtek ScanMaker i900. The Microtek interests me because it has no Glass touching the negatives, which should eliminate Newton’s rings & dust. But the Epson 4990 has a higher resolution. I was hopping that someone might know or has tested these two units. I am also looking for a professional digital image management program, similar in quality to Extensis portfolio 7, but for a lot less money. Someone mentioned ACDSee but I don’t know what the quality of that is. I am using a PC for my computer platform. I have been in the professional /Industrial photography field for over 30 years, and I now have to learn all over again! Thank anyone or everyone who might be able to give me some insight to these now digital questions. Eric -- thephotomaker |
#2
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On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 16:51:09 GMT, thephotomaker
wrote: I was a corporate industrial aerospace photographer, new to the digital field and am looking for a scanner that won’t coast me bazillion dollars to purchase. I want to use this scanner to input a lot of my 35mm, 2 1/4, 6 x7, 6x9, XPan Panorama and 4x5 negatives and (some slides), for both printing, and for inputing into a web site I am working on. I am considering the: Epson Perfection 4990 or the Microtek ScanMaker i900. The Microtek interests me because it has no Glass touching the negatives, which should eliminate Newton’s rings & dust. But the Epson 4990 has a higher resolution. There are lots of reviews and sample scans from the Epson 4870. The consensus is that this scanner's "real" resolution is roughly half its advertised resolution. IOW, it may well be enough for your MF scans, but (IMO) not for 35mm. My one concern with the Microtek would be banding, with which I've had a good deal of personal experience, on every Microtek scanner (or Microtek-designed scanner) that I've owned. (I use a Microtek 2500 for scanning 4x5 film.) Take a look also at the Canon 9950, there are reviews and sample scans. Looks to me roughly on par with the Epson 4870. If you really care about the scans, I'd suggest springing for a good used Nikon LS-8000, which is in another league altogether. rafe b. http://www.terrapinphoto.com |
#3
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On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 16:51:09 GMT, thephotomaker
wrote: I was a corporate industrial aerospace photographer, new to the digital field and am looking for a scanner that won’t coast me bazillion dollars to purchase. I want to use this scanner to input a lot of my 35mm, 2 1/4, 6 x7, 6x9, XPan Panorama and 4x5 negatives and (some slides), for both printing, and for inputing into a web site I am working on. I am considering the: Epson Perfection 4990 or the Microtek ScanMaker i900. The Microtek interests me because it has no Glass touching the negatives, which should eliminate Newton’s rings & dust. But the Epson 4990 has a higher resolution. There are lots of reviews and sample scans from the Epson 4870. The consensus is that this scanner's "real" resolution is roughly half its advertised resolution. IOW, it may well be enough for your MF scans, but (IMO) not for 35mm. My one concern with the Microtek would be banding, with which I've had a good deal of personal experience, on every Microtek scanner (or Microtek-designed scanner) that I've owned. (I use a Microtek 2500 for scanning 4x5 film.) Take a look also at the Canon 9950, there are reviews and sample scans. Looks to me roughly on par with the Epson 4870. If you really care about the scans, I'd suggest springing for a good used Nikon LS-8000, which is in another league altogether. rafe b. http://www.terrapinphoto.com |
#4
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What are your price limits (none of us wants to spend bazillion dollars but
more specificity than that would be helpful, as would information about what your likely maximum print sizes will be with the various formats and what you plan to do with the prints). FWIW, I don't think you're going to find a single scanner that allows you to make excellet prints in the 11x14 and up range with everything from 35mm to 4x5 without spending the bazillion dollars you don't want to spend. A 4x5 film scanner is pretty much out of the question unless you're spending around $5,000 or more (or unless prices of 4x5 film scanners have come way down since I last looked). So you're probably looking at a flat bed of some sort for 4x5. The Epson scanners that preceded the 4990 did quite well for 4x5 with prints in the 11x14 - 16x20 range and o.k. for medium format if the prints sizes were kept around 8x10 to 11x14, especially with 6x7 and 6x9. I'd assume the 4990 will do somewhat better with those film formats and those sizes. However, from all I've read none of the Epson flat beds have been any good for 35mm scans except for tiny prints or web posting. I doubt that the 4990 will be much better with 35mm since its realistic resolution is probably about 2500, which translates to roughly an 8x10 print at best from 35mm at 300dpi. So my guess, without more detailed information of the kind outlined above, is that you need to think in terms of two scanners, a film scanner for 35mm and a flatbed of the 4990 variety for 4x5 and hope it works well for your various medium formats. Of course for web posting almost anything that will get the image into your computer will be o.k. "thephotomaker" wrote in message ... I was a corporate industrial aerospace photographer, new to the digital field and am looking for a scanner that won't coast me bazillion dollars to purchase. I want to use this scanner to input a lot of my 35mm, 2 1/4, 6 x7, 6x9, XPan Panorama and 4x5 negatives and (some slides), for both printing, and for inputing into a web site I am working on. I am considering the: Epson Perfection 4990 or the Microtek ScanMaker i900. The Microtek interests me because it has no Glass touching the negatives, which should eliminate Newton's rings & dust. But the Epson 4990 has a higher resolution. I was hopping that someone might know or has tested these two units. I am also looking for a professional digital image management program, similar in quality to Extensis portfolio 7, but for a lot less money. Someone mentioned ACDSee but I don't know what the quality of that is. I am using a PC for my computer platform. I have been in the professional /Industrial photography field for over 30 years, and I now have to learn all over again! Thank anyone or everyone who might be able to give me some insight to these now digital questions. Eric -- thephotomaker |
#5
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What are your price limits (none of us wants to spend bazillion dollars but
more specificity than that would be helpful, as would information about what your likely maximum print sizes will be with the various formats and what you plan to do with the prints). FWIW, I don't think you're going to find a single scanner that allows you to make excellet prints in the 11x14 and up range with everything from 35mm to 4x5 without spending the bazillion dollars you don't want to spend. A 4x5 film scanner is pretty much out of the question unless you're spending around $5,000 or more (or unless prices of 4x5 film scanners have come way down since I last looked). So you're probably looking at a flat bed of some sort for 4x5. The Epson scanners that preceded the 4990 did quite well for 4x5 with prints in the 11x14 - 16x20 range and o.k. for medium format if the prints sizes were kept around 8x10 to 11x14, especially with 6x7 and 6x9. I'd assume the 4990 will do somewhat better with those film formats and those sizes. However, from all I've read none of the Epson flat beds have been any good for 35mm scans except for tiny prints or web posting. I doubt that the 4990 will be much better with 35mm since its realistic resolution is probably about 2500, which translates to roughly an 8x10 print at best from 35mm at 300dpi. So my guess, without more detailed information of the kind outlined above, is that you need to think in terms of two scanners, a film scanner for 35mm and a flatbed of the 4990 variety for 4x5 and hope it works well for your various medium formats. Of course for web posting almost anything that will get the image into your computer will be o.k. "thephotomaker" wrote in message ... I was a corporate industrial aerospace photographer, new to the digital field and am looking for a scanner that won't coast me bazillion dollars to purchase. I want to use this scanner to input a lot of my 35mm, 2 1/4, 6 x7, 6x9, XPan Panorama and 4x5 negatives and (some slides), for both printing, and for inputing into a web site I am working on. I am considering the: Epson Perfection 4990 or the Microtek ScanMaker i900. The Microtek interests me because it has no Glass touching the negatives, which should eliminate Newton's rings & dust. But the Epson 4990 has a higher resolution. I was hopping that someone might know or has tested these two units. I am also looking for a professional digital image management program, similar in quality to Extensis portfolio 7, but for a lot less money. Someone mentioned ACDSee but I don't know what the quality of that is. I am using a PC for my computer platform. I have been in the professional /Industrial photography field for over 30 years, and I now have to learn all over again! Thank anyone or everyone who might be able to give me some insight to these now digital questions. Eric -- thephotomaker |
#6
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What are your price limits (none of us wants to spend bazillion dollars but
more specificity than that would be helpful, as would information about what your likely maximum print sizes will be with the various formats and what you plan to do with the prints). FWIW, I don't think you're going to find a single scanner that allows you to make excellet prints in the 11x14 and up range with everything from 35mm to 4x5 without spending the bazillion dollars you don't want to spend. A 4x5 film scanner is pretty much out of the question unless you're spending around $5,000 or more (or unless prices of 4x5 film scanners have come way down since I last looked). So you're probably looking at a flat bed of some sort for 4x5. The Epson scanners that preceded the 4990 did quite well for 4x5 with prints in the 11x14 - 16x20 range and o.k. for medium format if the prints sizes were kept around 8x10 to 11x14, especially with 6x7 and 6x9. I'd assume the 4990 will do somewhat better with those film formats and those sizes. However, from all I've read none of the Epson flat beds have been any good for 35mm scans except for tiny prints or web posting. I doubt that the 4990 will be much better with 35mm since its realistic resolution is probably about 2500, which translates to roughly an 8x10 print at best from 35mm at 300dpi. So my guess, without more detailed information of the kind outlined above, is that you need to think in terms of two scanners, a film scanner for 35mm and a flatbed of the 4990 variety for 4x5 and hope it works well for your various medium formats. Of course for web posting almost anything that will get the image into your computer will be o.k. "thephotomaker" wrote in message ... I was a corporate industrial aerospace photographer, new to the digital field and am looking for a scanner that won't coast me bazillion dollars to purchase. I want to use this scanner to input a lot of my 35mm, 2 1/4, 6 x7, 6x9, XPan Panorama and 4x5 negatives and (some slides), for both printing, and for inputing into a web site I am working on. I am considering the: Epson Perfection 4990 or the Microtek ScanMaker i900. The Microtek interests me because it has no Glass touching the negatives, which should eliminate Newton's rings & dust. But the Epson 4990 has a higher resolution. I was hopping that someone might know or has tested these two units. I am also looking for a professional digital image management program, similar in quality to Extensis portfolio 7, but for a lot less money. Someone mentioned ACDSee but I don't know what the quality of that is. I am using a PC for my computer platform. I have been in the professional /Industrial photography field for over 30 years, and I now have to learn all over again! Thank anyone or everyone who might be able to give me some insight to these now digital questions. Eric -- thephotomaker |
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