Interesting article on scanning issues

That guy missed the Reflecta medium format scanner, which is brand new. Saw one at Fotomässan a month back, and it seems great for medium format.
Also there's Plustek still making dedicated high quality scanners.

The digital cameras are also getting better. Sooner or later I think we're going to see software designed especially for digitalizing with digicams.
 
Jockos said:
The digital cameras are also getting better. Sooner or later I think we're going to see software designed especially for digitalizing with digicams.
Click to expand...

So, you are thinking along the lines of digital version of copy negatives and internegatives? Shooting a digital of a negative or slide?
 
A flatbed scanner is good enough for me right now. In medium format, a flatbed beats my last digital camera (a Nikon D70). I decided a long time ago that I'd stick with this and, if I ever needed a very high res scan of a particular image, I'd pay someone to do it. I still haven't gone to that extent as the quality from a flatbed scanners 4500x4500 scan works fine for me.

Don't get me wrong - I'd love to see an affordable, dedicated 35mm/120 scanner that does in the market. For my work, it isn't a necessity by any means though. And the investment/maintenance/eventual replacement just isn't worth the cost to me.

Flatbed scanners will be around for a long time and I expect some will continue to support film scanning. I guess the big question is 'how much does it cost to step up to higher quality scans'. As the size of the market continues to decrease, I expect that step up will become more expensive.
 
TXForester said:
What will the future hold? Makes think I might not want to get a MF camera and 35mm will be problematic. ..........................
Click to expand...

I have concluded that it is becoming very easy to "what if?" everything so that you do nothing for fear that it may end. Some will analyze the potential downsides to the point that they sell all their photo equipment, buy a bowling ball and shoes, and join a bowling league. Then they begin to ask what happens if the bowling alley closes.

I know I cannot repair or replace my Minolta medium format film scanner. But today I am happily shooting more film. I will worry about the scanner only when it has a problem.
 
Bob Michaels said:
I have concluded that it is becoming very easy to "what if?" everything so that you do nothing for fear that it may end. Some will analyze the potential downsides to the point that they sell all their photo equipment, buy a bowling ball and shoes, and join a bowling league. Then they begin to ask what happens if the bowling alley closes.

I know I cannot repair or replace my Minolta medium format film scanner. But today I am happily shooting more film. I will worry about the scanner only when it has a problem.
Click to expand...

Words of wisdom.
 
ReeRay said:
......................... I also use a Minolta Multi Pro for which I have 3 spare lamps and a spare non functioning unit for spares. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Click to expand...

ReeRay: you are my new best friend. Do you know if this German e-bay seller only have one lamp? Or is he selling a number of them one at a time?
 
He seems to have a few of them. I've spoken with him (Stephan) and he's a sound guy.

Maybe astute to get an order in quick though!

P.s I'm indeed honored to be a friend!

P.p.s you should join the multi pro group on yahoo - these snippets frequently come to light
 
ReeRay said:
............................... you should join the multi pro group on yahoo - these snippets frequently come to light
Click to expand...

ReeRay: I have been a member of the Yahoo MultiPro user group for many years although not a frequent visitor. I used to post about once a year that my MultiPro continued to work perfectly and I had no problems. This was because 98% of the posts were from that small number of people who did have some problem.
 
If one could keep the film flat, it wouldn't be hard to fab up a copy rig and use a digital camera as a scanner. I used my M8 with DR 'Cron as a 4x5 negative scanner earlier this spring and then printed a book from it. Worked fantastically. I might try this with my M9 now. Getting a 1:1 macro ratio wouldn't be hard to do for 35mm film, keeping the film flat would be a different issue.

As for the end of scanning, "the sky is falling! the sky is falling!"
I'm a linux user and have all sorts of legacy machines hooked up to my main desktop just for kicks sometimes. Really I use it for scanning with my Nikon LS4000 and will keep that thing until it is a paperweight.

Using either a dedicated linux machine or a cd rom bootable system there are plenty of available tools to keep old scanners working for the foreseeable future.

Phil Forrest
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom