RD1s Announced

Interestingly, a very high resolution film scanner can avoid this problem for reasons I used to know and have forgotten. But I do know that my Minolta 5400 film scanner can scan TMZ without this effect and TMZ is one of the toughest films to scan (with respect to grain). It's been a few years since I was actively testing scanners for my own work but there are definite differences among scanners and certainly among scan resolutions. I bought the 5400 specifically to scan TMZ.

Cheers,

Sean
 
Essentially the R-D1 is better than an M6, a 35 Summicron, TriX and a good scanner.
But is not better than an M6, a 35 Summicron, a good enlarger and good paper.

Personally I find my RD-1 + 35 Summicron 4th definetly more than adequate for my needs, but of course your mileage may vary.
 
Sean: Not to hijack this thread, and maybe this has been beat to death here and on other forums... but can you provide some input on the Minolta 5400 vs. the Coolscan V in this regard, i.e. scanning b&w and the grain issue? Feel free to PM if you wish.

Thanks

Earl
 
New Thread *grain alaising*

New Thread *grain alaising*

Sean and others
I am setting up my wet darkroom this weekend after a 35 year hiutis. I got a mint Durst 606 enlarger on Ebay and am ready to rock and roll. One thing I want to do is compare shots from my RD-1 with shots from my R3A. I've got 2 rolls of Tmax 400 to develop. I have a Coolscan V, but I never used it to scan B&W only color.
Is anyone interested in starting a thread on a digital vs film comparision of the RD-1 & R3A?
Rex
 
Trius: I'm very rusty on scanners. I own one primarily to scan archived 35mm work such as the subway pictures which were all made on TMZ. I'm afraid I'm not the right person to compare the 5400 to another scanner. I just kept trying scanners till I found one that excelled with high-speed B&W film and then I was set.

Rich,

I'm working on an article that will include some comparisons between the R-D1 files and scanned M7 and Ikon negs. That's not the purpose of the article but it's a side effect.


Cheers,

Sean
 
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I guess this really should be another thread but I'd like to add.........

The 5400 does a very very good job with B&W film. Team it up with Vuescann scanning software and it is even better, It isn't hard to beat what comes with the scanner.

With TMZ Vuescan is a must. The Minolta software IMO opinion is really poor with TMZ.

The 5400 is good enough to show me the different looks to the grain structure/pattern/smoothness between differrent developers. I can see D76 vs HC100 vs Rodinal with TX. With TMZ between HC110 and T-MAX developer. Agfa 100 in Rodinal has the "sing" to the grain that it does in silver printing.

Scanned film doesn't look like digital. While I might print with MIS UT7 inks with scanned film instead if BO (black ink only) sometimes for a little smoother look, digital files to me are too smooth and need the BO print look.

I may be a minority but I'm not looking for a digital system that looks like 4x5 or even 6x6cm. I've shot everything from 35mm to 8x10. I like grain an I like a certain kind of look to my grain.

So for now I still shoot some film, I shoot digital with a Nikon D2HS (grreat high ISO and look to the files) and still wish for an R-D1.
 
Yes, of course, I forgot to mention Vuescan. I do all my film scanning with Vuescan, whether it's 35mm or 4 x 5.

BTW, in my mind, there isn't really a digital look just as there is no film look. There are many variations within each medium and they don't share a generalized look.

Cheers,

Sean
 
rami G said:
ezio, there are not so many R-D1 out there for anybody to "easily find" near mind RD-1 at any condition. and the RD-1s does not really call for an upgrade for owners, but is really craving for a second body. anyway, good luck in finding one.
Click to expand...

That is real but on march 25 in germany a rd-1 has been sold at 1630 euros, and there's another one expiring tomorrow now at 500€.

With patience, real deals on digital are possible...
 
I'm begining to think the R-D1S is vapourware as well, at least for most countries. We have already heard that they are not intending to market it in the US and this weeks Amatuer Photographer reports the same for the U.K.

"Epson has revamped its groundbraking R-D1 digital Rangefinder but revealed that the new model called the R-D1s will not be available in the U.K.

Epson UK's office broke the news to AP after it was deluged with enquiries about the new camera following reports that appeared on the internet. A UK spokesman told AP' This product will not be availablein the UK'.

Clever marketing by Epson here don't you think. Get "deluged with enquiries" and then say you have no intention of selling it in those markets.

I heard they had intended to sell one in Outer Mongolia but a spokesman said "we heard that RML might buy one on his next trip back so we now have no intention of releasing the camera here either". :D :D
 
Hey! That's bad news! I was sooo hoping to get it wrapped in brown paper with yak string. :p
 
Oliver said:
Jan,
What I believe jlw means by grain aliasing isn't the graininess of the film itself. It's a side effect of the scanning.
Click to expand...

That's correct. If you go back to my original post and click on the words "grain aliasing," you'll find that they're a link leading to an article on the Photoscientia website with a very detailed explanation (complete with sample files you can download and combine to see how aliasing effects work.)

The short summary is that if the average spacing of the film's grain structure is close to an exact multiple of the scanner's CCD pixel pitch, the random pattern of the grains will interact with the regular pattern of the CCD to produce an enlarged random pattern. It's a smaller version of the moiré effect you've seen if you've ever scanned a screened photograph on a flatbed scanner.

I was interested to read Sean's claim that he doesn't see this effect when scanning T-Max film on a Minolta 5400 scanner; it suggests that the grain spacing of T-Max and the pixel spacing of this particular scanner manage to fall into a "sweet spot" where the aliasing doesn't occur. However, you can't guarantee that this would happen with other films (or with T-Max processed by somebody else; I've gotten fierce grain aliasing with T-Max on my 4000ppi Canon scanner.) The Photoscientia article includes a mathematical treatment of why a moderate increase in the scanner's pixel density would not guarantee that grain aliasing would not occur. (Which is probably just as well, now that the Minolta 5400 scanner is no longer available, and no other manufacturer seems interested in stepping up with an equivalent; if this particular scanner were a grain aliasing cure-all, it would be very frustrating that it's no longer made!)
 
The 5400 also scans Tri-X beautifully so it's useful for at least two B&W films (the other being TMZ). It's had a kind of quiet reputation of being a scanner of choice for B&W photographers for quite awhile now.

Cheers,

Sean
 
Sean Reid said:
The 5400 also scans Tri-X beautifully so it's useful for at least two B&W films (the other being TMZ). It's had a kind of quiet reputation of being a scanner of choice for B&W photographers for quite awhile now.
Click to expand...

So, in view of the fact that the 5400 is no longer available, basically a short summary of what you're saying would be, "Neener, neener, neener!"...?
 
So what did they change on the new model 5400 that makes it less desirable than the old 5400?

I'm with Sean. The 5400 and TMZ/TX/Agfa 100 rocks. Agfa APX100 in Rodinal scans extremely well. I haven't found any B&W films that don't. But don't bother with the supplied software.

As far as all the extra work involved scanning? Well maybe a little. I spend time on a lightbox like in the old days. I only scan what I'll print. So what 3 frames on a roll? 10 frames on a roll?

Believe me I spend alot of time also with digital Capture. Either one is worth it for the result.
 
A possibly worrisome short news item at:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060316/tc_afp/japantechnologycompanycutsseikoepson

[Epson] "...already announced in January it would eliminate 3,000 jobs due to the fierce competition for ink-jet printers, its mainstay business.

"Seiko Epson said in its latest plans that it needed to refocus on its strengths such as printers while significantly reducing its exposure to the cut throat semiconductor industry."

So, with all this cost-slashing, does the R-D1 fit on the + or - side of the ledger?
 
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