Drum Scanning in California

[gmed]

I currently work with West Coast Imaging for my prints and they are awesome.

They also do drum scanning, prices look to be fair.

Does anyone work with a scanner that they recommend that are also affordable?

I have 8 scans to be done for now (4x5 and 6x17), and at $80 for 600 mb, that is a lot of money.

Would anyone recommend a tech that works on Imacon x1 or 5?

The 4x5 need to be printed to 50" at 220 dpi minimum.

[gregmo]

I recommend Lenny Eiger for scanning. He is a member on the forum. He doesn't scan with an Imacon tho.

[gmed]

That's ok. I prefer drum scan. Thank you for tre reply

[Preston]

Lenny does do drum scanning. Look here (http://www.eigerphoto.com/services_technology_ep.php).

--P

[vinny]

gmed said wci's prices are too high so I don't think someone who charges much more is what he needs. Nothing against Lenny, I know he does great work.

[Lenny Eiger]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys...

Lenny

[Kirk Gittings]

You will find a drum scan with a competent operator can far exceed what an Imacon can do. I have access to Imacons and still usually send my work to Lenny. I put a lot of work into files and it is (IMHO) poor economy for my labors to do all that work on anything but the best scan.

[gmed]

I did say that their prices are fair. I just have too many and it will add up. I thought I could find a cheaper alternative but looks like that is what they go for, if not more. Thank you all.

[Lenny Eiger]

I just looked up WCI's prices. They offer small scans at less than I do, but my rates at the normal size are half what they charge... and you get to archive the whole image..

Lenny

[gmed]

What size do you recommend then?

[Lenny Eiger]

What size do you recommend then?

I have a little different philosophy than a lot of the other places. I prefer to give a price for my best scan. This is the one you can use to "archive" the image, that has all the information that technology can get out of it. If you want to make something larger, at a later date, you don't have to rescan... If something happens to the film, heaven forbid, you have everything. Most of the cost for me is in mounting the image on the drum, and doing the analysis. It doesn't matter to me whether the scanner takes 10 minutes to scan, or 25. Might as well just deliver a great scan...

I do 35mm and medium format at 8000ppi, approx 500 meg and 2.2 Gigs respectively, 4x5 at 4000, about 1.75 Gigs and 8x10 at 2666, or about 3 Gigs. Everything is 16 bit RGB.

More importantly, unlike many companies that just put the film on the scanner and let 'er rip, I actually look at the image, do my best to understand what the photographer is after, and set the scan up to make that possible. There are places where you can get scans for $10, and they can't afford to do this. There's no analyzing the image, or rescanning if you think you didn't quite hit the nail on the head... It's the same with printing, the companies who charge less just print whatever file you send them vs the higher end places that work with you to produce a desired result.

I've had a lot of people tell me they have 200 images or so to scan. I say do a very small scan, maybe even with a point and shoot to help you edit the pile down to a minimum. It isn't easy to edit, I know. However, its an important process. Then when you are sure you have the right group of images you can get the scans you need. I don't know what you are up to so I don't want to make any assumptions, but generally speaking, scanning everything at top resolution is expensive, and unnecessary.

If you need some help, let me know... I've helped a lot of people thru the editing process. I'm a photographer and as most of my clients would tell you, I like hanging out with photographers, talking to them, giving them a hand when I can...

Lenny