flatbed scanner for 8x10 color negatives

[prado333]

i need advise to purchase a flatbed scanner from consumer type to high end to make reliable contact prints from 8x10 negatives all of them kodak nc 160 and 400.
all comments are welcome

[jammo]

The only experience I have had in 8x10 has been with my IQsmart2. I have also worked with a Flextight X5, but only up to 4x5. The flextight was excellent and very fast.

I eventually settled for an IQsmart for the higher resolution of 4300 vs the 2040dpi of the Flextight for 4x5.

The Creo IQsmart2, and the IQsmart3 are excellent flatbed scanners, offering firewire connectivity and software up to MacOS 10.6.x. Although the latest update from Kodak for Snow Leopard is hard to come by except from Kodak direct for aprox. €980!

The IQsmart3 will offer a bit more resolution than the 2, 5100dpi I believe, and a slightly higher Dmax.

From Creo the next step up would be the Eversmart supreme scanners. The version II also offers Firewire connectivity although I think the Eversmart can be upgraded to accept Firewire.

My experience with the IQsmart2 was very gratifying. Excellent scans and detail, crisp. You can also wet mount if you deem it necessary. One advantage is that the IQsmarts will resolve equally well across the bed, i.e, no sweet spot somewhere in the middle...I did not do a lot of wet mounting as I was always too wary of oil and cleaning etc...

A few seem to be happy with less, for example the Epson 700 or 750. I never tried one and I do not know if it has a sweet spot or not.

If you need more info, let me know..Good luck

[jammo]

Forgot to add that Kodak has stopped producing the IQsmart line, but will continue to service for the next 5-7 years at least.

[Walter Calahan]

Epson V750, with an anti-Newton Ring glass plate.

[Professional]

Epson V750/V700.

[Brian Ellis]

Contact prints after scanning?

[Peter De Smidt]

I have a Cezanne, and I like it, but if you're only going to make 8x10" prints form 8x10" negatives, the V750 would be a much better value.

[slbowen]

If anyone is in the market for an iQSmart 3 in the NYC area, let me know. I haven't been using mine; it is just a few years old and has hardly been used at all.

[Andrew O'Neill]

A friend of mine has the V750. I've used it a lot with A/N glass and works beautifully.