You might enjoy this article where Ken Rockwell compares the Minolta against Nikon, Imacon, etc. I previously had a Nikon scanner, and also did experience the banding problem in sky areas.
Personally, I found the Epson comparisons at galerie-photo.com a little under-whelming. It makes me wonder how Epson can claim a substantial increase in resolution between the two models. It looks more like a change in tonality than actual detail.
Keep in mind that the Imacon is not a drum scanner per se.
As Ken Rockwell points out..."It has nothing to do with legitimate drum scanners which are described here. The Imacons are just conventional CCD scanners with an innovative curved film holder and clean optical path."
I've done a lot of research on this subject and also need a scanner for up to 8x10 films. Presently I'm using the Imacon 343 to scan up through 4x5. I'm still lacking in the ability to do larger films. I thought about a used drum scanner but issues about drivers, SCSI connections, and software scared me off. Based on comparison scans I had done, I think the best value is the Creo IQ Smart2 flatbed scanner. Unfortunately the price is on the high side at $12,000. I'd recommend saving, and doing it right. Why shoot 8x10 if the output is less than superlative.
Ken,
Your comments about the differences between the 2450 and the 4870 are correct in my mind, too. There is a subtle inprovement in sharpness (the mass of thorns in the bottom right does have a little better individual seperation), but overall there doesn't appear to be a real substantial improvement, but it is clearly a little bit better. The dpi and dmax claims of Epson and the rest are fundamentally bogus, and independant tests have shown this to be the case. I believe I read the the top resolution of the 4870 is actually around 1700 dpi.
The 4870 doesn't really compare to the Nikon favorably at all, however. And that is the primary point that I came away from that webpage with.
I understand the Imacon is not a drum scanner, and that there is a good bit of marketing hype associated with a number of their claims, but I do think it holds it's own reasonably well, and if I could track down a pre-owned Photo that would permit me to do both 4x5 (in two scans) and 120, then it may be a good way to go. I'd then have to forego scanning anything larger, but I don't consider that a real problem to live with.
---Michael
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks