Best 8x10 scanner and Labs for 8x10 Color Enlargements

[Gary Nylander]

Hello,

I just recently bought the Microtek i900 scanner about two weeks ago and I have to say that I think it's a very good scanner. I bought it because I shoot large format up to 8 x 10. I also purchased the Epson 4000 printer, which is also a very good. My intitial reaction to the i900 when I first set it up with the stock Microtek Scan Wizard software was that it was poor in quality, then I got the idea of scanning in my negatives under the 'postive' setting thus getting a 'negative' in photoshop which I invert and this made a world of diffrence and this resulted in very sharp scans, it also came with Silverfast Ai which is also very good, but I still prefer to use the negative scanning method.

The scanner has a seperate tray for doing glassless scanning up to 4 x 5 film and a glass holder for anything bigger. From my darkroom I had made my own horizonal 8 x 10 enlarger and had some specially designed metal neg carriers for 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 film sizes and with a little trimming they just happen to fit in perfectly in the glassless tray, so I am scanning in 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 film, glassless. I can't say what it will do for color negatives as most of my collection is in black and white.

I think for the price ( $800 in Canada ), it's a very good deal, and if anyone is interested , you can check out my website at: http://www.garynylander.com and look under 'New Images' there is a photograph of Spotted Lake that I made recently with my 8 x 10 and scanned in with this scanner, I know its only a website image but at least it will give you an idea of what it can do, also check under 'Techincal Info'.

BTW I have been printing in a traditional darkroom for the past 17 years or so and I am just loving the results I am getting from my scanner and printer !

Gary

[Robert_4191]

Thanks Julian, Ralph, Ken and Gary for adding very helpfully to this discussion. Julian, I probably didn't express myself well, but I wasn't intending to use the scanner for the exhibition work...just for prints at 8x10 and 11x14 and for the web. Gary, your website is excellent, and I have to admit I'm intrigued again by the i900 based on the examples you have up. The 1800f may still be a better choice, but there's a lot to like about the price and packaging of the i900.