Drum Scanner popularity on the rise?

[Karl Hudson]

I've noticed this trend sweeping the Globe...it's the popularity of drum scanners. Just wanted to post a little blurb about it. I've not been on this Forum in well over a year. I thought I'd come back and see what's up. I travel almost constantly now, serving a global community of Artists / Photographers / Museums. I'm staying very busy and have learned way more about these machines over the past few years than I ever knew before.

The most popular scanner I work with is by far, the Tango / Primescan, and I really know how to tweak them now...especially after spending a day with a brilliant man by the name of Tim Parkin, located in the UK. Together we figured out some cool stuff (like adjusting pots inside the Scan Head which the technical manual says never touch). I've now adjusted these on another scanner in Ireland with fantastic results. Working with Tim was a lot of fun and very enlightening too. Dude knows his stuff quite well indeed.

This resurgence of Analog is happening with Audio as well as Imaging. I attended my 23 year old daughter's graduation in Gainesville, FL this past summer, and when I walked into her apartment, she and her roommate were playing record albums! This kid never played a record album growing up...she was born in 1990, but even without high-end equipment, it's cool and it's 'in'. Anyone noticed there's used record stores popping up everywhere? I heard that Robbie Williams latest "album" is actually being released on vinyl too.

So back to Imaging...I also wanted to mention that I've noticed more than one of my higher-profile, overly-successful clients, who all switched to digital ten years ago, well...they are now talking about going back to shooting more film. Do you think maybe people are getting tired and worn out from everything around them being digital? One customer of mine has recently ordered a custom built 20x24 inch camera with a sky-high price tag and a very long lead time. His negatives are going to totally fill the largest drum on his Primescan D8400 (in fact he might have to trim a few millimeters off the border to get them on there).

I'm fielding more inquiries regarding the granddaddy DC3000 too. This series of scanner is poised to perhaps make an odd comeback, even with its large footprint and weight being an issue...go figure. I'm expecting to actually sell a few of them in 2014, mainly due to the smallest 80mm diameter drum capability, which can squeeze the 24,000 dpi optical resolution into a smaller circumferential area. This makes it possible to squeeze a bit more out of a single scan than what can be done with a 150 mm drum. But really...I mean enough is enough, right? Have you seen the Audiophiles who run extra thick short cables between the amp and the speakers to cut the loss of quality in the signal? Seems overkill right? But if you are really into it...you do whatever's possible to squeeze out as much as you can from the original.

I'm not saying anything negative regarding Digital photography here, I just wanted to bring up this funny trend I've noticed that seems to have some momentum right now. Digital is definitely here to stay in both Audio and Imaging because it's more portable, gives instant gratification, and is less expensive...and let's face it, the quality is pretty darn good. Oh yeah, just thought of something else I've seen...digital photos being output on a LightJet and then scanned! Love the Art World!

Karl

[Taija71A]

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Neat Trick!

A very 'thinly' Disguised 'Commercial Post' -- In order to perhaps? promote future Business ???

-Tim.

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[Ken Lee]

I moved this thread to the Resources section.

Thanks for letting us know that you provide this service.

[mdm]

good on you. Keep your enthusiasm.

[Thad Gerheim]

I can vouch for the Tango drum scanner and for Karl Hudson. And no, I'm not his wife, mistress, business partner or other. After having a Creo Scitex Eversmart Supreme scanner, which in reality beats an Epson hands down, density range and sharpness , I bought a Tango drum scanner from craigslist. $2,000. plus me driving to Seattle, hefting the 550 pound beast out of a basement, loading it into a horse trailer, and driving it back to way out in the middle of nowhere Idaho, I considered it a deal! It sat for a couple more months before one of the last technicians there is for these machines (Karl Hudson) showed up at my door to set-up, calibrate and train me in the middle of December. Luckily, he was smart enough not to follow his GPS into the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, which is actually where I'm at right now. I am forever thank-full to him for the amount of work and thorough precision he put into this amazing machine, a machine that I will never begin to understand how it can get such great scans and I have used other services.
I also have to confess that I too like vinyl albums, my last is a JJ Grey. This past summer while Willie Braun of "Reckless Kelley" had a rare moment to listen to his brother Mickey play music, he told me there's just something about putting down a recording to vinyl that seems to have more of his personality to it. I couldn't agree more.

[onnect17]

It's a 99% problem.

Most of the manufacturers are in the business of making money, not perfect products, and as long the 99% of the consumers is not demanding something better, why they should take any risk?

I'm one of those who bought a LP after a CD, a film camera after a digital, an enlarger after a printer. But any of the decisions was not based in the fact of being "chic". It was the result of understanding the limitations of the new and cheaper technology.

The best part is that due to the age and cost of supporting the "old" technology it becomes necessary in many cases getting familiar with the equipment, which involves a deeper understanding of all the parts and working principles. The result is overall better use and results.

[Racer X 69]

It sat for a couple more months before one of the last technicians there is for these machines (Karl Hudson) showed up at my door to set-up, calibrate and train me in the middle of December. Luckily, he was smart enough not to follow his GPS into the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, which is actually where I'm at right now. I am forever thank-full to him for the amount of work and thorough precision he put into this amazing machine, a machine that I will never begin to understand how it can get such great scans and I have used other services.

Karl came all the way from Germany to Idaho to do all that? Must have cost more than the scanner did.

Nice.

[Larry Gebhardt]

Karl came all the way from Germany to Idaho to do all that? Must have cost more than the scanner did.

Nice.

Karl makes regular trips around the US to service these machines. I've thought of getting one if my ScanMate goes belly up simply because of the service Karl provides.

[Thad Gerheim]

[QUOTE=Larry Gebhardt;1093376]Karl makes regular trips around the US to service these machines.
Yes, he was on a trip that took him from southern Calif, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Idaho, and Colorado. He charged me his standard one day fee of $900. But, in reality he put in more than two an a half days of work. These are incredible machines and we're lucky to have a guy like Karl who knows and loves them and wants to keep them running. He has a warehouse near Atlanta too. And a little bit of trivia is that his father helped Werner Von Braun put a man on the moon.

[Karl Hudson]

Thanks Thad, I'll probably be paying you to come visit your slice of Heaven next time. Could have stayed a week no problem...love that wood stove and the night sky surrounded by mountains...just amazing. My work in this field is very gratifying but I'm not sure which is the best part, meeting the interesting people or fixing the machines!