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Thread: 4x5 Scanning

  1. #11

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    Santa Cruz, CA
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    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    Quote Originally Posted by richardman View Post
    I have once have someone made a comparison scan with an Imacon 363 and the scan did not look better.

    A real drum scan will probably look quite a bit better but you are talking a lot more effort needed to make a scan.
    Richard,

    Drum scans are better, its true. However, I just went and looked at your site and while you may benefit from better sharpness of the drum scan, your work will not take advantage of the increased tonal separation possible. You like to print a certain way, and that's your preference, I have no problem with it - or any judgment. Everyone gets to choose their style. However, it's the type of printing where any decent scanner will look good, allow you to make a good print, etc.

    I would agree that there is a bit more effort required in setting up a drum scanner. However, once set up it takes the same amount of effort as any other type. The difficulty that people talk about doesn't really exist... not in my opinion...


    Lenny
    EigerStudios
    Museum Quality Drum Scanning and Printing

  2. #12
    おせわに なります! Andrew O'Neill's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Coquitlam, BC, Canada, eh!
    Posts
    5,136

    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    Not very many of us can afford a drum scanner. I have been using the V750 for a year now and it has done an exceptional job. I wet mount scan to make digital negs up to 16x20 and my alt prints look great.

  3. #13

    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    I laugh :-) p.s. if you look at http://richardmanphoto.com, that's not my latest. Most/all of my 4x5 can be found on, for example, the Portrait threads on LFF.

    In any case, I paid for a contact print 8x10 done by a photographer who merited a 7-10 page thread a few months ago and someone who ordered the same print gushed about how sharp the print is etc.

    Bollock - my 17x22 inkjet print from scanned 4x5 looks much sharper than a contact print 8x10. And lets not talk about the great tonal quality either :-)

    BTW, I write compilers for my dayjob, lets just say I know quite a bit about computers. I know I can make drum scanning works for me, but most people, forget about it. When the SCSI driver throws up a "LUN 0 error" or if you dedicate a machine and then needing to know how to share folders from an ancient Mac to a Win 8.1 machine, most people would run away in horror.

  4. #14

    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    You can get drum scanners as low as $1000-$1500, so the cost isn't the major problem, and the improvements would be there, but IMHO - which obviously others disagree on - the incremental improvements aren't worth the hassle.

  5. #15

    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    575

    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    I'm in a similar situation, trying to decide between a V700 and a V800 which is an extra $100. Is there any benefit to the v800 when scanning 4x5 or 8x10? I've got an LS8000 for smaller stuff so it is just LF film that is the priority.

  6. #16

    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    If the difference is only $100, I would go for the newer model. I have a V700 and unlikely to "upgrade" but if you don't have one yet, that's a different story.

  7. #17

    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    183

    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    I went from a 1650 to a V700 (or is it a V750.. I can't remember now) recently and once resized for the web, I can't tell the difference

  8. #18

    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    "resized for the web" - well yes, if your ultimate output is just the web, throw away your large format camera and use the iPhone :-)

  9. #19

    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Co Durham, England
    Posts
    30

    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    You should do subcontract work Adam 😠 anywhere near co Durham? 😋

    Where did you find the drum scanner Adam, EBAY or ?

    In the mean time I have bought a used Epson 4990, which I have read gives v similar results to the 7** range, so worst case I will use it to proof colour negs in order to decide which ones I either want scanning at digilab or drum scanning. A guy in the UK does it at a reasonable price(tim Parkin), though I am an 80's child techno geek so having a go at drum scanning ain't off the table, though all the ones I've managed to find have been in the mid thousands £''s not hundreds.

    Quote Originally Posted by Adam Long View Post
    Andy,

    I had the same dilemma as you 18 months back. I've had a decent MF scanner for years (Nikon 8000) so have some experience of scanning. A mate locally did a few scans for me on his Epson. Despite him having a well set up machine and knowing how to get the best out of it I was underwhelmed by the results. I didn't really fancy sinking £500 into one after that and kept an eye on ebay for drum scanners. After a few months I picked up a Scanmate 5000 from a graphics company and London for £240. Bit of a drive to pick it up but given the size, weight and fragility you're unlikely to get one shipped. I had to mess about a bit buying SCSI leads and terminators, and setting up a Win XP machine, but the first scan (even dry-mounted) blew the Epson away. You don't get much pre-scan control other than cropping but the results are impressive. It also goes up to 5000dpi so it can squeeze a few more pixels out of MF and 35mm than my Nikon.

  10. #20

    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    183

    Re: 4x5 Scanning

    :-)

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