Well its not $5.00 a scan but go look at Chromatics scanning prices:
http://chromatics.com/dig-scanning.htm
And with these folks you have no worries about shipping to the other side of the world. Over the many years I've used them, I've found them to be totally reliable.
With all due respect Henry, damn right it's not. If i could get everything that I want to have scanned right now for about three bills, it is awfully tempting. Although Nashville is a lot (and I mean A LOT) less scarey than India. I did get married in Nashville, so that makes it a little scarey. ;-)
I did a lot of business in India and with Indian companies for years. Lots of good experiences and an equal or larger number of horror stories. Not sure I would do it at any price. Too tired for details right now but yell offlist if you want some details.
Someone from India please speak up! Meanwhile here is my 2 cents worth, speaking as someone who lived in Tamilnadu for several years and who goes back there often.
Unlike software development and other industries where outsourcing to South India has taken hold, where technical knowledge and education are the primary requirements, this proposal involves the purchase of an expensive piece of equipment that is not produced domestically in India. If drum scanners were used in the movie business, then it would be a different story, but in this instance you're looking at an imported scanner.
Because photographic equipment is considered a luxury, the drum scanner may be subject to import duties of as much as a few hundred percent, even today with the markets in India opening up. And remember that in terms of buying power, purchasing a $10,000 scanner there would be like you or I purchasing a $150,000 item in the US. The Indian partner in the venture would have to secure financing and would have to be able to justify the cash outlay in terms of projected revenue. Remember that the glossy, high-end advertising and marketing we take for granted in the west is very new there, and only found in big cities-those Rajahs were used for b/w portraiture more than for product photography.
You have the further complication of shipping the negatives in and out of India. If the customs people don't know how to differentiate between exposed and unexposed film, the negatives could be subject to delays and bogus duties going through customs each time they are shipped.
Finally, for the average person or small business in southern India, connection to the internet is through a dial-up and not through broadband. Transferring the huge files anywhere is a very time consuming proposition.
I used to work in advertising in India and got to see a lot of film making, graphic arts, post-production work etc. The production quality of work could be pretty outstanding. Similar issues on some of those - someone would have to buy expensive equipment (typically not produced domestically etc) but it was done. The problem is more likely to be a huge variability (but then that's sort of the je ne sais quo of the place, right...;-). This really meant finding the right person/shop etc, else you could have a very frustrating experience. There are bound to be other issues that crop up - political, beureaucratic and cultural. Any business transaction involves a lot of unspoken assumptions, and these assumptions can easily create problems when two parties are operating with very different assumptions (especially when the assumptions are so tacit that you are not even aware of them - which is sort of the whole idea of cultural influence). You should probably expect a somewhat different firm-customer model. All of which might make it a heavy investment in time, effort etc. Cheers, DJ
I don't want to be preachy, but I will a little. In the larger realm of things, will these cheap drum scans help you tremendously? That is, do you really need them for some great breakthrough project or is it more a luxury?
If it is a really important project I would think working with a local professional drum scanner would be preferable. If it is a luxury and you think that it would just be "neat" to have drum scans, why not pay the same local professional for the simplicity and easy of communication?
I personally am not a fan of "big box" stores, (eg Walmart, Costco, etc,) nor outsourcing. If we refuse to support small businesses, we will be left only with big ones. When was the last time you had a truly pleasurable experience shopping in a big box? Do they know your name? Do they take the time to help you? Imagine how much fun it would be if we all HAD to send our negs/trans. to India because all the labs closed here? Big box stores take from communities, but don't give back. Small businesses are part of the community. Going overseas forces local business to shut, again taking from the community.
Sometimes saving money in the short term will cost us much more in the long term.
Sorry for ranting everyone. This particular subject gets me like no other.
Sorry QT for attacking you, this was more meant as an opinion piece for all and not just you in particular. I know this isn't a political site, nor would I want it to be, so I will try and shut up in the future.
Oh, and thanks for this website! I am a huge fan.
hi,
Since I am photographer based in India I thought I should maybe add my two paisas worth into the 'scanning in india' dicussion. Firstly there are high end drum scanners present in India to service the needs of a big advertising and publishing industry. But they are concentrated in the big metros and they are not cheap by indian standards. I recently got a 4x5 drum scan on an ICG machine (about a 70 mb cmyk file) done for about 12 us dollars equivalent. As far as quality was concerned the machine produced a sharp scan but I was not too happy about the way the transperency was handled. And I think that is where the real problem lies. There is going to be a lot of variability when it comes to the way film will be handled. While there are good professional scanning houses they are not always that accessible to individual photographers. They are basically geared for the offset publishing business. Most of them operate in the land of CMYK and would be lost if you asked for the files in various flavours of RGB like ektaspace or colormatch.
In fact one of the reasons my friend who is a commercial photography in Chennai (the fourth biggest metro in india) switched to using a digital canon 1ds is because he had a problem getting good scans at affordable rates in his city.
So while a 5 dollar scan would be cheap it might be wise to send a test shot for a trial scan.
I should also add that India is changing very fast and stuff like high speed broadband internet (in the metros) is very common. If there is enough money in drum scanning around the world (which I seriously doubt) there will Indian companies trying to a offer world standard services for a price since after all we happen to be (for now at least) the number one destination for outsourcing :-).
sorry for the long post,
cheers,
rajiv.
ADHC, was the keyboard you used to type your message manufactured locally, or in China ? How about your monitor and CPU ? If it is acceptable for large corporations to take advantage of the global market, why wouldn't be the case for individuals.
Local businesses have their place. I will always keep using local labs when I need punctual services in a small scale. For instance if I need one drum scan of a 35mm slide to prepare a lighjet to be sent in a week, clearly I will drop the slide at Calypso.
However, let me explain to you the context. In my case, I would like to scan in excess of a thousand transparencies, so that they can be offered in my online catalog. There is no way that I would invest $50,000 in that task. However, so far, although my love is in LF photography, due to a lack of affordable mass-scanning option, I have been forced to build my business (which provides nowadays the largest part of my income) mostly on 35mm, which is not really satisfying. The only alternative would be for me to buy a used drum scanner and do it myself, but I don't see that as particularly a productive way to spend my time given the scale of the project, nor something that would help the local economy. When (not if) I give the job to an Indian company, at least they get a sizeable (for them) order that benefits their community.
By the way, the last time I had a good shopping experience in a big box was this month, and their name is amazon.com. They gave me back $500 *on my own purchase* through their affiliate program.
QT, I understand how first world corporations like taking advantage of third world labor markets. But, I don't happen to agree with it. This all seems to be based on an arbitrary price point that the first world wants to pay, or believes they should pay, for certain products. Then these corporations, eg Walmart, have the Chinese companies bid against one another on the cost of manufacturing these products, resulting in the Chinese companies being forced to lower costs, (i.e. lower wages, layoffs, etc.) I am not an isolationist nor a nationalist, and yes both of my computers are from Taiwan, (Apple.) I don't have any qualms buying foreign products, sometimes I even prefer them, (Arca Swiss!) But when third world labor is taken advantage of, then I have a problem. The lowest man on the totem pole gets screwed, while the middle men profit. I am sure this isn't always the case, but I would imagine it is very popular. Wall street constantly demands lower costs and corporations are all too willing to submit. With no end in site, it is a bit scary.
I too find it very hard to practice what I preach, but I do try. I live in NYC, which has a very high cost of living and I don't earn a very high wage. I have bought tons of stuff from B&H/Adorama, and will continue to do so. If I could find a good small photo store where they weren't so condescending, I would buy from them and pay a little more. (And trust I have been to them all. Oh yeah, B&H is condescending too, they just have the lowest prices.) I will not shop at a small store just to help Mom and Pop if they will not work for the premium I must pay to buy from them.
I just wish people were a little more conscious of the effects of their spending habits.
I understand your situation and I would probably consider it too. Though buying an Imacon and paying a young guy like me to scan for you might be a better idea!!! If you paid a young person interested in photography to come to your house and use your scanner, you could certainly monitor the quality control, teach them something, and certainly pay far less than you would to a lab. Say $10 per hour? They could probably scan say, 30-40 images a day? So, if you have enough volume to make the initial costs of the Imacon $10k worthwhile, you would save in the long run.
I too have purchased from Amazon, though I definitely prefer St. Marks Bookshop in NYC. Slight premium, but they are really nice and have a great selection. I also check out The Stand, also in NYC, which sells new and used books. My biggest beef with Amazon is that they have NO PHONE NUMBER. Try to find one if you have a problem with your order. That drives me nuts. Also, while they do recommend other books, it is the reviews of the customers that one must rely on to decide if you want to buy. I much prefer speaking to a human and being able to look at the book before I buy. Don't even get me started on the UPS guys that don't really like to deliver packages. Fedex is a MUCH better shipper.
Okay, I will stop ranting now. And yes, I know that I am a bit of a pinko, but not yet a full blown red. My Dad is in economics/international banking, so we have this conversation a lot. Actually, I think I will call him right now.
About my link to scanning at Chromatics - of course they don't work for $5.00 a scan. But you can get a Sigma raw scan for $29.95 and in quantities of 100 they give a 30% discount. Thats about $21.00 for 300MB scans. Technically not a "drum scan" but if you have not tried one it just might be worth your while if you need economical high quality scans. There are, no doubt, other labs offering similar high quaility services and pricing around the U.S.
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