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Thread: High end scanner options - What's out there?

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2016
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    High end scanner options - What's out there?

    Hello, everyone. This is my first time posting to the forums but I've been a long time lurker and have gained lots of excellent information here over the years.

    Here's my sitch: After 17+ years of faithful service, my company wants to put our Scitex EverSmart scanner to pasture. She's still kicking (barely) and it's only a matter of time until she's belly up. So naturally, we wanted to start looking into potential replacements, and I thought that with time and technology advances there would probably be some interesting options out there to consider. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong - but I have yet to find anyone currently manufacturing and updating a scanner comparable to this Scitex?

    Let's just say for now there is no budget limitation.

    Here's a wish list:
    - Something new
    - warranty
    - tech support
    - flat bed (min 11x17)
    - reflective and trans
    - wet mounting capabilities
    - Operates on current MAC OS
    - USB connect
    - quality that compares to Scitex ( MUST be high end quality)

    Now I know that's a hefty wishlist, but it's where I need to start. I full well know getting all of them is not reality. We've considered purchasing a drum scanner in the past but feel the flatbed just gives us more versatility. We do quite a bit of work for museums and gallerys, so scanning large format negatives/prints for wall mural output is not uncommon.

    In closing, If anyone has any input on what's out there, what may be coming out soon, or if I'm just in a dreamland on what I'm looking for - please give me your thoughts. And if such a beast doesn't exist, maybe my best option is to have this Scitex refurbished? Is that even an option? I wouldn't even know who services them anymore.

    Thanks much for any input ~
    -Cee

  2. #2

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    Oct 2015
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    Re: High end scanner options - What's out there?

    Just a thought... You may get more information if you post this on dpug.org

    Good luck!

  3. #3

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    Apr 2016
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    Re: High end scanner options - What's out there?

    Thanks- I will!

  4. #4

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    Re: High end scanner options - What's out there?

    Quote Originally Posted by SevArt74 View Post
    Thanks- I will!
    It is the best scanning method too (by far)... Provided that the MFDB used is of the multishot 16x "true color" kind... I use my Sinarback 54H MFDB in 16x multishot true color mode and the Zeiss APO 120mm f4 lens of the Contax 645 at f11 and use a Kaiser lightbox to lay film on. If one scans film of 6x8 size shot on a Fuji GX-680 and then digitize it by stitching four 16x multishot shots, the result exceeds anything I've ever seen out of a scanner despite the film image area used... It is so good, that using larger film area is absolutely useless... The output is only a bit more than 200MP, but the (complete) absence of artifacts and the (unbelievable) DR, is by far beyond what a scanner can achieve.... Prints of bilboard size at 72ppi are absolutely stunning for detail to the extend that one can have a close look at them and play "the inspector with the magnifying glass"...

    It saves a lot of money too as one can spend the 2-2.5K required for the back (in the S/H market) but then sell whatever scanner he uses and save a lot more out of the cheaper film and the developing of it (9 shots of 6x8 out of a roll of 120 film), yet improving on the flexibility, the associated equipment, the expenses, the manouverability, the time efficiency, the control over the process and the (unbelievable) image quality. Let alone that he then has an excellent MFDB as to use alongside his film work...

    One may ask... "won't I improve further if I use 4x5 sheet film and digitize it by shooting eight 16x multishot captures"? The answer is ...no! ...things aren't proportional as it looks if one uses a scanner... Simply because one has to use a less resolving lens to capture the larger image area and then, the method extracts ALL the resolution that the smaller circle lens (used for the 6x8 image area) is capable off... The added softness (of the lens) on the 4x5 image area (and then on even larger image areas in proportion) is also exposed by the method, thus cancelling out the benefits of the image area size.

  5. #5

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    Re: High end scanner options - What's out there?

    Quote Originally Posted by Theodoros View Post
    ...a Kaiser lightbox to lay film on....
    The Kaiser is your light source? How are you doing multi-shot? If you aren't using flash, how long is each exposure, and the total time for each scan?

    Kumar

  6. #6

    Re: High end scanner options - What's out there?

    I scanned my 6x17 film by inserting it in one of the plastic frames of an Epson flatbed scanner. The frame is attached to one of the standards of my sinar P2 with duct tape. It sounds ugly but in fact it works pretty well. Then I took about 20 shots of each film with a Sony A6000 with a Nikon 55mm Macro lens (and bellows). Finally, I put together the 20 frames with PTGui. Once the correct alignment between camera and standard+frame is achieved the capturing process is tedious but no biggie.

    My findings are:
    1. PTGui has been thought as a tool to put together images from a rotating camera, not from a camera sliding parallel to the subject (i.e., the film being photographed). Lots of work to adjust all the parameters. PS Photomerge is not better than PTGui in this respect.
    2. Achieved resolution is out of this world. One realizes how much information a good film (helped by a good lens and a steady tripod!) can capture. It is still pretty impressive even today with 100Mpix sensors coming.
    3. Scanning color negatives is even more work. When I do not need a state-of-the-art scan I use Silverfast on my Epson V850 for MF and LF film because I do mostly color negative scans and Silverfast has an excellent library of profiles for color negative film (better than Vuescan in my opinion). With the "DSLR-based scanner" you are on your own.
    4. The scan out of the camera has much higher contrast than that coming from a standard film scanner or flatbed scanner. Easily fixed in PS, though.

    (My very personal) bottom line.
    I do only fine-art work, so (1) I shoot relatively little and (2) I have no customers pressing me to deliver photos within a deadline. So, film scanning with a DSLR-based set up makes a lot of sense even if it is a lot of work. Right now, as long as my Minolta Elite Dimage II works for 135 film and the lab that scans my 6x17 and 8x10 films with its Creo iQsmart3 survives I will not switch to the DSLR-based scanner. But it is definitely - for me - a good "plan B."

  7. #7

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    Re: High end scanner options - What's out there?

    Quote Originally Posted by B.S.Kumar View Post
    The Kaiser is your light source? How are you doing multi-shot? If you aren't using flash, how long is each exposure, and the total time for each scan?

    Kumar
    Each 16x shot lasts about 50 secs, it's about 5 minutes required to do four 16x shots for a 6x8 120 negative. I don't use flash for artwork repro either (it's Fluorescent daylight >97IRE valves I use for artwork). Strobes I only use for architectural work (sometimes in combination with fluorescent). Multishot is done either by activating the focal plane shutter of the Contax, or the electronic leaf shutter of a respective lens.

  8. #8

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    Re: High end scanner options - What's out there?

    The only currently made option is a medformat DSLR on copy stand. Not quite a scanner, but depending on what you are scanning could be a replacement.
    Digital transitions market one.

  9. #9
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: High end scanner options - What's out there?

    Contact Genesis, they'll be able to help you: http://www.genesis-equipment.com/pro...canners_6.aspx

  10. #10

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    Re: High end scanner options - What's out there?

    Basically I don't think there is such a thing as a modern scanner like the Eversmart - maybe best to just get another one. The world has gone to digital acquisition! The Digicam on a sophisticated copy stand is about as modern as it gets.

    You can check the Scan Hi End forum on Yahoo as well. Genesis refurbs Eversmarts and IQSmarts etc. Drop Michael Streeter a line at yak@genesis-equipment.com and see what they might have available. He's knowledgeable about this stuff. Not sure if they'd refurb your unit for you but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

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