New article by Leigh Perry: Collaborative scanner comparison

[QT Luong]

A new article
Collaborative large format scanner comparison by Leigh Perry from Sydney, has been posted. Please feel free to leave any constructive comments on this thread. Also, please note that Leigh is always interested in adding results from other scanners, so please contact him if you'd like to contribute a scan.

[Doug Dolde]

I'd say the Tango does the best job but that's not surprising.

[Darin Cozine]

I think the colorgetter pulled out more info in the dark areas though. I wouldnt say there is an overall best, as they have different stregnths and weaknesses. Also note that a flatbed scanner is much smaller and cheaper than a drum scanner (of course!).

All in all a great job, and an excellent reference for the community. Thank you.

[neil poulsen]

Really an excellent comparison. I noticed that, if one has a wheel on their mouse, select one of the options in the drop down and then turn the wheel with the cursor placed over the drop down. This makes is easy to compare one scanner to another.

While there was one image where it lost texture, the Heidelburg stands out the strongest for me. I was a little surprised at the Epson 3200.

[Will Strain]

I love my Epson 3200 for everyday personal work...but now I'm especially glad I get pro jobs professionally scanned or when i need to go big.

Great reference. Thanks for sharing it. I was considering upgrating to the Microtek i900...but based on that comparision, I think I'll save for something bigger later.

[Leigh Perry]

I noticed that, if one has a wheel on their mouse, select one of the options in the drop down and then turn the while with the cursor placed over the drop down. This makes is easy to compare one scanner to another.

PC users can also click on the scanner combo box (dropdown) and use the up and down arrows. That way you can keep the mouse over or away from the image so that you get the sharpened or unsharpened versions.

I plan to improve this dinky presentation, hopefully using checkboxes so that you can select the scanners you are interested in -- that will then populate the combos/dropdown with only the required scanners.

[Leigh Perry]

Forthcoming scans are:
<ul>
<li>Epsons 4870 and 4990
<li>Microtek ArtixScan 1800f
<li>Crosfield drum scanner
<li>Fuji Lanovia C550 flatbed
<li>Creo Eversmart Supreme
<li>Howtek 7500
<li>ICG 380 drum scanner
<li>Canon 9950f
</ul>
Many of these are thanks to the ScanHi-End Yahoo group, so there will be a preponderance of drum scanners and executive flatbeds. It would be nice to fill in the prosumer gap a little more.

[Matthew Cromer]

This is truly great stuff.

How long until the Canon 9950 and Epson 4990 will be added?

[Bruce Watson]

I own a ColorGetter 3 pro, so I'm not exactly an objective observer. That said...

The ColorGetter did well, as expected, especially in shadow detail. I'm surprised that the others had such a difficult time with that however, especially the Tango. I'm also surprised at the Howtek scans - it seems a bit harsh to me for some reason.

I wish such a comparison had been available when I made my choice. I had to do it blind, without any comparisons - just recommendations from people I trusted. I was lucky my referals were good. I'm glad that others can get a good look for themselves.

Good on QT for posting this - 'tis valuable information.

[Harley Goldman]

Excellent! Very interesting to see the side-by-side comparisions. Thanks very much for putting this together! I am looking forward to the new additions.

Harley