True Resolution of UMAX Powerlook 3000

[Brian Roseth]

I have a question about the old UMAX Powerlook 3000 flatbed scanners.

This scanner claims to have a wide area (the whole flatbed) where resolution is 1220 ppi. It also has a strip of about 3.5" running down the center of the flatbed where resolution can be increased to 3060 ppi when the software toggles a "different lens". Both are supposed to be true optical resolutions but if I understand the way CCD scanners operate, this would imply two entirely different CCD arrays (a wide one and a narrow one).

Does anyone know if this is correct? (Or does the scanner just interpolate up from 1220 ppi?)

The scanner is no longer made but used copies appear from time to time. I was given the impression that UMAX used to have a reputation for good quality scans although I'm not sure this is true for more recent models. It sure would have been nice if the narrow "sweet spot" covered 4" and would fully capture a 4 X 5 transparency. Even so, if both resolutions are optical and if true Dmax, color fidelity and noise are acceptable, this would seem to be a good scanner for several large and medium formats (4 x 5 and 8 x 10 on the lower resolution and 35mm and 6 x 6 cm on the higher resolution).

Any information that anyone can offer on this particular scanner would be most appreciated. I am considering several scanner models in the medium cost range (Artix 1800f, Polaroid Smartscan 45 ultra, etc.) that can handle 4x5.

[Adonis Villanueva]

I owned one for a year. It uses a moving flatbed technology and two static CCD. One CCD captures 1220 ppi for larger negs and the other captures 3060 ppi. It's clearly marked on the glass bed where you should put the negs for greater resolution - one side for 1220 ppi and the other 3060 ppi. You wont be able to capture the entire frame of a 4x5 if you tried to scan it on the 3060 ppi (you can but it will have some cropping, I think around .5-1") - the high resolution side was clearly made for roll-film. One solution is scan the neg/tranny twice and just stitch it in photoshop. I found the scanner to be up to par if not better than the modern epsons (I own a 4870). DMAX is as stated to be around 3.6, which I found to be true if I wet-mounted (this scanner was a joy to wet-mount, simply spray some fluid (Kami) on the glass bed, lay the neg/tranny, and sandwich it with an Acetate/Mylar. The Powerlook 3000 is perfect in use of multi-pass scanning since the CCDs don't move (this reduces noise issues further and opens up the shadows some more).

Here's some Velvia 50 6x7 samples I've scanned from it: