Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

[Gordon Moat]

Hello Jack Carter,

Polaroid of all companies use to have a great software dust and scratch removal. It was a free download, though I am not sure where to find it on their current website. The one I have runs under Classic mode (OS 9) on a Macintosh computer. It also functions as a Plug-In for PhotoShop, which can be better than running it as a stand-alone application. While it did not remove all dust, it definitely lightens the workload.

You might want to do a search for "Polaroid Dust & Scratch Removal". Perhaps it is buried on the Polaroid website, or some other site might have it archived.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio

[Keith S. Walklet]

Jack,

I realize you asked for software solution, but I thought I'd throw this out to you.

Start off by cleaning the film with PEC pads and PEC-12 solution. I believe I may have described the process in a past thread, but essentially you place enough pads on the desk to make a surface large enough to place the film on.

Take another pad and fold it twice lengthwise so that it is 1/4 its normal width. Fold that long strip in half (end-to-end) and while pinching the ends together between the thumb and forefinger, use the index finger of your other hand to separate the middle like a Lipton flow-through tea bag. The goal is to get a triangular profile with the pad, your thumb and finger holding the top of the triangle, the flat bottom of the triangle is the cleaning surface your drag gently across your film. Squirt the cleaning fluid onto this flat surface and gently move it across the film to dislodge the fibers and grit.

Having done this sufficiently, flip the film over and repeat.

What makes a HUGE difference at this point is a very bright light.

I use one of those small desk lamps with a halogen bulb in it. Mount your film in the holder and position it between you and the lamp so that the light rakes across the film like a setting sun. You'll see every little bit of dust and crud on the surface highlighted like a bare tree against a dark background in the middle of the winter.

Then use your brushes, compressed air, etc. to remove those last bits from the mounted film and scan that.

I used to use ICE a lot more, but found that even the little bit of image degradation that happens was more than I wanted, plus the scan times were so much longer. I find the extra time cleaning the film saves me time in the end.

The small light REALLY helps see the dust before it becomes a problem.

[Ted Harris]

Justin,

Sorry it took so long to respond but I have been sort of busy moving.

1) Yes, a number of us are satisfied with the Microtek 1800f nd 2500f scanners but, especially in the case of the 1800f, we are satisfied with them in comparison to other scanners in the under $1000 price range which, as I have noted before, is not what we are talking about here (the scanners being discussed here are all over $10,000.

2) Microtek used to make the Creo Jazz (now discontinued) scanner. The scanner was discontinued, in part, because Creo crippled some of the features of the scanner as supplied by Microtek and the Jazz thus didn't perform as well as the Microtek 6000xy platform on which it was built. Microtek still manufactures and markets the 6000xy but no tin the US due to some still remaining licensing agreements with Creo. The current 6000xy should perform about the same as the IQSmart 3.

3) Software packages make a huge diference with scanners in this class. You can run a few of the scanners we are discussing on Silverfast but, for the most part, each scanner runs on proprietary software specifically designed for it. BTW, the software, if purchased separately fromthe scanner, can cost several thousand dollars.

On a more general note I am eagerly awaiting the return of the transparency to the US so that I can add the scan from the Cezanne to the collection. I am still debating whether to do a dry or wet scan. In the Seybold test a few years ago where the Cezanne outperformed all the other high end scanners with a 4x5 negative I belive they didn't wet mout but I will check. I will likely do both and send them both off to Leigh.