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Thread: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2002
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    Sydney, Australia
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    127

    Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    Two more scanners have been added to the comparison page. They are:
    • Creo Eversmart Supreme
    • Creo iQsmart3

    The scans were produced by Creo in Israel, and were oil-mounted with software sharpening turned off. These scans have impressive resolution, right up there with the very best of the drum scanners. They are all the more remarkable given that they come with the convenience of flatbed operation.

    I am particularly interested in the iQsmart3 scan, since it is also representative of an iQsmart2 scan. The cheaper iQsmart2 shares the iQsmart3's optics and scanning performance, but is still just tantalisingly out of the price range of most large format photographers (including me). Creo has a major presence in the prepress sector, but has not captured the mindshare of mainstream film-based photographers. Imacon, on the other hand, has been very successful in this sector, but for 4x5 scans, the Imacons are inferior because they lose scanning resolution with the 'zoom' required to project the greater film width onto the scan sensor, a problem Creo solves using XY stitching. I can't help feeling that if Creo (Kodak) was to price the iQsmart2 competitively, they could reverse this situation.

    Next in the scan-around, if all goes well, are the Sprintscan 45i and Imacon 848 followed by a Cezanne and perhaps the new Epsons, and Lino-Hell Topaz and Lino-Hell Saphir Ultra II, and then...
    Leigh Perry
    www.leighperry.com

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Aug 1999
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    110

    Re: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    You need to test the Imacon 949. The performance is far better than the 848. It has a different light source and a better cooler on the CCD.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Apr 2002
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    Sydney, Australia
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    127

    Re: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    Steve, there is an Imacon 949 on the itinerary, when the film makes it back here to Australia. The 949 is still limited to 2050 ppi for 4x5 though, a slight improvement over the 848's 2040 ppi.
    Leigh Perry
    www.leighperry.com

  4. #4

    Re: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    LaserSoft Imaging recently released up to date versions of SilverFast for some Heidelberg scanners. This will allow operation on Mac OSX and Windows XP systems. Might be something to consider, or perhaps you can contact them about this for your tests.

    Genesis Equipment has the iQSmart 3 for under $11000. While not low cost, compare that to a Canon 1Ds Mark II or any medium format digital back. However, it really does depend upon what size prints you want to produce. Getting such a scanner might be a better idea if one wants to offer a scanning service, though as a hobby I think is something tough to consider.

    http://genesis-equipment.com/product...eID=6&manID=53

    Ciao!

    Gordon Moat

  5. #5
    You are what you see
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    St Louis, Missouri
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    Re: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    Leigh,

    I use the iqsmart3, but not with an oil-mount. Is there significant degradation of scan quality when dry-scanned?

    Howard

  6. #6

    Re: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    Leigh, thanks for the post and your ongoing efforts.

    The Creo scans do seem pretty crisp, but is it my imagination that they are also very noisy?

  7. #7
    Geos
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
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    257

    Re: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    I use the IQSmart2 and the oil mounting station. One can see the difference between dry scans and wet mounts, and it is worth the extra cost of going wet! The station comes with an extra platten, which improve efficiency and provides redundancy incase the other platten is damaged.

    They say that the oil mount (on the Creo) reduces grain. I don't think this is the case. I believe that the scanner is actually resolving the texture of the coating on the platten itself. If one looks at the Creo's platten, it isn't totally transparent like optical glass. While sharp, a dry scan has a grainy appearance, that doesn't look like film grain. By using oil the grain disappears, and the scans look great! With the Creo I only oil mount.

    That said, my scans on an Imacon 343 are much better than dry IQSmart2 scans.
    Last edited by George Stewart; 12-Jul-2006 at 17:13.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Apr 2002
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    Re: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    Quote Originally Posted by Keith S. Walklet
    The Creo scans do seem pretty crisp, but is it my imagination that they are also very noisy?
    Keith, taking a closer look, I think your comments do apply to the iQsmart scan. This is probably a function of my sharpening, as it doesn't seem to be true of the unsharpened crops (hold your mouse over the image to see).

    Every scanner has required different USM parameters, and my selection of these has been very subjective, with the aim of revealing scanned detail rather than of targetting any particular form of output. I applied the Eversmart Supreme settings to the iQsmart3, but on closer inspection I should have reduced the USM.

    I'll redo the iQsmart3 crops and upload.
    Leigh Perry
    www.leighperry.com

  9. #9
    Doug Dolde
    Guest

    Re: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    Quote Originally Posted by George Stewart
    That said, my scans on an Imacon 343 are much better than dry IQSmart2 scans.
    George - How do your WET IQsmart2 scans compare to the dry Imacon 343 scans?

  10. #10
    Geos
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    257

    Re: Scanner comparison: Creo high end flatbeds added

    I haven't done a comparison between the wet IQ and Imacon yet. I think that they would be close, but I'd still bet on the Imacon. The 343 is a great scanner, and the limited 4x5 (stitched scans) work I've done with it, was great. Remember that the 343 is a MF fix-focused scanner and, optically, probably out resolves most other CCD type scanners. It has no problems resolving the grain of Kodak Technical Pan. The Creo will show the grain of Tmax 100 - I haven't tried it with TechPan.

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