New scanners coming

[Bob McCarthy]

Got this off another site this morning. New Microtek and HP both have autofocus, not fixed focus.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1161706453.html


http://www.photo-i.co.uk/BB/viewtopic.php?t=2453

Coming soon,

Bob

[Jack Flesher]

The M1 sounds *very* promising.

[Ted Harris]

Microtek has promised me a prototype M1 as soon as one is available for testing. Original dates have been pushed back but I still expect one by the beginning of the year. I should have some more information on the workings of the focus mechanism before that and if/when I do I will post same.

A quick note on HP ..... NONE of the HP scanners currently available will handle film larger than 35mm.

[Juergen Sattler]

Ted, do you know if the new M1 will scan 8x10s? The announcement only talks about up to 4x5, but I hope/pray that it'll do 8x10 as well. It could be a great all-around scanner.

[Ted Harris]

AFAIK the M1 will handle 8x10. My impression is that it is using the same basic transparency scanning bed as the current i900 and 1800f (which BTW has remained basically the same in size for a number of years and through models as far backas the 1100 the Agfa DuoScans, etc.).

More to come when I know it.

A further addendum on HP as well. Reading the specs of the G4050 would indicate that it could be at least hardware capable of handling up to 8x10 film. My initial conversations with HP tech support did't support this though. Gonna call again and see what I get. If it (or any other HP scanner) does support LF film I will put one through its paces.

[Brian Ellis]

Any idea of the likely street price of the Microtek, i.e. will photographers who don't have clients to pay for their equipment perhaps be able to afford it?

[AJSJones]

The M1 sounds *very* promising.

I hear ya' My AgfaDuoScan2500 is getting long in the tooth so a "modern" version of it (that doesn't require my old G4 and its scsi capability) will be most welcome, at possibly <20% of what I paid originally - almost call it an upgrade fee

[Steve Kefford]

The report quotes a price of $699.

Steve

[Ted Harris]

As Steve said projected MSRP of 699 but nothing is final yet and there are likely to be two versions, one a 'pro' version with a more attractive software package.

[Kirk Gittings]

Ted do you know anything about the quality of the CCd array in the new Microtek?