Polaroid SprintScan 45 Ultra

[Jack Flesher]

Reading your post, I get the impression that there is some space to move the film on the lower part of the holder - can you move it so far (in all 4 directions) that you get a strip of clear film inside the scanning area on the opposite side? Hope you understand what I mean here!
(This is all about being able to produce prints whose image area excactly matches prints I've made in the darkroom)

Going side to side on the 5" length, you have enough room to slide a normal 4x5 past either edge. On the 4" side however, there are registration pins at the bottom edge that will prevent you from sliding down past them. Seems inconsequential to me since the edge of the holder is right at the exposed edge of the neg on the 4" side anyway. BTW, this holder is superb -- it grips the neg against a rubber edge, locks shut and holds it very flat and tight.


FWIW, I am borrowing a friend's USB to SCSI adapter next week and going to try that. My old scsi card is PCI and I only have open PCI-X slots in my current box :|

[stompyq]

I just bought an Epson V750, which turned out to be no better than my 4990. Since an Imacon is much too expensive, (and from what I can find out, only 2000 dpi at 4x5") I am now looking for a SprintScan 45 Ultra. It seems that some of the members here have got one, so I'd like to ask a few qestions about it.

1. What are the exact measurements of the 4 x 5 scan area? I have read that there is some cropping, but haven't been able to find out how much.

2. How long does a full 16-bit color scan take - 4x5 at 2571 dpi?

3. I assume this scanner will work with Windows XP?

4. And is anyone using it with Vista?

Thanks in advance.

Not to highjack this thread but, why do you say the v750 is no better than the 4990? I've been saving to buy the v750 but if theres no difference b/w it and the 4990 i will certainly spring for the less expensive one

[Kirk Gittings]

There are some differences, slight gain in resolution, slight gain in dmax, slightly lower noise, much faster with SF and Digital Ice. All in all enough of a gain for me that after testing it thoroughly against my 4990, I kept the 750 and sold the 4990.

These are still not up to the quality of a dedicated film scanner, but with each change there is incremental improvement.

[Per Berntsen]

There are some differences, slight gain in resolution, slight gain in dmax, slightly lower noise, much faster with SF and Digital Ice. All in all enough of a gain for me that after testing it thoroughly against my 4990, I kept the 750 and sold the 4990.

These are still not up to the quality of a dedicated film scanner, but with each change there is incremental improvement.

I have owned all the "high-end" Epson scanners since the 2450, and each new model has been a little better (sharper) than the previous.
Not so with the V750. It might be that I have a better-than-average 4990, and/or a worse-than-average V750 - the quality of these scanners is probably not consistent.

Since I only scan negatives, D-max is not a crucial issue, and as for noise - I can't see any difference.

[Per Berntsen]

Going side to side on the 5" length, you have enough room to slide a normal 4x5 past either edge. On the 4" side however, there are registration pins at the bottom edge that will prevent you from sliding down past them. Seems inconsequential to me since the edge of the holder is right at the exposed edge of the neg on the 4" side anyway. BTW, this holder is superb -- it grips the neg against a rubber edge, locks shut and holds it very flat and tight.

Thanks again, Jack - this is very useful information for me.
Hope you'll report back when you have made some scans.

[Jack Flesher]

I have owned all the "high-end" Epson scanners since the 2450, and each new model has been a little better (sharper) than the previous.
Not so with the V750. It might be that I have a better-than-average 4990, and/or a worse-than-average V750 - the quality of these scanners is probably not consistent.

Since I only scan negatives, D-max is not a crucial issue, and as for noise - I can't see any difference.

I have to agree... I found the V750 I tried to be less sharp than my existing 4990 on 4x5 -- HOWEVER, I did not test it with smaller negatives.

Per: I hope to have the Polaroid up and running next week -- I have a friend who is loaning me a firewire to scsi adapter and I am hoping I can get that working with he scanner/

[Per Berntsen]

HOWEVER, I did not test it with smaller negatives./

I did test a 6 x 7 color negative with both, and as with 4 x 5, the scans were excactly the same quality.

[Kurtay Photography]

I Have One For Sale... It Will Be Listed On Ebay Today... I Still Use One. I Will Post A Photo. It Is An Excellent Scanner.

[Per Berntsen]

I ended up buying an Agfa Duoscan T2500, and I'm very pleased with it. It's quite a bit sharper than the Epsons, and I've modified the film holder so that I can scan an entire 4 x 5 negative, at 2500 dpi.

The Agfa FotoLook software (for Windows) is pretty useless, but Vuescan works well. The only problem with this scanner is that it seems to be impossible to get decent scans from color negatives - colors are wrong, and washed out. I had a 1000 dpi Duoscan some years ago, and I remember having the same problem with that.

[Ted Harris]

Per,

The Duoscan T2500, which is a rebadged Microtek 2500f with different firmware, is a much superior scanner to any of the prosumers available new today. It falls into the now non-existent class of "mid range" scanners. Yoou should be able to get excellent color scans. I can't tell you how to do it with the Agfa or Vuescan software but know you will with Silverfast Ai.