UK - where do you buy your scanners?

[Rob_5419]

Justin - that sounds just about right. I thought that scanning negs for a website would be the only way to go, but then with whole plate contact prints, it would probably work.

What sort of quality are you getting from this process? If it's only 10x better than a Leica 35mm scan, I'd be still happy to settle for one of those office scanners for whole plate negs.

Kuzano - that's a great idea . Do you have a link to any of those Tonka scanners? Katie mentions import taxes on these, so it would probably end up as expensive as an Epson v750 once Customs gets their paws on it.

The lead won't affect my brain cells at this age. It's just young puppies who need to be careful of lead content. Cadmium exposure over my 65 years is more a prob. than lead.

If you have any quality scans from the Tonka I'd like to see whether the low-res option would do.

[Justin Cormack]

Rob, problem is if you want to scan negs rather than prints at whole plate size there isnt much choice, you basically have to buy one of the Epsons anyway (and not the cheapest ones either as they dont scan negs that big). If you want to scan cheaply you will have to make contact prints (RC scans better than fibre in general by the way, though glossy fibre should be ok too).

Its a difficult issue if you arent actually going to print digitally but do want to have copies on the web.

[Rob_5419]

Justin - I don't mind scanning prints, if it will do. I'm probably not going to know how to scan negatives anyway...just wondering if the print scan quality from those fax machine things are good enough for web display.

That's a good point about the paper emulsion. I haven't used RC in a long time.

Andrew - sorry for ignoring the PS. Too angry to post about the &@*£@@ RH F.timer and probe. It's so technologically beyond me. I tried understanding the instructions several times. The writing is so small I find it hard to read. Gave a copy to my wife to decipher. Her conclusion is that it's a rapid progression beyond the Flintstone Era and I've outdone myself with this gitzmo. I stripped the end off it and use the F.timer as a timer, but not calculating F stops. So it hasn't been totally wasted. Imho, the Gralab I use is more useful. I understand how to use 99% of the Gralab's potential whereas with the RH Designs, I understand about 1% of it and can't get over that hurdle.

I really need another bulky electronic gadget scanner which will never see use....

[David M]

Rob, once you know what you want, I find Warehouse Express are good. They sell the Epson v750 pro and usually deliver quickly. I'd give Jessops a miss as they are a lowest common denominator seller - and expensive too!

However I have a question based on yours - is a flatbed scanner the right thing for scanning 4X5? A number of your responses have been about 35mm, but I think you are asking about large format. I'm interested in views on the quality of flatbed scans for large format.