Sprintscan 45 Ultra or Microtek M1?

[Julian Boulter]

Hi all,

I have been using an Epson 4990 for quite a while now for scanning mainly Velvia transparencies with fairly good results for output up to 16 x 20 inches but with the usual issues of sharpness and lack of / noisy shadow detail. My biggest issue is poor sharpness in the corners probably due to the flimsy holders.

I've been considering an M1 for a while now but I know there is still a lack of test data out there due to the late release.

I have been also looking at a second hand Polaroid sprintscan 45 ultra so I have a few questions:

1) What are the views of the sprintscan compared to the 4990 and the M1 given what we know about the M1, is it likely to solve the issues I mentioned?

2) I heard there is a slight croppping with 5 x 4 film on the sprintscan, is this true?

3) Does the sprintscan have any hardware / software based ICE? I am a big fan of ICE on the 4990.

4) I know I can purchase a universal holder to scan 5 x 4 on my 4990 - http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/mstation.html but I read it may not work with ICE on my 4990, any confirmation of this?

Thanks all

Julian

http://www.photohome.uku.co.uk

[Peter Mounier]

I have a Sprintscan 45, which is the precursor to the Ultra.
It's a good scanner, but there are many shortcomings compared to modern scanners.
First of all, it's a scsi scanner. Scsi is obsolete and may be a problem. The optcal resolution is 2500dpi, whereas the M1 is 4800dpi. The dynamic range of the Ultra is 3.8 compared to the M1 which is 4.4 (I think that Velvia's is around 3.7). The SS45 Ultra does not have ICE.
And finally, the film mask window is 3.43"x4.43", about 1/8th" crop of each side of the film.
I got my SS45 about 5 years ago. I bought it used (demo) for $300. Worth it at the time. What price can you get the Ultra for?
The Sprintscan software is ok, but I prefer VueScan.

Peter

[Julian Boulter]

Hi Peter,

There is one available in the UK for around £600 sterling so approx $1200 I guess, wow you's was very cheap, I gather they went for around £2.5K sterling when they were new so this seemed like a good price.

I'm not so bothered about the resolution as I tend to scan everything at 2400 on the 4990 but the lack of ICE and the cropping you mentioned does bother me.

I'm guessing the dynamic range figures quoted by the manufacturere aren't that accurate so I'm wondering if the SS45 ultra will actually give me an improvement over the 4990 and possibly the M1?? I guess that waits to be seen.

Im not that bothered about the scsi as I can pick up a cheap scsi card quite easily.

Looking at the collaborative scanner comparision the SS45 ultra seems to be one of the sharpest lower priced scanners out there.

Thanks

Julian

http://www.photohome.uku.co.uk

[JavaDuke]

I own a SS45Ultra and generally I'm happy with it. As mentioned above, it's SCSI, so I can't scan directly to my iMac. I got old PC with SCSI card and I transfer scans to iMac via network.
Optical resolution is 2571dpi - well, it's not that bad after all.
ScanScience makes fluid scanning kit for 45 Ultra - I haven't tried it yet but will defintely try as soon as I get my tax return (if any ).
No ICE, that's right. Cloning out all the dust spots takes a lot of time.

[Kurtay Photography]

Pentax 67II/90mm scanned on Sprintscan 45 ULTRA.

[Kirk Gittings]

The optcal resolution is 2500dpi, whereas the M1 is 4800dpi.

The true optical resolution of the M1 will not test out to be 4800 anymore than the 1800f, Epson 4990 or V750 did. The components are simply not high end enough to achieve that kind of optical resolution.

[ljb0904]

I can attest that the older Sprintscan 45 works with Vuescan using a RATOC SCSI to Firewire adapter on a MAC. My opinion is that the older sprintscan was slightly better than the Epson 4990, but not by much. Qualitative assessment only.

[Kirk Gittings]

The Polaroid Sprintscan 45 Ultra and 4990 are in the Collaborative Scanner Comparison here.

[Ted Harris]

Another note, the Sprint Scan was actually built by Microtek for Polaroid and it is the same unit as a similar 4x5 unit that Microtek made at that time. IMO you'd be much better off with a modern scanner. The SS was a "mid range" scanner that, when Polaroid was closing them out, was selling new for ~ 500. There is no support for the machine should you have any problems at all.