Quote Originally Posted by rdenney View Post
I don't think the OP defined "ideal" the way you and Sandy do. Nobody would argue with your conclusions, of course, but they are based on the definition of "ideal" as "state of the art". The OP defined "ideal" as "achieving quality better than from a Canon 5DII."
I took ideal to mean the best quality. Drum scanners get cheaper ever day, altho the higher end ones have kept their value.....

Quote Originally Posted by rdenney View Post
As to shadow detail, a color transparency is the biggest challenge there is for a scanner, it seems to me. But I just don't think I'm missing much shadow detail in my Nikon scans of Velvia. Those scans are certainly not as crisp as drum scans, and the drum scan might get a bit more out of the shadows, but it's just not a problem I've noticed. Color negatives are less of a problem--they compress a greater subject brightness range into a narrower density range.
Rick "not seeing much on the light table that can't be seen on the Nikon scan" Denney
Rick, you have to see it yourself to now the difference. In some cases, up against a film scanner, the biggest difference was the the Premier pulled a lot more color out of the chrome. There were subtle color shifts that the other scanners didn't pick up. You don't know what you're missing until you try it...

P.S. I agree with Ivan that some of the med format lenses are unbelievable. I have a Mamiya 7 II and its razor sharp...

Lenny