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Thread: Compact drumscanner

  1. #1

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    Compact drumscanner

    Hi everyone,

    what is the most compact drumscanner that is available(used)?

    I remember seeing some very compact units that were vertical desktop drum scanners, during a visit to cebit(computer fair in germany) in the 1990's. But I am unable to find any information about this equipment on the internet today.

    thanks,
    pjotr

  2. #2

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    Re: Compact drumscanner

    Imacon is likely what you're thinking of but they aren't drum scanners (ccd).

  3. #3

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    Re: Compact drumscanner

    The Premier is pretty small, much small than its predecessors, the 4500, etc. I think the 11,000 is pretty small as well...

    Lenny
    EigerStudios
    Museum Quality Drum Scanning and Printing

  4. #4
    Daniel Stone's Avatar
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    Re: Compact drumscanner

    The "vertical" drum scanner you might have seen would probably have been an ICG, since you mention a European conference. The other "drum scanner"(as it was touted as, but in all reality, it IS NOT A DRUM SCANNER), is the Imacon/Flextight line of scanners from Imacon(now Hasselblad). They were marketed as a "drum scanner", but drum scanners have PMT's, NOT CCD'S.

    Assuming you're probably shooting 8x10 or smaller, the Howtek/Aztek 8000 scanners(similar to the Premier(current model for sale from Aztek)) is very small. About 2'x3" or so. And about 165lbs or less. I love mine. Very good results when used properly, and with 8000dpi available, it handles small format(35mm/120) film sizes very well too!

    -Dan

  5. #5

    Re: Compact drumscanner

    I remember that scanner, I was very interested in it at first but it was expensive. I've seen nothing about it since, it was a drum scanner, very cool looking, European.. very compact and was vertical... whatever it was, it seems to have disappeared.
    Tyler

  6. #6

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    Re: Compact drumscanner

    hi,

    thank you so far. I'm pretty sure it was a real drum scanner not an imacon. But I can't remember anything other than it was really compact and vertical.
    p

  7. #7
    EOTS's Avatar
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    Re: Compact drumscanner

    Heidelberg Tango is also one of the best drum scanners, and vertical.
    But I think it is quite bulky or at least heavy nevertheless.

  8. #8

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    Re: Compact drumscanner

    This comes down to the micron settings. The Aztek premier, Howtek 8000 and ICG 380 are scanners that can handle scans down to the 3 micron level. This means that all the parts, system wide, have to be to very tight tolerances. (Not unlike a very large piece of glass - a Rodenstock, Schneider or Nikon 12 inch lens, for example that must hold its focus from edge to edge.) The Tango, and other drum scanners on the market are only capable of 6 microns. The result is that the top three are sharper than the rest.

    When it comes down to it, these are very small increments. Some images (and a small print size) may or may not not show a difference. I have one image that shows a marked difference at 8x10 inches, however there are many times that I think the difference would not be visible at all. Yet, when using the words "one of the best" these things should be taken into consideration.

    The operator becomes the more important factor. I would never send a scan to a lab, or low-cost scanning service, where the person didn't know me personally and know what I was after.

    The Tango is very large, spins very fast. One person I know put one in his garage, then had to eventually pour a cement floor to stabilize it. I don't know if this is normal or not, so just take this as anecdotal (and not a fact, per se). However, compact, it is not...

    Lenny
    EigerStudios
    Museum Quality Drum Scanning and Printing

  9. #9
    EOTS's Avatar
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    Re: Compact drumscanner

    Point taken, Lenny!
    Sure there are even better ones around, especially on the new market, like the Premier!

    I just noticed the Tango appearing on the used market a couple of times,
    remembered that it was vertical,
    and heard that the scanner is better resolution-wise and Dmax-wise than f.ex. my Howtek 4500.

    Of course I'm not such an experienced and excellent drum scan operator as you are...
    But resolution-wise I guess it always depends on the bugdet and what film one want's to scan...
    For example my 4x5 color slides, depending on the image (technique, camera stability, wind, yada, yada),
    I found that there's often only little information above 2000dpi.
    In my cases I do a 4000dpi scan and notice that the 2000dpi scan would have sufficed and the 4000dpi only gives me some additional grain.
    On the other hand, in my rare cases of 35mm scans (shot with top Nikon glass) even the 4000dpi showed a lot of detail still available.
    Well, the better Dmax would rock in any case I guess ;-)

    Best regards,

  10. #10

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    Re: Compact drumscanner

    Quote Originally Posted by EOTS View Post
    and heard that the scanner is better resolution-wise and Dmax-wise than f.ex. my Howtek 4500.
    I would say that the Howtek would have a higher resolution than the Tango. That's been my experience, I had a 4500, and I had occasion to compare a negative scanned on both. It's just one negative, not an exhaustive test, and once again, to be considered anecdotal. However, I wouldn't toss the 4500 just yet....

    Quote Originally Posted by EOTS View Post
    I found that there's often only little information above 2000dpi.
    In my cases I do a 4000dpi scan and notice that the 2000dpi scan would have sufficed and the 4000dpi only gives me some additional grain.
    On the other hand, in my rare cases of 35mm scans (shot with top Nikon glass) even the 4000dpi showed a lot of detail still available.
    Well, the better Dmax would rock in any case I guess ;-)
    Best regards,
    Well, you are are correct in that there are many factors, glass being an important one. I have heard this claim many times, usually "after 4000" rather than the 2000 you suggest. I disagree. I think there is a lot more there. One may not see it on the monitor. I was discussing this with Evan from Aztek the other day and this is what he said:

    "You had mentioned you changed your monitor to an LCD (Eizo), beaware that
    LCD monitors no matter how good they are cannot replicate the appearence of
    grain from your scans properly. To be exact an LCD will over sharpen what
    is being displayed and if you are doing an aperture check will tend to make
    you push softer than you should.

    We have an LCD mode in the setting tab in DPL that is meant to try to
    correct for this, however this is only a bandaid. Current LCD technolgy is
    limited in this fashion the only way around it is to pull out a CRT and
    perform aperture checks on it."

    This surprised me, I hadn't considered the LCD monitor to be such a factor, but it would explain a few things around here... There are always plenty of new things to learn. I hope you aren't using AutoTrack in your scans, this could be doing things you don't want. If you aren't getting more than 2000 dpi results, its time for a few little things to tune things up, in my opinion.

    Best,

    Lenny
    EigerStudios
    Museum Quality Drum Scanning and Printing

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