Heidelberg tango drum scanner

[Dean Wilmot]

H all, does anyone have any advise for what to look for and be aware of in buying a tango drum scanner? I’ve read that SilverFast software V6.6 is the only software the unit will work with and only on snow leopard operating system on a Mac G5. Does anyone know if this is correct and/or is Running it on a PC a better option, although I’ve always been Mac. Is using a mounting station essential? Any other thoughts? Also any idea what the going price is? Thanks in advance regards Dean Wilmot, Nth Narrabeen Australia

[Peter De Smidt]

Contact Karl Hudson. He sells, installs and services these scanners.

[Tom Kershaw]

I'd exercise caution in relation to relying on a Power Mac G5 longterm. I have one here that now serves as a plant stand due to motherboard problems.

Tom

[neil poulsen]

A Tango of which I was aware was 8 bit for transparencies, not 16. Not definitive, but worth asking about.

There's a scanner comparison on the LF Home Page that includes a Tango and several others. Night and day between the Tango scans and the next best.

[calebarchie]

Where in Australia is this machine?

[onnect17]

The weight and size of that scanner should be considered. You can transport any Howtek in a Yaris. If I understand correctly that’s not the case of many other scanners. You may have to pay for a crane to bring it indoors. Bringing it into a high-rise a little bit more.

[Jeff T]

It's a great scanner, I like both, Lincolor and Silverfast, although, I am more familiar with Silverfast. They both will give 16-bit files. There are plenty of G5 Macs around for the foreseeable future and inexpensive to replace. I have a dedicated G5 Mac for the scanner, they are more than sufficient for the task. I do not have any experience with Silverfast/Lincolor on a PC. My guest is that there are not many units in Australia, so the market price in Australia may not be comparable to prices in the US. Silverfast will add a couple thousand dollars to the price tag and you can buy it directly from Silverfast. The price will also depend on the drums available and the condition of the drums and if it has been serviced recently. The color pallet you get with the files is unbeatable. I would ask the owner if you can do a demo scan of your film while you watch. Make sure you lock the scanning head before you move it.

[calebarchie]

Hi Dean, is this the particular machine you are talking about? Not much of them pop up in Australia

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/283442447456?ul_noapp=true

[Pali K]

I'd exercise caution in relation to relying on a Power Mac G5 longterm. I have one here that now serves as a plant stand due to motherboard problems.

Tom

I have had one for about 5 years and it hasn't skipped a beat once. The problem most people don't understand with older machines is that on almost all of them the fans are past or at the end of their life and need to be replaced. Because of this, the power supply is always trying to keep up and as a result nothing is stable in the machine. Change/oil/clean the fans when you first get it and the computer will last you a very long time. I also power them using a voltage regulator.

Tango is an amazing scanner and the beauty of getting one is that they are still being fully serviced by Karl Hudson.

[Dean Wilmot]

Hi Dean, is this the particular machine you are talking about? Not much of them pop up in Australia

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/283442447456?ul_noapp=true

Yes thatÂ’s the one, itÂ’s got a damaged hood though it works but Karl says itÂ’s a pain in the rear to repair it the scanner works.

[Dean Wilmot]

Thanks to everyone for your help. I’m also looking at a Creo/ Kodak supreme 2 scanner far easier to transport if comparable in price??? So many decisions regards Dean

[calebarchie]

Hi Dean, what are you trying to achieve exactly? It may help you narrow down your decision making. Drum scanner vs pro flatbed is completely different workflow, so it really depends what you want to do and what your willing to learn.

I have several Scanmate drum scanners, these are by far the easiest to transport one I found here in Australia, the other two shipped from US and Europe for relative pennies. I also have an Eversmart much, much more cumbersome to move but the IQsmarts as I understand were repackaged for cost cutting and smaller footprints, easier transport etc.

Been looking for Howteks and Heidelberg in a while and there are just not as many popping up. There are a few of the latter at pro print houses and stuff, the ACT museums still have ES I think there might be a few Howteks in Melbourne , I recall someone trying to sell a D4000 for a long while - asking way too much.

Bests