Need opinion on "Leafscan 45" film scanner

[rupal]

Hi all. i was wandering if anyone has had any experience with scanning 4x5 trannies on the Leafscan 45. What is the quality like compared to a Flextight precision ? Also i have read that when scanning 4x5 it can only scan at around 1000 dpi, technically couldn't i just scan it in 2 or 3 passes & stitch them together to achieve a higher resolution.

[Doug Dolde]

I had one for a while. It is capable of great scan quality but a really outdated machine. If something goes out of whack it will be a real pain to get it fixed. Personally I'd stay away from it.

[rupal]

Theres one for $850 USD i am looking at & it has been reconditioned with a new bulb and filters as well as a recalibrated camera board and works perfectly.
Can you scan it with 2 or more passes to get a higher resolution ?

[Doug Dolde]

Yes you can but bear in mind the film holders are not that great and the film can sag a bit. They are basically enlarger film holders. There is a saphire glass plate made that you can use for wet mounting. I'd not consider using this unit any other way. Look in Yahoo Groups for Leafscan there is a guy there who sold them but he may not have any left.

If I were going to use this stitch scanning method for 4x5, I'd strongly prefer an older Imacon Photo or a 343.

[rupal]

thanks for the info, i would prefer not to have to cut my film in half, cant i just put the whole 4x5 sheet on the saphire glass plate (wet mounted), select & scan half & then the other half. or will that not work to achieve higher resolutions.

[rupal]

By the way, are any of the photographs in you gallery scanned with one ?

[Frank Petronio]

I had one back in the olden days and it was great -- but I used to think my Mac IIci was a speed demon and having 64 mb of RAM was overkill.

They are so slow... and the parts are all gone. If you buy one, buy two -- one for parts -- and also get a vintage pre PowerPC Mac tower with a fast SCSI card and Photoshop 3.0.

[rupal]

I was thinking more along the lines of using Silverfast AI & a scsi card.

[Doug Dolde]

No none of them are scanned with the LEAF. Whatever you do DON'T cut your film in half you will most definately trash it.

[rupal]

I did a little reading on some other sites & i think i will wait for a used imacon to come up instead. By the way how would i go about scanning 4x5's in 2 passes in a flextight photo or 343 ?

[Doug Dolde]

Use a 6x12 film holder and simply move the film to get both sides with a little overlap.

[rupal]

After my long search finding the right scanner, i finally ended up buying a Flextight Photo in perfect condition right here in Australia, for a very good price. Could you give me some more details on scanning 4x5's in two passes. Is there anything i should watch out for that might damage my scanner or film. Do i have to modify the magnetic holder in any way ? Thanks very much in advance. Rupa