Imacon Flextight II - scan times & USM

[Per Berntsen]

I was offered this scanner, and took some 4x5 b&w negatives along to try it. It was connected to an old Mac, and a scan in 16-bit grayscale, 1800 dpi took 15 minutes. (102 MB) If I buy it, it will be used with a two-year old Dell Workstation, dual core processor and 4 GB RAM, Win XP Pro. So I wonder if I can expect shorter scan times on a modern system?

The unsharp mask in the Flexcolor software was somewhat confusing. I read on this forum (after I tried the scanner) that sharpening OFF is -120. So does this mean that from -120 to -200 it softens the image? I did my test scans at setting 0, and they were quite a bit noisier than the reference scans from my Agfa T2500. (with no sharpening) I also tried at -200, which was very soft compared to the Agfa. At the zero setting the Imacon was slightly sharper, but noisier.

Hopefully some Flextight users on this forum can provide me with some insight before I go back to do some further tests.

[Bruce Watson]

I was offered this scanner, and took some 4x5 b&w negatives along to try it. It was connected to an old Mac, and a scan in 16-bit grayscale, 1800 dpi took 15 minutes. (102 MB) If I buy it, it will be used with a two-year old Dell Workstation, dual core processor and 4 GB RAM, Win XP Pro. So I wonder if I can expect shorter scan times on a modern system?

You can expect it, but you'll likely be disappointed. The bottleneck in scanning speed is nearly always the scanner itself.


The unsharp mask in the Flexcolor software was somewhat confusing. I read on this forum (after I tried the scanner) that sharpening OFF is -120. So does this mean that from -120 to -200 it softens the image? I did my test scans at setting 0, and they were quite a bit noisier than the reference scans from my Agfa T2500. (with no sharpening) I also tried at -200, which was very soft compared to the Agfa. At the zero setting the Imacon was slightly sharper, but noisier.

It's pretty well established that turning sharpening off completely with Flexcolor is to set it at -120. I have no idea what happens if you continue to go negative however. Perhaps it begins to apply some Gaussian blur?

So if you want to compare apples to apples, set the Agfa scanner to zero sharpening and also set the Imacon to zero sharpening (which means set Flexcolor to -120). I know it doesn't make any sense, but don't blame me. I'm just the messenger.

[Per Berntsen]

I know it doesn't make any sense, but don't blame me. I'm just the messenger.

No problem.


I have never seen scan times that slow on any Imacon! Speed is one of its most attractive features.

Since I didn't know the software, and the owner didn't either - he had never changed the default settings - may there was something like dust removal slowing the scanning down. I have now downloaded Flexcolor as well as the manual for it to be better prepared for the next test. But I spoke to a friend of mine tonight, who said that older Imacons are known to be slow.

[Stephen Lewis]

Hi Per

I have a Flextight Precision II hooked up to a new Vista PC via a SCSI card and lead. I have the impression that the scanning time is governed by the scanner and SCSI, not the PC. Mine takes around 15 minutes to produce a 16 bit 1200 dpi scan from a 5x4 colour tranny (approx 160mb). This is not a problem, as I can be doing something else while the machine does its thing.

The flextight software allows you to turn off the sharpening altogether; no need to put in negative values, just switch it off. HTH

Steve
www.landscapesofwales.co.uk

[Per Berntsen]

Steve,

Well, that's interesting. I'd also be interested to know what SCSI card you have, if you don't mind checking. Thanks.

[bob carnie]

Stephen
quick question.
does a negative value equate to some sort of blurring? using the Flextight.

In Lightroom if you put a negative value with the clarity slider there is blur and a positive value the image sharpens.


Hi Per

I have a Flextight Precision II hooked up to a new Vista PC via a SCSI card and lead. I have the impression that the scanning time is governed by the scanner and SCSI, not the PC. Mine takes around 15 minutes to produce a 16 bit 1200 dpi scan from a 5x4 colour tranny (approx 160mb). This is not a problem, as I can be doing something else while the machine does its thing.

The flextight software allows you to turn off the sharpening altogether; no need to put in negative values, just switch it off. HTH

Steve
www.landscapesofwales.co.uk

[Stephen Lewis]

Per

My SCSI card is your common-or-garden basic card. Mine is the Adaptec 2904 which I bought online from from Amazon. Have a look here;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=+Adaptec+SCSI+2904&x=0&y=0

and here;

http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/support/scsi/2900/AVA-2904CD/



Bob:- I've never actually tried using negative values. I always scan with the USM switched off. HTH

regards

Steve
www.landscapesofwales.co.uk

[Per Berntsen]

Thanks Steve. I also talked to the former distributor of Imacon scanners in Norway today, and he said that the scan times I was getting were normal for that scanner.

[Larry Menzin]

10-15 minutes is about right for the SCSI scanners. The new firewire X5 scans in about 1-2 minutes but costs a fortune.

[t.bachmann]

Hi Per,

I also work with an flextight, and the speed you mentioned is just what the scanner "gives" - this is independent of your computer/system and the scsi-card you are using. The scsi-speed is limited, so an adaptec 2904/06 will do the most possible job - I for myselve use a 39160 Adaptec as I need two ports.
In concern of the sharpening tool I would turn it completely off - you just get what your negative/positive is and in case you need to resharpen, there are much better and more efficint tools to work with.

Thomas

[Per Berntsen]

Thanks to everyone for contributing.