Imacon Precision II: worth the purchase? SCSI issues? Compatibility? Serviceability?

[l2oBiN]

Could anyone tell me whether the Precision II is still a good purchase, and at what price? Specifically, I would like to know who services the scanners and at what price? Is it compatible with newer type computers such as mac laptops with macosx 10.7? How long do the scanners last (i.e. life time). What things should one look out for when buying one second hand? For scanning 4x5 film, how much of a step up is the precision ii compared to epsons v7xx?

Marko

[Kirk Gittings]

Its a clear step up from the epsons-a step below a pro flatbed like a top of the line Creo and a step or two below the best drum scanners. They are pretty good is your film is well exposed and you are not enlarging say a 4x5 over about 24x30.

[Old-N-Feeble]

Maybe some of you wealthy folks with bad-ass scanners should start offering to scan other members film at competitive prices. We'd all benefit. :)

[vinny]

I think that's the model I had for a while. Nice machine once I got the scsi thing figured out.

[Daniel Stone]

Maybe some of you wealthy folks with bad-ass scanners should start offering to scan other members film at competitive prices. We'd all benefit. :)

believe me I've tried. I've sent PM's to people who have asked about drum scanning, people who have expressed that their Epson V750 isn't giving them good scans, etc... I thought my pricing @ $50/500mb 16bit scan(from any size film, 35mm--> 8x10) would be a tempting pricepoint. This is almost a break-even point for ME, I don't have much overhead, and it is basically money for the scanner repair kitty, so I can/could continue to scan my own work basically free of charge. I'm all about giving back, and helping people out with getting the best out of their film. Guess they're not interested in my help, even though I'm not as experienced as a drum scanner operator as most others here who own/operate them.

and I'm not "wealthy" money-wise, yet at least. I just saved for a good long while to get my drum scanner. Even worked a 2nd job to get it even sooner :).

-Dan

[Old-N-Feeble]

Daniel... PM coming.

[l2oBiN]

Perhaps I should post this in another thread but I would really like some advice on purchasing the Precision ii second hand. I have a person trying to sell one and I am wondering what a fair price would be? Also what sort of questions should I ask him. I cannot go and test the scanner, he would have to ship it to me...

[Daniel Stone]

To be honest, I'd be wary about shipping one of these, especially one that's used. Not to knock the person who's selling, or their packing capabilities, but if I were in your shoes, I'd make sure that it would be coming fully insured/tracked, and with a 1-2week "inspection" time, say, no more than 30 scans, just so you can make sure everything arrived in good shape, and you're not under the gun time-wise to test the scanner.

I'd read up as much info as possible on this scanner. Know its in's and out's technically, well, as much as possible on your end. Yes there's a learning curve to any machine, but compared to a drum scanner, the Imacon's are dead-simple, IMO. The software is pretty intuitive(and free :)), and if you can, try emailing Hasselblad to see if they have a .pdf of the manual they could send you via email. In my past experience with them, their customer support has been very good, and they have responded usually within 24hrs.

-Dan

[georgl]

I could offer drum scans as well, but only for people located in Germany or at least Europe:-)

I'm not sure how the Imacons work with modern Macs, but I've added a small comparison with a Tango on my new blog:
http://drumscan.blogspot.com

[Kirk Gittings]

To be honest, I'd be wary about shipping one of these, especially one that's used. Not to knock the person who's selling, or their packing capabilities, but if I were in your shoes, I'd make sure that it would be coming fully insured/tracked, and with a 1-2week "inspection" time, say, no more than 30 scans, just so you can make sure everything arrived in good shape, and you're not under the gun time-wise to test the scanner.

I'd read up as much info as possible on this scanner. Know its in's and out's technically, well, as much as possible on your end. Yes there's a learning curve to any machine, but compared to a drum scanner, the Imacon's are dead-simple, IMO. The software is pretty intuitive(and free :)), and if you can, try emailing Hasselblad to see if they have a .pdf of the manual they could send you via email. In my past experience with them, their customer support has been very good, and they have responded usually within 24hrs.

-Dan

I agree these can easily get out of wack and IME you really need a qualified technician to get them back in shape.

[MisterPrinter]

Maybe some of you wealthy folks with bad-ass scanners should start offering to scan other members film at competitive prices. We'd all benefit. :)

I can offer iQsmart3 scans in the UK at a very reasonable cost as long as you're not in a rush ( I'd rather take my time and do it right, don't need to make a living from this yet ).

It's a pretty good scanner, as can be seen from this sites comparison thread:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/scan-comparison/

PM me if you need something scanned, don't expect a next day service though.

[jonreid]

I have a precision II and find it streets ahead of a V700.
There's an active users group run through Yahoo. Search Imacon Users Group and you hold find it. Sign up to ask questions or trawl the archives. The forums at Luminous Landscape are worthwhile searching too.

As far as I understand they won't work past Snow-leopard, ie with Lion. I'm running Leopard on a quad G5.

Try and get a Ratok FireWire converter. They're great, but recently discontinued.

Jon

[Neal Chaves]

There are both Creo and Imacon scanners on that big auction.

[Marc B.]

I2o, Where are you located. Service is still available in Europe.

Also, Try contacting Hasselblad's site in Redmond, WA.
I don't know if they still do servicing there.

Hasselblad USA Inc.
15209 NE 95th Street
Redmond, WA 98052
USA
Phone number +1-800-367-6434.
info@hasselbladusa.com