Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 25

Thread: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Central Indiana
    Posts
    115

    Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    As I work further towards getting things back up and running, I was giving some thought to what I had originally planned on doing in regards to making prints from my negatives. Especially for 4x5, I had planned on scanning them in and then doing some editing on the results prior to printing. The idea was to use a reasonably powerful desktop for the editing after scanning and then to print. I was setting things up under Linux and was going to use Vuescan and Lightzone or GIMP. I'm starting to question a couple of these ideas and wanted to see if there were any other Linux users out there doing this sort of thing.

    Thanks,

    Ed

    Equipment is an i7 equipped Dell with 12 gigabytes of Ram, Epson 4990 and Nikon Coolscan 9000.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Santa Barbara
    Posts
    1,376

    Re: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    dell or something, w10, like 8 gigs, v750

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Seattle area, WA
    Posts
    1,324

    Re: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    Personally if you are spending the money for a modern i7 Desktop why not get a subscription to Photoshop? There are quite a few advantages to using actual Photoshop. One is that all the tutorials people write for things like general editing and digital negatives (if you ever get into that) are written for photoshop. The other is you can experiment with scanning in other formats. I have recently been scanning Vuescan negatives with no adjustments and then outputting as raw DNG files (make sure to check "Raw save film" so they are inverted). Now Photoshop can do the raw scan conversion. This seems to result in a better file. You can't do that workflow with GIMP. In fact I don't even think GIMP supports compressed TIFFs generated from Vuescan, so you are stuck generating huge files with GIMP.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Middle Georgia
    Posts
    85

    Re: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    HP Z400 workstation, quad core Xeon, 16 GB RAM, Win 10, nice graphics card
    Epson V4900 scanner with included Epson software

    I get my professional workstation desktops off-lease. I find the right one can be a good value compared to a consumer grade computer in build quality and stability.

  5. #5
    jp's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    5,628

    Re: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    Ed, your i7 dell would probably do well.

    I love Linux and use it for web browsing, ordering, work, email, card playing, etc..
    Gimp is slow compared to photoshop and so far they've made it not easy to deal with >24bit color.

    For scanning/printing, I have a windows 10 desktop, v700 scanner, r3000 printer, $10/mo ps&lr. Windows PC is an older 8-core AMD fx8120 with 32GB ram and Dell 4k display.
    I don't need all that memory except when making panoramas in LR which is very inefficient with memory in that task.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	desk.jpg 
Views:	25 
Size:	47.6 KB 
ID:	163781

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Central Indiana
    Posts
    115

    Re: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    Well, would probably help to add more info. I don't have Photoshop, and am not crazy about the new subscription service. Being self employed, I've never had the time to deal with the very steep learning curve, either. Since I don't use it all the time, some things don't become ingrained. That's one of the things that I like about Lightzone is that a number of processes are more user friendly. GIMP is now releasing a 16bit capable version, to the best of my knowledge. Last, I've used Macs at work since 1994.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Kentucky
    Posts
    70

    Re: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    For scanning(V700, Coolscan 5, Sprintscan 35 for SuperSlides) I use a PowerMac G5 dual 2.7 running both OS X 10.5.8 and 10.4.11. Obviously, the Coolscan is my workhorse for 35mm while the V700 handles everything else up to 4x5. I have a very specific reason for using that computer-namely that it's the fastest Mac that can easily run SCSI peripherals(and it wasn't easy to find a card compatible with that particular computer). I use Vuescan primarily for scanning, but also use Epson Scan and Nikon Scan as appropriate.

    I have CS4 and Lightroom 2 on the G5. I prefer CS6 and Lightroom 6 on my MacBook Pro(and sometimes do dust spotting and the like on it) but the nice dual 1920x1200 monitors on the G5 make up for some of the speed loss.

  8. #8
    Jim Jones's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Chillicothe Missouri USA
    Posts
    3,065

    Re: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    Quote Originally Posted by morecfm View Post
    . . . I get my professional workstation desktops off-lease. I find the right one can be a good value compared to a consumer grade computer in build quality and stability.
    I agree. As for editing programs, Irfanview (a free download) is a useful addition to the much larger (and sometimes slower) programs for a few basic tasks.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Tucson AZ
    Posts
    1,822

    Re: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    In the end, I don't see any really good substitute for Photoshop. Too bad, but such is life! YMMV. I scan 4 x 5 to 8 x 10 with an IQsmart 2, which needs an old Mac, although I'm primarily a Windows (and occasional Linux) user. I use 2 x 30" Apple Cinema monitors, but one of these days I'll upgrade to NEC. Overclocked 4 core BOXX 24GB workstation and a similar 6 core custom workstation - I do a lot of video editing as well as running Realflow, Cinema 4D and Maxwell Render so could use a lot more core$ - 24 hour compute bound rendering across a total of 10 cores for a single image isn't unheard of Clearly, the systems are configured for the "heavy lifting" of the CG stuff, so don't even break out in a light sweat with Photoshop.

  10. #10
    Foamer
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    South Dakota
    Posts
    2,430

    Re: Computer, OS and Scanner Survey

    Computer: double quad core i7, 32gb ram, Radeon rx 480 video card with 4GB ram, Dell graphics monitor.
    Scanners: Epson v700, Nikon Coolscan V
    Software: Vuescan, Photoshop CC, DxO


    Kent in SD
    In contento ed allegria
    Notte e di vogliam passar!

Similar Threads

  1. A Small Survey Please ...
    By Mike Mahoney in forum On Photography
    Replies: 54
    Last Post: 9-Jun-2019, 10:48
  2. Replies: 20
    Last Post: 6-Mar-2014, 02:31
  3. a survey
    By Ellis Vener in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 64
    Last Post: 9-Feb-2005, 06:37
  4. Survey tripods for LF??
    By Tad Patrick in forum Gear
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 18-Dec-1998, 23:09

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •