This is a very important point Peter. It's noteworthy that DT Cultural Heritage (the company whose equipment is showcased in that post I linked to above) went with a camera-based system for digitizing items for conservation purposes. Have scanners reached the end of the line in terms of development? It rather looks that way. In contrast, no end is in sight for improvements to sensors for digital cameras. In that respect, it makes perfect sense that a company that wants to sell equipment to museums for digitizing flat artefacts would go with a camera-based system.
When I read the article, my first thought was that this was a strange business to get into given how niche film is, especially large format film. But then the light went and I thought about the vast amount of existing historical material in collections around the world that needs to be digitized -- negatives, positives, prints, etc. -- all eventually (hopefully!) to be made available online. And then there's all the new material HABS/HAER photography. The conservation world knows what it's about, so presumably they have no concerns about the quality of the files generated by "camera scanning".
The business model makes a lot more sense in that context... Sadly, these systems are seriously expensive so they won't be making an appearance in my life!
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