Imacon vs Epson Flatbead @ 2000dpi

[snaggs]

Seems like a silly question, but I'm 12 hours away from buying a Imacon Flextight II, and want to be sure that the hassles of SCSI, possibiliy having to buy an old SCSI G4 mac are worth the effort.

Does anybody have some comparisons of the two? All the reviews on the net focus on 35mm or MF... and show the Epsons (V700, V750 etc) to loose out to Coolscans at 4000 dpi.

I was wondering if at 2000dpi the Epson is able to deliver.

Daniel.

[Kirk Gittings]

FWIW. I have not upgraded to a 750, but I routinely use a 4990 and an Imacon 949. Even without the fudging that Imacon does with the sharpening (the 0 setting is not 0 sharpening, like -20 is actually 0), it is clearly superior to the 4990 except in dust suppression. Digital Ice outperforms everything else. I suspect the Imacon will be superior to the 750 also. However were one buying the Imacon new the cost difference would only be justifiable if one did prints larger than 16x20.

[Ted Harris]

You didn't provide enough information to make any kind of reasonable comparison. In order to make a decent comparison the actual flatbed you are considering/comparing v. the Flextight II is important. Are you talking about one of the 'consumer class' scanners such as the Epson 4990 or V700 or are you talking about a Creo or Fuji Lanovia or Screen Cezane? Also, why 2000 spi, because taht is what the Imacon delivers when scanning 4x5, because it is the real world resolution of the flatbed? Why a SCSI G4 Mac? You can put a SCSI card in any Mac or PC. Is the Flextight II firmware limited to a G4 (some Creo's are or to a G3). Will the Flextight's software run on OS X? Finally, and very important, what price arae you going to pay for this scanner? If you are paying less than 2000 it might be a good buy. If you are paying between 2000 - 3000 it could still be ok if there is a guarantee and it comes with all the needed software. If you are paying more than that then thee are other options worth considering. Certaily if you are payong in the 5000 range there are a lot of other options to consider.

Output too is a consideration ... as Kirk aked, how large are you going to print and will you ever need to scan larger than 4x5 for that matter?

[Ron Marshall]

Have a look at the scanner comparison on the front page of this site.

[snaggs]

Price is about US$2200. I said "Epson Flatbed" in my title, so was thinking of a V750. I chose 2000 dpi since that is the max of the Imacon, so theres no point poo pooing the V750 at 4000 Dpi when I'd never get that on the Imacon anyways.

Apparantly there is alot of problems getting SCSI cards to work reliably in the latest PowerMac Dualcores, and even more to get those SCSI cards to work with the Imacon. Infact, Ill have to experiment! Also, since software support has stopped for the Imacon II's, theres no guarantee that older versions of the software will work on future versions of OSX. So best to get used to the idea of having a PC kept in timewarp state.

The reason I'm umming and ahhhing is I could buy a Epson V750 and a Coolscan 5000, and have ICE for all formats. However, I'm in Perth, Australia. 2nd hand Imacons come up once in every 5 years..! At least if I go the Imacon route, I'll have peace of mind knowing that its unlikely anything is going to scan much better.

Daniel.

[Doug Dolde]

"I'll have peace of mind knowing that its unlikely anything is going to scan much better."

Hard to agree with that. I'd choose a Creo flatbed or a drum scanner over an Imacon anyday.

[Ted Harris]

I agree with Doug, a Creo (except the IQSmart 1) or a Screen flatbed or most of the drum scanners will clearly outperform an Imacon. OTOH, you will have to wait a longtime to find one of these in the price range your Imacon ... but they do come along. As for the SCSI issue, a lot depends on the card you choose and most of the high end scanners use a SCSI connection because the want the fast wide data path. Some of the latest also come with a Firewire connection but if you talk to the tech folk at the manufacturers they will usually recommend SCSI.

As for comparing the Imacon to the Epson V series of 4990 your actual real resolution is going to be about the same ~ 2000 spi. You can get a good bit more out of the V series but only with very large file sizes (too large to be managable by most computers) for 4x5 as you are scanning at the 6400 setting. One other thought, DMax is as important as resolution in the final scan. The Imacon might give you slightly better DMax than the Epsons but won't even come close to the other scanners we are talking about. Take a look at the collaborative scanner comparison on the LF Home page. Look particularly at the crops of the red box that show shadow detail.

[snaggs]

Having a look now. Sounds like maybe I should just pass on the Imacon, if its not really that great for 4x5.

So maybe get a Epson V750 for previews etc and if I really do a awesome shot, just get a scan done by someone with a real drum scanner or Creo?

Daniel.

[Ted Harris]

Daniel, my advice would be to get a 4990. The gain in the V series for LF scanning doesn't really seem to be there. If you are also going to do a reasonable amount of smaller format thent he investment in the V series is worthwhile. OTOH, I'm not sure the additional gains in the 750 make it worth 250 more than the 700 but I haven't tested it yet so the jury is still out.

Finally, having said all that I wouldn't buy either of them. The Microtek 1800f is only slightly more than the 750 and will give you much better final results for LF. Far better DMax and about the same resolution. It is also much more solidly built. Buy quick though as Microtek's chip suppliers have discontinued the CCD array used in the machineand there is only aout a two month supply of the scanners left worldwide.

[snaggs]

Thanks, I'll look into the Microtek, and good reviews to look at?

PS. Just checked, it seems to be a very old scanner. Shouldn't I just wait for the replacement?

Daniel.