Originally Posted by
Bruce Watson
Colorgetter scanners come in two parts. There's a scan unit (big and heavy, right at 100kg) and a much smaller control unit (typically a 386 / 486 based PC with a special board in it). That's the scanner. Other parts you need to run the scanner are the boot diskettes (3.5" floppy) for the control unit, and the calibration diskettes for the control unit (set of diskettes and a ND filter matched at the factory and sold (when you could still get them) as a matched set), and of course the cables. You can find manuals around the 'net.
Then to use it you need a user interface so you can talk to the scanner and tell it what you want it to do. This requires an old Mac computer running OS8.6 to OS9.2 (IIRC, and no it will not run on anything more modern), and software from ColorByte (ColorRight Pro 2.0 is the current version. If you are going to scan negatives (B&W or color) you definitely need ColorRight Pro 2.0. ColorRight 5.x isn't going to do it for negatives). This computer must have a compatible GPIB board and the drivers must be setup correctly to let it talk tot he scanner over GPIB.
You'd have to see the drum to know how good it is (what the heck is a 4+?). It should be perfectly clear. Slight hazing is usually OK (depends) as the scanning fluid usually (again, depends) fills in the tiny scratches. Visible scratches and scuffs usually (again, depends) show up in the scans making that part of the drum useless. And there aren't any sources for drums other than the used markets.
If all they have is the scan unit, all they have is a box of parts. Without the control unit, you're toast. And really, without the Mac and its GPIB board, you're mostly toast.
My advice is to only buy a turnkey system that can be demonstrated to you as a fully working scanner. Scan a typical film at 10x or higher, and go through it in Photoshop at 100% pixels very carefully looking for scanning artifacts (you'll know 'em when you see 'em). Once you've done that, you'll have some real information you can use to make your decision.
I'd do this with any scanner, not just ColorGetters, and not just drum scanners. Just sayin'.
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