Re: filmscanners: real value?

["Hart or Mary Jo Corbett" <hnmjcorbett@earthlink.net>]

Michael:

Thanks for your excellent advice (and the opportunity to post this message).
You may have missed my post a while back that outlined what I'm
contemplating for a totally new system from the ground up.  I've had my
present setup for 5 years and only had one computer setup before that, also
for 5 years.  When one's printer is so obsolete that the manufacturer (HP)
no longer updates the driver to match an updated OS, then it's time to
renew!

Briefly, I am contemplating this:

€PowerMac G-4, dual processor, 40 gig HD, 512 meg SDRAM [or more], OS 9,
PS6, high end graphics card, internal modem + all the assorted programs that
I have accumulated for very varied purposes.
€CD-R/W, make & model not determined yet.
€Polaroid SS4000 35mm neg scanner w/ Silverfast.  Perhaps to be replaced in
time by the upcoming Polaroid 120 scanner.
€Flatbed scanner, make & model probably a Microtek Scanmaker X12USL because
it has carriers for various film sizes.
€Epson Printer, probably a 1200 or 1270; for photos only.
€"Ordinary" printer, perhaps Epson, for correspondence, databases,
spreadsheets & the like.

I have tens of thousands of 35mm B&W negs1935-1995.  Likewise, about 15,000
6cmX6cm B&W negs, about 25% of which I've printed in the Ansel Adams manner.

There also are about 5,000 6cmX6cm mounted slides and I don';t know how many
35mm slides from 1946 to the present.

There old B&W negs in various extinct formats, eg:  127, 616, "postcard",
etc. 1909-1950

And there are hundreds of scanned historic photos sent to me over the
Internet by friends or downloaded by me (legally and with permission) from
such places as the Bancroft Library in Berkeley, California (photos of the
1st transcontinental railroad being built in the 1860s).  These all reside
on my hard disk (backed up).

Starting with the B&Ws, 35mm and otherwise, I would like to print those
which are of historical significance or at least of significance to me and
my family.  LIkewise, I would like to print the old negs in odd formats
(they are proofed -- everything is proofed except for the slides and the
downloads) and the downloaded photos.  None of the prints will be larger
than 8X10 or possibly 11X14 in certain cases.

The weakest link in all this hardware seems to be the printer.  I have seen
output from the large professional printers and they don't always meet my
standards, ether.  The reconditoned 1200 (Epsom 1 year warranty)  would be
an interim step until something better comes along.  From this list, I have
learned that 1200s and some other Epsons can be used for B&W fairly
effectively by substituting a grayscale cartridge for the color cartridge
with non-OEM inks from such places as The Stock Solution in Salt Lake City,
Utah.

The 2000P, as many of you have commented and the Web sites of various sales
outlets have also pointed out, is no good for B&W printing.  I have no space
for anything larger than the 1200.  The 1270 cannot use non-OEM inks but
allegedly has a "slight edge" on sharpness.

I would be printing from time to time and often the 1200 printer would be
idle for 2 or 3 months or more (we take 4 to 6 week trips every year and I
have a lot of other activities that fill my life).  The 1200 will ONLY be
used for B&W print making and the prints will be kept in archival plastic
sleeves in a number of large archival albums from Light Impressions in
Rochester, New York.

So, given this background, I have a couple of requests or questions for the
extremely knowledgeable and experienced people on this List:

(1)  Will the 1200, using non-OEM inks, clog up if it's used for periods
separated by months?

(2) Will the 1200 clog up, using Epson inks, if only used periodically as
above?

(3)  Comments on the *flatbed scanner* [MIcrotek Scanmaker X12USL] which I
propose above (the ability to scan odd sized negs is important to me).

(4)  If anyone has thoughts about a suitable CD-R/W machine and software,
I'd sure appreciate them but please e-mail me *off List* at

                  hnmjcorbett@earthlink.net

(5) If you have any suggestions about anything else not related to scanners
or printers or if your thoughts on printers are long, please also e-mail me
*off List*, too.

I'll be 64 in March and if I don't get started on this project now, I never
will.  At 60, I realized that more of my life is behind me than ahead of me
and thus I reordered my priorities!

I don't want to clog up Tony's list with OT material!  And thanks to Tony
for letting me post this and thanks to you all in advance for your great
comments and suggestions!

Hart Corbett

----------
>From: "Michael Wilkinson" <michael@infocus-photography.co.uk>
>To: <filmscanners@halftone.co.uk>
>Subject: Re: filmscanners:  real value?
>Date: Mon, Jan 29, 2001, 1:21 PM
>

> Laurie Soloman ,suggests buying "two steps behind" technology.
> Good advice
> To refine that however you seem to be talking about relatively
> inexpensive kit .
> A scanner costing less than 1000 dollars/600UK  pounds is a consumer
> item.
> The manufacturers expect you to throw it away fairly soon or give it to
> your children to put in their toy shop next year.
> If you really want good value for money allied to something which will
> last a decade you have to look at what you want from the product.
> If a limited dynamic range ,a less than perfectly sharp image and a
> mediocre resolution are ok for you now to start off with and will be for
> the foreseeable future then buy the nikominotolympus OB1 whatever and
> have your fun right now.
> If you see a long term usage and don't want to keep upgrading look at
> just what you really really want out of your scanner, write your ideal
> specification down and then go hunting through the sales columns in the
> e various specialist press that deal in Repro  etc,track down a used
> high quality bit of kit ,buy it at the right price and you are set for
> the next Decade
> Make no mistake about it.
> if a scanner is doing a good job now the chances are that only a real
> expert will be able to see a difference in your final output in 10 years
> time.
> Anyway,by then the software  (Photoshop 15 ??? ) will be able to
> optimise your inadequate input to match the latest ten dollar laser
> printer giving photorealistic output perfectly colour balanced.
>
> Michael Wilkinson. 106 Holyhead Road,Ketley, Telford.Shropshire TF 15 DJ
>   michael@infocus-photography.co.uk      www.infocus-photography.co.uk
> For Trannies and Negs from Digital Files
>
>
>
>