[filmscanners] RE: What can you advise?

["Alex Zabrovsky" <alexz@zoran.co.il>]

Well, for your targeted spec there no many ways to fail down.
Either Nikon LS4000ED or highly acclaimed Polaroid SS4000 (or his newer
update SS4000+).
There are other good options, however at lower resolutions (around 2900 dpi)
which fall behind your goals anyway.
Both mentioned models gained solid reputations (and both are considered as
high-end desktop machines) each one excels in it's area.
Nikon LS4000ED features by ICE cubed technology you obviously heard about
saving your valuable time big way for dirt/scratches retouching, offering
other neat tools such as GEM (for film grain equalization) and ROC (colors
recovery tool mostly intended for antique color-faded originals).
Many users would argue about GEM/ROC impact on scan quality (in respect of
sharpness), I personally find the influence to be easily corrected by wise
usage of Unsharp Masking.
In the past people have lament about AF uneven performance on originals with
certain degree of bending (mostly slides bended a bit into not-so-tight
frames). The AF DOF seemed to be quite shallow causing that. However,
speaking with several satisfied users of this model no one complained
particularly about that. The AF failure percentage was really neglected
according to them. I own LS4000ED's little brother LS-40 (IV ED) which
resolves 2900 dpi with almost rest of almost similar specifications and
never experienced such problem.
SS4000+ of Polaroid is successor of very positively regarded SS4000.
Reportedly excellent scan quality, shadow details might be rendered even
slightly better then by Nikon's counterpart (according to some rumors I've
heard). No dICE offered thought (means all manual retouching might eat up
your time if your originals aren't kept very well in "sterile"
environment). The unit is considerably bigger in size then Nikon. People
complained about
"dusty-prone" exterior design (the originals holder "window" is exposed
permanently to the environment thereby inviting dust into it), however that
might be resolved painlessly by covering the scanner when no in use.

Both "weight" over 1k$ (close to 1500 US$).

Your call...

Regards,
Alex Z

-----Original Message-----
From: filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk
[mailto:filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of Geoff Clack
Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 3:52 PM
To: alexz@zoran.co.il
Subject: [filmscanners] What can you advise?


Hello filmscanners

I am a new list member. Apart from a real interest in scanning (I've
notched up 50 years experience as a photographer and 40 as a graphic
designer) I've joined you in the hope of obtaining guidance in making
a film scanner purchase decision.

At work I generally use hi-res scans from drum scanners so am
undoubtedly fussy. As I near retirement (well, give up the day job)
my hope is to develop my interest in photography and, using Photoshop
etc., combine this with my ability as a painter to produce prints (I
started at Art School as a painter but couldn't see my parents being
able to support me so moved over to a graphic design course. I'll
never know if that was a wise decision - but most friends who
persevered as painters are now international names and wealthy!).

Anyway, as I look through the pages of Macworld, and read the
filmscanners list, I see reviews and mention of a variety of film
scanners (and related problems). So far, to me, no model stands head
and shoulders above the rest.

My spec includes: 35mm, 4000-ppi, Firewire and value for money. You
may know better.

What can you advise?

Geoff.

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