[filmscanners] Re: death of scanners

["Wendell Rider" <wrider@earthlink.net>]

> This was part of my point - I've no idea what the figures would be, but my
> sense is that filmscanners are probably coming close to not being a growing
> market anymore - at least not in a significant sense.
>
> When you see major, established film based pro labs closing down because
> their clientele has all gone digital (whether they should have diversified
> is another question...), one has to question where any major growth in
> filmscanner sales will continue to come from?
>
> To simplify it - most of those who will use a filmscanner have got one by
> now... and the market of potential users is probably decreasing.
>
> tim
I was recently at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco and I talked to the
people from Nikon and Canon. They both said that since the arrival of the
higher mega pixel cameras, especially the ones that use existing 35mm
lenses, that their film scanner sales have gone way down. This is
inevitable. There will be a market for film scanners as long as there is
film to scan, but this is definitely a transitional phase that is leading to
more use of digital cameras and less of film. Thus I think it would be safe
to say that R&D in dedicated film scanning, especially in the 35mm market,
will slow in the near future.
I own a Nikon LD400 and I like it very much. I don't think there is much
more to be gotten out of this process unless they can produce faster scans
with a little more shadow detail or general latitude. Much more in the way
of resolution will only pick up more grain.
I won't be selling my scanner anytime soon because I have a lot more
pictures to scan, but I will go digital when I can get the same or better
results than my 35mm stuff. That day is not far off.
--
Wendell Rider
"Real World Horn Playing" is here, see
www.wendellworld.com

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