I am becoming interested in obtaining a scanner simply to have the capability of e-mailing photos or to create a site to view them. I assume that a film scanner provides much greater editing capability, but what could about the quality of the images

-- Dennis Couvillion (couvilaw@aol.com), December 12, 2001

Answers

(Sorry, accidently sent the post...maybe you can get an idea of my computer skills now.) Cont'd: I assume that a film scanner provides much greater editing capability, but what about the quality of the images when using a flat bed scanner. If someone could direct me to a primer on the use of the different types of scanners, it would be appreciated.

-- Dennis Couvillion (couvilaw@aol.com), December 12, 2001.

Hi Dennis:

Ususally, any picture larger than 800x600 is hardly loadable. 800 dots for 36mm and 600dots for 24mm, it makes something like 635 dpi...

When you know that the first prices are offering 1200dpi at least!

Most of the cameras are offering 1280x960, about 1.1Million pixels. The quality is acceptable, check the following taken with a Olympus Camedia 830L: http://xavierf.b.free.fr/Ete2001/PB140006.JPG

(long to load, eh?)

Try Jenoptik JS-21 (former Carl Zeiss Jena), a good for money item.

Owning a leica to send photos less than 1 Million pixels... Ah, this is fustrating, arf-arf-arf.

For printing, send your files to Fuji lab Online, it will be cheaper and of much better quality.

Regards. X.

-- Xavier d'Alfort (hot_billexf@hotmail.com), December 12, 2001.

Dennis,

You might want to check some of the earlier threads, such as this one here, further down in the archive. Cheers.

-- Lutz Konermann (lutz@konermann.net), December 12, 2001.

One solution is the film scan 35 wich can scan until 1800 DPI for a low price with more quality than a flat scanner… A+

-- Léglise (leglise.frederic@free.fr), December 12, 2001.

I've been watching the developing news on the net RE: the new Epson 2450. It's so new it hasn't reached many dealers yet. This is a 2400 x 4800 photo quality flatbed scanner with transparency/negative accessory, for $400 list (maybe less in discount places).

I know nothing about this, except that I also want a scanner to post photos for the forum. But I know I'll want to try scanning and printing some negatives and transparencies also. A Nikon Coolscan for 35mm costs $1500. That would still leave me without anything for MF.

SO I'm looking at the Epson 2450 as a way to get started with fairly high quality--more than enough for the net, and almost enough for good (but I think not Leica-quality) results for digital prints.

Just thought I'd mention this, Dennis, since I'm also just at the beginning stage, and this is the scanner that's attracting my attention. Actually, I have the impression that an earlier Epson photo scanner would be enough for strictly internet purposes--maybe a 1200 or 1650, if I have the model numbers right. Probably in the $100 to $200 range.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), December 12, 2001.

Here's some discussion on the 2450 (and others):

SCANNER TALK

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), December 12, 2001.

Scanner quality is determined by far more than dpi, which unfortunately is what everyone latches onto. I have the 2450's predecessor, the 1640SU, which received rave reviews when it came out. Unfortunately, its 1600 dpi scans were visibly worse than the ones I was making on my 1200 dpi UMAX. Why? Things like slightly inaccurate autofocus, film holders that did not keep film flat, shadow posterization, and software that was clearly inadequate. The software problem I solved with Vuescan - it was depressing that Epson shipped the scanner with a driver that created visibly inferior scans to the Vuescan driver. In the end I decided that I couldn't deal with all the issues, so I sprang for a Polaroid film scanner that handles 35mm and 120.

I am sure the 2450 (and also the 1640) are fine for web display and for smaller prints. But if you plan to go beyond that, to high quality printing at sizes greater than 8.5x11, you should consider a dedicated film scanner.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), December 13, 2001.

I've been working with film scanners for up to 35mm format for about the last 6 years now and recently purchased an Epson 2450 for access to medium format film scanning at an affordable price. I tested the Epson with film against my Minolta Scan Dual II as well. Results are on my web page at:

http://www.bayarea.net/~ramarren/ photostuff/epson2450test/e2450.htm

Overall, I would recommend a dedicated film scanner for 35mm and smaller formats, where for medium format and larger tools like the 2450 are adequate for even up to fairly large prints.

-- Godfrey (ramarren@bayarea.net), December 13, 2001.