Re: [Leica] Film scanner advice

[Andrew Schroter <schroter@optonline.net>]

With slides and PhotoCD, you can pick the slides you want digitized and
bring up to about 100 slides (Hi Res pics are about 4-5MB) to a photo
processing retail shop.  My local Ritz camera dealer charges .75/slide.  So,
about $5.50 for developing a 36 exposure roll (can use A&I mailers - order
from bandhphoto.com) and out of 10 rolls, say you want to scan 10 slides per
roll, thats about $125-130 total.  You may be able to find better prices for
scanning than that.
Regards,
Andy
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter A. Klein" <pklein@2alpha.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 5:56 PM
Subject: [Leica] Film scanner advice


> The more I mess with scanning prints on a mediocre flatbed, the more I
> realize there is likely to be a film scanner in my future.  The question
> is, which one?
>
> I've been reading reviews online, but I need a quality vs. price reality
> check. It seems to me that there may be a point of diminishing returns
> on price/quality where one might scan film for routine small prints and
> the Web, but might as well go to silver printing for 8x10 or bigger on
> one's best shots. Still, my demands are higher than what passes for
> "photo quality" in the mass consumer market.  So let's say the following
> conditions apply:
>
> - 35mm film only.
>
> - I don't plan on enlarging digitally more than about 8x10 (standard
> letter/A4 paper).  How deeply I get into digital printing remains to be
> seen.
>
> - If I really want a top-quality enlargement from a negative or slide,
> I'll probably take it to a rental darkroom or a custom lab.
>
> - I want to see my images without spending bucks for 4x6 prints of
> everything, and so I can put things on the Web.
>
> - I'm primarily interested in doing my own black-and-white. I will want
> to scan the occasional Kodachrome slide or roll of color neg film.
>
> - I do available light, so dynamic range for highlight and shadow detail
> is important.
>
> - I'm not the kind of person who likes to use things for 6 months and
> then sell them and get something new.
>
> - Reasonable ease of use is important, as is reliablity.  I don't want
> "automatic everything with no options," but I'd also rather not deal
> with know-to-be problematic hardware or needlessly convoluted software
> (I guess that means get VueScan if I get a Nikon scanner :-)
>
> - I'm computer literate and have done plenty of film developing and wet
> darkroom work in the past.  I'm not so interested in doing wet printing
> at home anymore, but I suspect I'll get back to developing B&W film.
>
> - There's also the option of not buying a film scanner and getting Photo
> CDs of my stuff.  According to semi-legible notes I scribbled weeks ago,
> Kodak will do 1024 x 1536 (1.57 megapixel) "Picture CDs" for $13.75 for
> developing plus $8.95 for the CD, =22.70 per roll (not sure if this is
> 24 or 36 exposures). For a 36 exp. roll of color negative or B&W
> chromagenic at 2048x3072 (6.29 megapixel).  Still, that could add up
> quickly to the price of a used scanner.
>
> Things like the Nikon LS-4000 are way beyond my price-point.  So things
> like a used Nikon LS-2000 or LS-30 look more promising.  Going down a
> notch, the Olympus ES-10s seems to have a lot going for it. I've
> mentioned these brands only because I've read more about them recently,
> others gladly considered.
>
> The floor is open.
>
> --Peter Klein
> Seattle, WA