Philip Pemberton wrote:
> paul wrote:
>
>> I have a Polaroid Sprintscan 4000 which I was looking to upload to eB*y
>> but I'd be happy to sell it on to someone on this list first. The
>> scanner comes complete with an Adaptec SCSI PCI card and cable and works
>> fine in Windows XP etc (you just need to install the Adaptec ASPI
>> drivers from
>> http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/support/scsi_soft/ASPI/ASPI-4.70/.
Yeah, that's what I was talking about before.
> I've been offered a Minolta DiMAGE Scan Dual IV, which is 3200DPI and has
> 16-bit acquisition and multi-scanning. No infra-red dust elimination or
> anything like that, though.
> Dynamic range is specified to be 3.6 on the Minolta, vs. the Polaroid's 3.4.
> I
> guess this would mainly affect extraction of detail from shadow areas?
>
These numbers are at least partially fictional. I wouldn't expect any
practical difference.
> I'm more interested in optical quality than anything else. The thing that's
> most off-putting about the Polaroid is that it's fixed-focus, while the
> Minolta has autofocus hardware (so in theory it should be able to get a
> better
> image off the film)...
>
I don't know about the specific pieces of hardware involved, but I would
consider carefully if this is a valid concern. The proof isn't in the
theory, but in practice. If you design something that does the job
without adjustment, should you be penalized for lack of the "feature"
lesser designs require? I'm not saying this is the case, just that there
is a hole in your logic.
> Seems there's far too many scanners to choose from, and no easy way to
> decide...
>
I went through all this a while ago and spent way too much time
searching and reading. One conclusion is that there is no scanner that
is best in all respects. Compromise is necessary. I ended up with a
Canon FS4000, and still think that was the best alternative for me at
the time. It continues to perform flawlessly with great results.
If I were buying a film scanner today, it would not be a 'real' film
scanner, but either an Epson V700 or Canon 9950F flatbed.
Moose
> Thanks.
>
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