I have been given the task of finding a mid o high end film scanner, specifically for 4x5 and 120 film, for the design company that I work for. I'm interested in knowing A) What's on the market and B) How good is it? What factors are most important as far as specifications?

-- Sam Gutierrez (CHAMMEEZ@aol.com), April 12, 2002

Answers

If you're talking high end you're talking drum scanners. If you're talking mid-range you're talking USED drum scanners. A used Howtek 4000 or 4500 will be from $4000 - $7000 - nothing will come close using CCD technology at that price level. PMT's are the way to go. Low end is CCD technology - there you will find the Polaroid, Minolta, etc... scanners. The Imacon is a CCD scanner that approaches PMT scanners, but still loses out with regards to Dmax and noise - and is more expensive than a better used PMT scanner.

-- Wayne DeWitt (wdewitt@snip.net), April 12, 2002.

Nikon, Polaroid & Imacon all currently make well supported hi-res scanners. but defining high end is the trick. what youwantto look for is resolution, color depth and density range, preferably you want a firewire connection forthe best spped (with desktop scanners).

-- Ellis Vener Photography (ellis@ellisvener.com), April 13, 2002.

I second the choices Wayne has mentioned. I recently purchased a used Howtek D4000 specifically to get high-end drum scanning on a budget (for more info on high end scanning, check out the Yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ScanHi-End/ ).

Because repro houses etc are dropping drum scanners for the convenience of digital capture and CCD scanners like the Imacon, there are some drum scanner bargains to be had.

A Howtek D4000 or the D4500 (larger drum, so better for 8x10) can now be purchased with software for around USD4,000 up. I could not be more happy with my D4000. Fabulous quality, but it is more difficult to learn to use than a "plug-and-play" CCD scanner.

Quentin

-- QDB (qdb@barleigh.com), April 17, 2002.