Imacon 343 Scanner Debug Panel

<p>After sending my scanner in for preventive maintenance, it now scans a little differently than before.<br>

Briefly, the scanned images are about 1.5% narrower than they used to be. The height is the same. This is measured by making a new scan of a negative of which I had scanned before, and overlaying them. The only other change is I am now using the most recent scanner driver. This is fc488 for windows.<br>

I called for help and they had me open the debug panel. This is accomplished by typing debg when the scanner software is open. I could then see and change all softs of parameters. But I won't be doing that, since there is no documentation available. <br>

The tech had me check something and change something but it made no difference. He then said the scannner had been damaged in shipment and I would have to return it for repair. I opened the machine (very carefully) and everything inside is in good shape, there is nothing visible loose or crooked. It is a well built machine to say the least. I currently have it open and it works open chassis just fine.<br>

My Question : Does anybody have experience with this debug panel, could they share any info they may have. Also, has this odd issue happened to anybody else. I am currently trying to find a down rev version of the scanner software, hoping the change was caused by the new driver.</p>

<p>thank you</p>

<p>In Flexcolor I would normally crop the preview before scanning. The crop then sets the size of the scanned image. If you scan the full preview image without cropping then I think the size of the scanned image will be determined by the stored parameters that define the frame you're using. </p>

<p>I don't know where Flexcolor stores this information for the standard frames or how you could modify it. However you can always create a custom frame to get the height and width you want. You could start with the parameters for a standard frame (e.g. 24x36), adjust height/width to suit, and save them as a new file. Custom frame files are stored as XML files in .../Documents and Settings//Application Data/Flexcolor/Settings/Flextight/User Defined/*.xml. </p>

<p>I'm not sure debug has any means of changing scanned image size.</p>

<p>BTW I don't have a 343, I have a 646 but I'm assuming Flexcolor works the same for both in regard to setting scan size.</p>

 

<p>Thank you Lex. That is good information, I have never tried to use a custom frame but did notice that custom film setups, which I do use, are stored in the same directory. </p>

<p>I always scan the full frame, past the edge of the cutout in the original holder, so I see the whole negative including the clear wraparound. Then I trim later, to take full advantage of the film size. The way this scanner is working, now, is the image portion of the result file is actually about 1.5% narrower by actual photoshop ruler measurement, as compared to a scan of the same negative made before. The vertical dimension is still correct. Therefore, the scan is now distorted and I would have to scale down vertically in the same amount to deliver a correct image. </p>

<p>The tech I talked to said this could be caused if the CCD has been shifted in position so it was not at perfect right angle to the direction of the film. I will scan a piece of graph paper tomorrow to find out if it is truly misaligned and this can explain the problem. I am very reluctant to ship this item again across the country, WA to NJ, for repair if the damage indeed happened in transit.</p>

<p>I see what you mean now. What your tech said does sound plausible. A quick geometry calculation would suggest that the CCD would have to be misaligned by about 10 degrees to reduce its apparent width by 1.5%. I imagine that would be fairly easy to see just by eyeballing the CCD.</p>

I have had a 343 for about 10yrs.

Until a year ago I was using a Flexcolor driver on my Windows laptop.

Since that machine died on me, I have replaced it with my first Mac.

Does anyone know where I can get a Mac driver for this scanner?

<p>John, Here is what I found on the website (Hasselblad.com) where I get my software:</p>

<h3>FlexColor 4.8.12 Mac</h3>

This is a feature and bugfix release of Hasselblads scanner software FlexColor version 4.8.11 <br /><br /><strong>Highlights</strong>

 

<ul>

<li>Installs Imacon3F plugin for Photoshop CS5 (32bit version of CS5 only!) </li>

<li>Fixes an issue concerning Snow Leopard and ICC profiles with long names. </li>

<li>Fixes an issue concerning the 60x60 slide holder. <br /><br />For a complete description of fixes and added features, please read the FlexColor read-me file. <br /><br /><strong>System Requirements</strong> <br />Mac OS X vers.10.4 or later is supported. <br /><br /><strong>Compatibility</strong> <br />The software requires at least OS X 10.4. A G4, G5 or Intel processor is required. All Hasselblad products and Imacon products with a Firewire interface are supported, with exception of the newer H4D camera range - the H3DII-50, H3DII-50MS and CFV-39. Please use Phocus by Hasselblad with these products. For FlexColor usage with a scanner we recommend at least 256 MB RAM - while camera usage requires at least 512 MB - when performing micro step captures you should have at least 1.5GB of RAM installed - for the 528C at least 2GB. Please note that 3f files generated by version 4.5.x and later can not be used by earlier versions. </li>

</ul>

 

<p>Glad to hear your 343 went 10 years. Right now I'm a little discouraged to have to return mine for service after it just went in for Preventive Maintenance.</p>