Fuji Frontier question

[arthur_li1]

Hi there,

 

I took a roll of 35mm film to Black's (photo/camera chain in Canada)

and asked for the photos to be put on CD. When I got the CD home, I

found out that the photos were 1800x1200 resolution (basically 300dpi

at 4"x6"). I know that they use the Fuji Frontier minilabs, and was

wondering, is it possible to get higher resolution outputs from them?

If so, do you know if they'd charge extra? Thanks!

[Michael R Freeman]

I think it would be best to ask this question at Black's the next time you are in the store.

[jake_holt]

On a Frontier, a high-res scan (4500x3000) can be made, if the tech knows how. The film

has to be scanned and exported at 10x15 print size, and then, in the digital menu, "CD

from digital" needs to be selected instead of "CD from film." The resulting files will still be

compresssed into jpeg format, but the quality is sufficient, in my experience, to print at

least up to a 10x15. If "CD from film" is selected, the Frontier will compress the files down

to 1800 x 1200, even if they are scanned at 10x15. As far as price goes, that all depends

on who you go to. Ritz camera, for example, doesn't even officially offer the service, as it

is wayyy too time consuming.

[arthur_li1]

I tried asking the people at Black's already. They don't seem to really know what I'm asking for. I asked for their highest resolution, and the 1800x1200 is what they gave me. Go figure. :)

 

Thanks for the info Jake. I'll take this to the guy at Black's and see if he's willing to do that for me.

[sahmed]

Arthur,

 

That was my experience with Black's as well - they scanned my images to 1800x1200 resolution and the scans weren't that good. Perhaps that was due to my using Fuji Superia XTRA 800 but still I expected better quality scans. And this was after I had mentioned to them to give me the highest quality scans possible.

 

I don't think I'll be going back to Black's - I am in the process of trying out another colour lab in Toronto.

[andrejs_ilicuks]

I looked down for those scan made on Frontier - yup, they are 1840x1232. Later I switched to Noritsu because they scanned cheaper (3089x2048), now I have access to canon 4000dpi scanner and it's pain to do it myself :)<br>

Though I will ask Frontier lab if they are aware of hi-res scans they can do.

[arthur_li1]

Based on the responses I've read in this thread so far, I am under the impression that it's going to be a difficult road to get higher resolution scans of my negatives from these labs. My next option is to look into buying my own film scanner, but I find them to be a bit expensive.

 

I bought a Canon Canoscan LiDE 80 which is a flatbed scanner that comes with the ability to scan negatives and slides at 2400dpi. Sounded tempting, and was only $200 CAD. Brought it home and scanned a negative at 2400dpi. The result was one huge scan that looked awful. The final resolution of my scan was roughly 2100x3300 (sounds nice, eh?)... but looked terrible. A lot of fine details were lost, and when I printed a test 8x10 on my photo printer, the result looked like it had been blurred over a few times. Gonna go return the scanner tomorrow. No more all-in-one products for me.

 

Does anyone have experience with a decent negative scanner? Or can point me to some sites with some good info?

[josphy]

Are there any other labs around you could ask that might have more knowledgeable staff? We would have no problems scanning at higher resolutions at the 1-hour, drug store lab where I work. It just takes finding a knowledgeable lab "technician" who actually knows what the word resolution means. I doubt you'd find many mini-labs willing to scan an entire roll to 3000X4500 on a Frontier because it's fairly time consuming, but to have some of your favorites scanned to higher resolutions should be no problem.

 

It's also worth mentioning that on our Frontier we have the option to make a "regular" CD which saves the photos as JPEGS and actually ends up reducing the resolution slightly (to something like 250dpi instead of 300) or alternatively we have a "premium" CD which saves the photos as TIFFS and retains the full resolution. I'm not sure if some of the various Frontier models and software might have different options.

[arthur_li1]

A "Premium CD" you say? I need to investigate this further. I'd much prefer my images in TIFF format at full resolution.

[wickedmartini]

It is possible to get bigger files if the operator is aware of how to go about it. In some cases, the labs may lock operators out of being able to change some of these settings. Check with a lab manager.

[danny_wong2]

You have to go to a frontier with an owner/operator. Then you get what you want by talking to the people who knows and cares what they are doing.

 

My frontier guy is Ray at Amazing photo @ Market Village (steeles/kennedy) He owns the place and runs the frontier. Whatever you want and the machine can do you will get. Also he cares about your image as a customer.

 

I am sure there are others like him in other communities

[jeffreyo]

Its very easy to get higher res scans from frontier equipment

If your tec does not know how instruct them to set the print size at the max on there machine. This will vary on diffrent machines. I have a 390 and on my machine 10x15 is the max size. This will result in a 6 meg jpeg file. I forget the pixel count. Typical max size might be 8x10 and that will deliver a 4+ meg scan.

It is however very slow. Expect a busy lab using a frontier to not want to do this when busy.

[james_ogara1]

I love the Frontier but finally broke down and bough a Coolscan 4000 because the Frontier scans were dusty and the system did not offer -- or so the techs said -- Digital ICE for dust removal.

[iliyan_filyanov]

Hi,

Please, do not forget that Fuji Frontier minilab has 5 different models, the last one just released this year. They all have different capabilities. The newer models are equipped with sophisticated hardware \not software\ based system for dust & scratches removal.

Most importantly- the scans:

Even the older Frontier minilab models are able to scan a film with 7+ megapixels. And you are right: it all depends on the settings of the minilab and the good will of the operator.

The process is very simple and easy- the operator has to choose to export the scans as 16 base JPEG, instead of 4 base JPEG. Please, note: the scans can even be exported as 16 base BMP, which will result in large 7+ MP 20+MB files!

Of course, the lab manager can hide these options from the menu :)

To do the scans correctly, the operator has to know many other things as well...Look for a Frontier lab with experienced personnel.

[leen_tang]

I was wondering if anyone here is familiar with or owns the Fuji Frontier 370, but more importantly the Photo Imaging Controller 2.51.0 program. If so, please reply I would really appreciate the help I can get from here.