12 mpxls dslr vs imacon vs scancafe

[marco_landini]

<p>Hi. I have a lot of slides, velvia 50 and e100gx, and I would like to scan them with the best possible quality, in order to produce a digital file to be printed at abour 13X9" at 254 ppi print resolution ( contone printer). 3 years ago I started shooting digital, Nikon D90. I would ask you a suggestion about the scanning service and equipment to obtain those great scans, at least to produce the same quality as a D90 raw file. The lab I send my digital files to be printed has an Imacon virtual drum scanner. I guess the quality is great, but the price per scan is very high. The alternative idea is to send my slides frames to scancafe in India, the prices seem to be very interesting. For 35 mm slides, in their special service line, they can make 4000 dpi scans with their Noritsu virtual drum. How can these scanner compare to imacon scans ? And , in the end, how do these 2 scanning solutions compare to 12 mpxls raw files in order to print a 13"x9" ? Thanks, bye. Marco</p>

[Tony Evans]

<p>13 x 9 inches (which is approximately a 9X enlargement for 35mm) @ 254 dpi reqires an approximate 9 x 254 = 2300 dpi scan. This close to the optimum attainable on the Epson V700/750. Consequently a 4000 dpi scan on the Noritsu should theoretically be better. However, there are factors other than scanning density to take into account.</p>

[Stock-Photos]

<p>Marco, expecting slide scans to have the "same quality" as a D90 raw file is not realistic. Scans from slides (especially Kodachrome) will almost always yeild a more contrasty, lower dynamic range image (on screen) than a DSLR image.</p>

<p>How the scans are tweaked, post-scan, will be a big factor in your satisfaction. Consider ordering scans with no edits, in tif format, so that you can do all post scan adjustments yourself.</p>

<p>However 4000 PPI <em>resolution </em>will be more than enough for a 13x19 print. A 35MM scan done at 4000 PPI is about 5500 pixels wide on the long side.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>The opinions of Scan Cafe's quality and service, at least here on Photo.net, have been very variable. Suggest you rum a search on here if you have not done so already. </p>

<p>Do you intend to scan all of your slides? Or just a small minority that you wish to print to that size? I ask in the sense that at the price I pay for Imacon scans here in the UK (£7.50 hand cleaned in PS, £4.10 with no cleaning), it might be worthwhile to get the best ones done, and if you wanted to scan the rest for screen-based applications or smaller prints then buy an Epson V700 or similar and do it yourself. </p>

<p>Either way, expect to do some work yourself on the scans- its rare IMO to get scans right out of a scanner, or from a lab making them in volume, that are absolutely OK to print without intervention. I don't think you'll have a problem getting scans at least as good as your digital files from an Imacon or similar virtual drum at 4999ppi, but like Mr Harrington I suspect you'll find a difference between "as good as" and " the same as".</p>

[marco_landini]

<p>I got a lot of slides that I want to be digitalized just for my digital archive. And few ( 30 a-year ) "special" slide shots that I want to be printed at hi quality. I must admit I prefere the film look, film gives to my eyes a tipical feeling of depth and realism that I cannot feel looking at dslr prints ( at least at MY prints... ). So, I would like to have those 30 a year slides scanned at the most possible quality at a right price. Here in Italy, they asked me something as 50 euros to scan a 35mm slide, by Imacon virtual drum, to produce a 70 MB TIFF ( the same dimension of a tiff from d90 converted raw. I need this file dimension to post process the slide on ps at 16 bit and to print it at 13x9) . So, I would ask you if I can send those 30 frames to a professional lab out of Italy, with the same imacon and better prices, maybe in Europe. Or the "pro service" offered by Scancafe would be as good.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>If you're happy to send your transparencies to the UK, try Blue Sky Images <a href="http://www.blueskyimages.co.uk">www.blueskyimages.co.uk</a> who offer the prices I indicated above. I think you'll find that their "library scan "- their mid range product- is what you'd need for the prints you want. Both Getty and Corbis seem happy with the scans I send them made by these people. </p>