david_henderson

Habana Viejo 5Dii

Pushkar India 5Dii

Just a thought. Does the site commit us to ONLY running these themed threads as "no words"? Sometimes - not usually and certainly not always- a theme is selected where it's particularly appropriate to give a bit of background, and for me, this would have been one, as its not only the past, its my past. I understand that the decision would have to be made by the thread starter- not on the hoof by a participant. Not a big deal; not trying to change the world, but wondered what others might think?

Milford Sound NZ 5Diii

Bruges Mamiya 7ii Tri_X

Northumberland. 5Dii

Cuba. 5D

I'm sure I'd want to contribute most weeks

Biot Provence. Bronica Tri_X

Trinidad Cuba 5D

A Moeraki Boulder. NZ 5Diii

Theatre Bar Tyneside Canon G6

Shanghai/Pudong 5D

Dubai Waterfall. 5D

Havana Cuba 5D

Washing a glass roof Shanghai 5D

Man in the mirror. Chelsea NYC Tri-X

I reckon we get an average of 2/3 packages a week from Amazon and have a Prime membership. More round Christmas We have no problems with money, delivery and where we want, with returns. The right to return means that we can use online for things we're not 100% sure we want till we see them and things we need to try before keeping. I bought my current Canon 5Diii body via an Amazon affiliate. I guess we are more circumspect when its a large item not sold by Amazon itself, but apart from occasionally slower delivery we've had no issue with any transaction under the Amazon umbrella. If it wasn't Amazon it would be Wex or another online photo specialist, that I might lean towards if I needed a conversation or email to establish an items suitability for example, or another generalist if I don't. Even when not bought from an online dealer, most photo purchases are made from the manufacturer via phone or web. I wish bricks & mortar stores offered better advice, better stockholding, better pricing but my experience in recent years is the exact reverse and I get more knowledge, help, and a slicker transaction online. My only regret is that our shopping streets in towns are full of restaurants, coffee shops, phone outlets and charity shops which makes going to a town less interesting. I don't get emails from Amazon except to tell me that my order's confirmed/dispatched/out for delivery, and if I get ads whilst browsing they're not terribly intrusive. Of course you have to reckon on a purely arms-length transaction with Amazon- you'll struggle to find a phone number which will get you to talk to someone. If you really value human interaction even on the phone, then best to go elsewhere.

Suggest there's a risk with the roll you've tried. There might even be a YouTube on loading your camera, though as a newcomer you certainly need a manual as well.

King of the hill. Stadur Iceland 5Dii

When I had a 9000 I'd use it for scans to print up to say 18" sq from 6x6. It would of course make scans beyond that level, but for the minority of prints I needed larger than that, I'd buy in a scan from an Imacon or a drum scan. That's because despite the fact that the 8000/9000 Coolscans will make scans up to a real 11000 ppi x 9000 ppi approx. from your negs- far bigger than you need for a 24"x 20" print- it is the case that by the time you get to their largest capability, there are other scanners that will do better. Where the crossover point is will vary with your scanning skills, your scanning technique (eg glass mount), your ability to post-process those scans well, the quality of the original, and how picky you are. Regardless I think you could make scans of the size you want from a 8000/9000 that would keep most people happy, once you'd learned how to use it well. I can't answer about relative quality of scans from 8000/9000 since I've no experience of the former and indeed I don't expect there are many people with meaningful experience with both. These scanners were never cheap, and the cost of upgrade was high. I have always thought there wasn't a lot in it, just that the 9000 was a somewhat more modern and flexible way of delivering substantially the same thing. The other thing I want to say here is that I never , ever, systematically went through my portfolio of MF film and scanned them. Scanning is not fun in my book; its a dull repetitive task on which its possible to make mistakes. Far too time consuming for me to want to make scans I might never use. That said I shot slides and so I had a pretty good idea of what my images looked like without scanning them. That's why I did eventually end up with a flatbed here. Most of my slides will never need to be scanned. The ones that are scanned will probably be used for the web or more rarely to make prints or blurb books with an image size of 12" sq max. I find I can use the V700 for that - but see below. I suspect I'm not alone in having a limited demand for prints over that size, and the right economic decision for me is not to own a scanner to support big prints from film, but to put those scans out as I need them which is a few a year, typically to a service offering Imacon scans. I don't any longer make big prints just for the hell of it- I've already got a plan chest full of prints and I now print only when I'm sure that I or someone else wants to hang it, or for the occasional show. So for me, a scanner to support large scans sitting in my office is something I can do without, having been there and sold it. Its also worth picking up your point about colours. I've normally been able to get the colours, contrast etc that I want on a scan (though sometimes slides have limitations), But in post rather than in the scanner itself. In the scanner, I'm looking to extract as much information /detail as I can get and making as much use as I can of the scanners dynamic range. I've always expected to have to do work in post to adjust the scan to the colours etc that I want. I don't expect perfect colours (faithful to the original) out of a scanner and indeed as you use negs I don't know how you'd tell when you got that! I assess the quality of a scan by its apparent ability to pick up the detail in the original, not by its colour or anything else I can alter more easily in PS than in scanner set-up. Which leads onto a final point- quality of minilab scans vs scans one can make at home, or different lab products on high-end scanners. Minilab scans are generally sold cheaply as part of develop and print/scan packages. Independent of the actual capability of the scanner used, they aren't often usable for much beyond a proof sized print (eg 6x4) or use on screens. Labs vary in their ability energy to test and adjust their scanner output. Minilab scans are usually not much use for larger prints, which their size will generally indicate. They are made automatically, very fast and are often not made under direct supervision. So when you say you like your lab's scans, how much are you paying for them, how big are they, or is your "like " simply related to the colours they turn up with, where actually you have little way of telling whether those colours are "right" or not? My comment on minilab scans was made on the basis of likely resolution, size, and usability; not colour- which I'm used to having to manage myself post scan. If I'm wrong, and your lab is turning out scans that are not only nicely coloured but are also good enough to support a large print and affordable, then maybe you have no need to own a scanner at all! Minilabs are expensive to buy because they're big, fast , and integrated; leading to a very low labour input in the rapid production of a high volume print and scan process. Not because they contain the best scanners on the planet- though they may be the fastest.

What are you scanning for please? If for printing then what size prints from what size negs. The Nikon Coolscans are no doubt capable of getting better resolution and Dmax, but the scan still won't be perfect and there will still be limits as to what you can reckon to achieve without the next solution in the quality line being able to give a better solution. I'm kind of surprised that you're finding minilab scans so clearly superior.

Isle of Harris Outer Hebrides 5Diii

Near Shanghai 5Dii