Re: Flatbed scanner transparency adapter?

Dwayne,

Flat bed scanners are not ideal for film but do a passable job providing you
have got good scanning software. I find that for 35mm it is really pushing
the limits of what of a flat bed scanner can do, larger film formats produce
more acceptable results.

You should perhaps look at whether a version of either Silverfast or VueScan
exists for the scanner you are considering.

I don't use HP scanners so I can't comment on it technically, typically to
get the best results from film you need software that will allow you to
adjust the point of focus (as film is usually raised off the glass) this is
very critical with small formats like 35mm. You also want to be able to
adjust density range & colour with a variety of tools such as levels &
curves.

Check out all of the specs first: true optical resolution, dynamic range
software etc... and get some of your slides scanned before buying.

A flat bed can do a decent job for some purposes, it won't come close to
matching a dedicated film scanner however.

Tony Kelly
_______________
Digital Lucida

http://www.digital-lucida.com.au

on 19/12/03 6:34 AM, sandall@shaw.ca at wrote:

> Hi all,
> I hope this hasn't been beaten up on the forum so far, but my archives of the
> list didn't bear any fruit, so here it is..
> I'm considering picking up a new HP flatbed scanner that comes with a
> transparency adapter. Although I don't shoot a heck of a lot of slides these
> days, I do have quite a few from days gone by that I would like to get into
> the digital realm to make some inkjet negs for gum printing.
>
> The scanner I am looking at (HP scanjet 5530) has an optical resolution of
> 2400x4800.. which by my calculations can make a pretty reasonable size scan of
> a 35 mm slide, about 8 megapixel which should be more than enough for a good
> neg. So my real question is more about thequality of the transparency adapter
> on a flatbed vs. a true slide scanner or a drum scan. Am I going to be losing
> anything here?
>
> Thanks,
> Dwayne
>
>
>
Received on Thu Dec 18 16:35:09 2003