Digital BW, The Print

Michael, this section is I believe what caught your eye. 

 

"The answer is simple, you can squeeze more detail out from the film, of
course there is a trade off. A 5x4 scan at 4800 dpi is going to produce a
whopping and unmanageable file size of 1.27 gb, a 35mm slide at the same
resolution produces a 88.26mb file. You will need a high specification
computer with lots of RAM to work on 35mm scans and you can forget about
doing anything else whilst working with the 5x4 scans. For everyday ink jet
printing needs this resolution is way over the top, a resolution of 3200 or
2400 will be more than enough."

 

In addition to my Nikon 9000 and Epson V750, I have a Epson 3200 ( just
sitting now - any buyers) and he refers to writing up that unit a year ago.
Those are older scanner - the 3200 and 4870, good for what they are, but
older. At the time of that write up, in 2004?, RAM and HD space was much
more expensive than today. He also did qualify his statement with "way over
the top" . There are for sure trade offs when working with your system.
Today a 64 bit system is quite normal and back then not so much. Point being
that looking at the date of reviews is almost equally important to what is
being said as the context for the authors statement might be really
important to how you interpret what he is saying.

 

He also mentions the unsharp masking. This is key to getting good digital
images not just scans. So with your workflow, you should play around with
file sizes and output setting on a few to get a handle on when and how much
to apply for that scanner. Using very little USM in scanning can be a good
thing and then small steps along the editing path. What other tools are in
your tool box for sharpening. I'd consider, Nik sharpen for RAW and output
sharpening as well as Q Image for print output. Although I have seen nice
work using Topaz detail these days too. Lots of choices with regard to how
and when to sharpen you digital file.  

 

 

Eric

 

Eric Neilsen

Eric Neilsen Photography

4101 Commerce Street, Suite 9

Dallas, TX 75226

 

www.ericneilsenphotography.com

skype me with ejprinter

www.ericneilsenphotography.com/forum1

Let's Talk Photography

 

  _____  

From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Michael
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 11:33 AM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Advice needed

 

  

Re: scanner resolution. Here's a link to a review of the scanner I'm using,
the Epson 4870. It's in this review that the comment was made regarding 3000
dpi as being the max setting for b&w negative film; read a couple of pages
to get the gist of what he's talking about.

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Epson%204870/page_6.htm

Michael K





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