Digital BW, The Print

I'm sorry if this subject has been discussed at length, but I couldn't find
a consistent thread in the archives, and thanks again for all the help you
folks have already given me on this.

I'm sort of at a crossroads. I'm looking both to make contact sheets of a
large archive of old b&w (mostly Tri-X) negatives, but also to make prints
from some of them (as well as from a much smaller collection of color slides
and negatives). As my current budget is limited and my future shooting will
most likely be all-digital, I'm hoping to avoid the expense of buying both a
tabloid-sized scanner to make the contact sheets and a film scanner to make
scans for printing. I'm wondering if the Epson 2450 might be a good
"compromise" scanner for me. Doing the contact sheets would be more, as the
transparency adapter is presumbably too small for PrintFile sleeves, and
2400dpi is not optimal for scanning individual negatives. But if I can get
reasonable 8 x 10's, I can live with that.

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has used this scanner to scan
35mm film, particularly b&w negatives. How do your results compare to using
the same negatives to make 8 x 10 enlargements? Or to using a dedicated film
scanner? No doubt I'll wind up eventually "moving up," but right now I'm
looking for an intermim, relatively low-cost solution to managing this large
body of old stuff, and on paper the 2450 looks promising.

Thanks once again,
David

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Petegorsky [mailto:petegorsky@...]
Sent: Friday, March 08, 2002 2:21 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Digital BW] Making b&w contact sheets on a flatbed scanner



David:
Yes, the transparecy adapter has a light source in it.  It is essential
for scanning negatives, slides, or transparencies.  Many people use a
flatbed scanner to scan prints, opaque art and larger film, and have
another scanner dedicated to scanning 35mm and medium-format film.  The
larger size on the flatbed lets you scan original works up to almost 12 x
17", and since much of my business involves photography of artworks, it
comes in handy for flat work directly.

The new Epson 1250 is an amazing scanner for the money - check it out!

Stephen Petegorsky
petegorsky@...
www.spphoto.com



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