Digital BW, The Print

Don,

The dedicated film medium format film scanners will give you some impressive
results. It really comes down to $$$ vs. quality as usual.

If money is tight, people have been reporting very good things on this list
and elsewhere about the Epson 2450 which will scan negatives up to 4"x9".
This seems to be equaling or bettering flatbeds in the  $1,000 to $1,500
range.

If you are going beyond the $1,500 prince point then I would suggest one of
the MF film scanners from Nikon, Polaroid or Minolta. I have the Polaroid
Sprintscan 120 and I have compared its scans to the Minolta with the same
negative. The results appear to be equivalent. I have no experience with the
Nikon. These units are currently in the $2,500 range. I would go for one of
these if you can.

The Leaf 45 Austin mentioned is a good machine also but, I believe, is no
longer in production. You will need to look for a used one on e-bay.

Beyond that there are used drum scanners which you can get into for about
$5,000 to $6,000 but this in not for the faint of heart. Then the high end
CCD Imacons that range from $5,000 to $18,000. Finally new high end drum
scanners for even higher prices.

You could always start with the Epson 2450, which is modest investment and a
great all round little scanner, and move on to a film scanner later if find
you are enjoying digital B&W scanning and printing.

Martin Wesley
http://www.borderless-photos.de/guests.html



----- Original Message -----
From: <donpreisler@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 8:42 AM
Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Medium Format--Rangefinders


> My ears (eyes) really perked up when I saw this topic
>
> I'm a former newspaper photographer (18 years) who always had a passion
for
> both medium format and b&w which were both hard to come by in the latter
> half of my career.
>
> I have both a Rollei (very old) twin lens and a Hasselblad.
>
> Sorry for such a basic question but what is the scanner of choice among th
is
> group for 2 1/4 negatives and slides?
>
> I'm afraid the closest I can get to anything like that in my current job
(at
> the Univ. CA) is a flatbed with a transparency adapter. They're pretty
> high-end flatbeds but is that still kind of laughable compared to a
negative
> scanner?
>
> Thanks in advance for a reply
>
> Don
>
> Don Preisler
> donpreisler@...