Digital BW, The Print

On Wed, Nov 06, 2002 at 01:51:25PM -0000, Stephen Kobrin wrote:
> How do people make "contact prints" when processing digitally.  After 
> developing a few rolls of film, the thought of scanning each of the 
> negatives and producing a contact via PS is not an attractive idea.  
> Are there any realative cheap scanners around that can handle 36 35mm 
> negatives?  Or any "universal" attachments that I could use with 
> scanners that I have access to?
> 

While not exactly cheap I have the Epson 1680 pro that can handle 36 negs. 
Actually I can manage 41 negs if needed. The supplied film holder cannot
manage that many 35mm negs (the most I can get using the holder is 24) but
I just lay the negs flat on the glass in the arrangement I want. Sometime
I'll design my own film holder to get accurate alignment.

The problem with many flatbeds that have transparency units is that the area
covered by the unit doesn't extend to the full size of the flatbed
(A4/letter). This is a must if you want a full contact sheet. In the Epson
range I think the 1680 is the cheapest model which covers such a large area.

I have never seen any universal trannie adapters - probably because each
scanner will have a different way of turning off the lower (reflective)
light source. That, combined with the difficulties of devising a universal 
solution of even and controlled lamp illumination has probably meant that it
has never been a viable economic product.

-- 
Tony Terlecki
ajt@...