Digital BW, The Print

Kevin,
There arent many choices at the moment if you want a one size fits 
all scanner and dont want to spend mucho deneiro to get it.  The 
Epson 3200 scanner is a good as it gets as far as lower price flatbed 
film scanners are concerned.

Dont know what conflicting report you have read or heard but I can 
tell you this: For 35mm, it will do 9x12 quite nicely and possibly 
more. For 645, expect A3+ size and from 6x7, 16x20's are within reach.

A very reasonable expection from the Epson 3200 is enlargment of 
about 8 times negatives size. It's not a drum scanner so dont expect 
the same quality but at the same you would be amazed at the amount of 
details it can pull from a negative.

I do know, an an Epson 3200 user that you can't get 35mm negatives 
enlarged to A3+ size without the print looking soft. So, for A3+ size 
and beyond, it's really a mf scanner.

Cheers,
Andre


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "visart7" 
<visart7@y...> wrote:
>  Hi all, 
>    A recently developed respirtory problem has forced me out of the 
> darkroom and into the digital darkroom. My budget is low, and my 
> quality needs are high, so I am looking for input on the best 
> compromise for my scanning needs. I work in B&W and shoot a little 
> 35mm and 6x6, but the vast majority of my work is 6x45. Just for 
the 
> sake of clarifying my needs, I'll give you a little backround. I 
was 
> a full time professional portrait photographer for six years. I 
quit 
> doing that because I chose to focus all of my creative energy on my 
> personal/fine art work.  I have begun to exhibit it, and am 
planning 
> on doing so alot more (hence my need for quality). At this point, 
> $2K - $3K for a dedicated 120 film scanner is not an option for me. 
> Niether is the cost of regularly having my work drum scanned. I 
will 
> be printing on either an Epson 2200 or a quadtone setup, haven't 
> decided which yet (that's perhaps a subject for another post). I'm 
> not into printing huge - most of my stuff is 8x10 or 11x14, but I 
> would also like to print up to the full 13x19 capability of these 
> printers and get an excellent result. I understand the difference 
> between the way a silver print and an inkjet looks, and with that 
> understanding I need to get a result that is on a par quality-wise 
> with what I am used to getting in the darkroom. I am by no means a 
> master printer, but I am picky and I am capable of getting my 
prints 
> to look the way I want them to. 
>  So all that said, any suggestions as to scanning solutions? I have 
> heard much conflicting info regarding the Epson 3200 and it's 
> predecessor the 2450. Any thoughts as to the capability of the 3200 
> to scan 645 for exhibtion quality printing? Perhaps I should 
clarify 
> that more. When I speak of quality, sharpness and detail are 
> certainly important, but the ability of the scanner to capture 
subtle 
> tonal information is of paramount importance to me . This is the 
main 
> reason I shoot medium format - the superior gradation it offers. I 
> will be shooting TCN and XP2, and my guess is that these types of 
> negs should not pose much of a challenge to this scanner's dynamic 
> range. I think I understand the relationship between bit depth and 
> tonal gradation (and the 3200 looks good in this regard) but I'm 
not 
> sure I fully grasp how the resolution of this scanner (which I have 
> heard is actually lower than the stated 3200 dpi) would affect 
tonal 
> rendition, or if it would scan 645 well enough to produce a sharp, 
> detailed print in the sizes I will be doing. As far as other 
options, 
> I seem to recall someone mentioning a guy who does reasonably 
priced 
> scans for people using a Nikon 8000. In the long run, given the 
> number of negs I'll want to scan, I'm sure outsourcing them at any 
> price would exceed the cost of the Epson, but if that's what I need 
> to do to get the results I need, then that's what I'll do. Your 
input 
> on these or any other options would be greatly appreciated. 
> Thanks
>       Kevin Michael