Digital BW, The Print

----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin Wesley" <mwesley250@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 7:13 AM
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] scanners


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <sdmey4@...>
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 1:48 PM
> Subject: Re: [Digital BW] scanners
> > For scanner buyers out there, and I'm sure Martin will agree,
Buy the best
> > scanner you can afford, or you'll be replacing you budget
models on a
> regular
> > basis.
> > Steven Meyers
> >
> Steve,
>
> Glad to hear you got the scanner back without having to do any
major
> repairs. At this point you should be in really good shape with
it. Let me
> know how you like DigitalPhotoLab. I passed in favor of
Silverfast strictly
> for economic reasons. $1,300 vs. $2,100 at the time.
>
> The scanner game is a lot like the enlarger game. Start out
with a small
> 35mm enlarger, then trade it for a medium format, then a 4x5
each time
> taking a loss. All together I am probably out of pocket close
to $10,000
> over 3 years for scanning solutions. Of course 3 years ago the
Howtek would
> probably have set me back $10,000+ proving that the bleeding
edge does
> indeed bleed you dry!
>
> Martin Wesley

One could learn another lesson from the enlarger story: digital
is taking over !  That made enlargers obsolete and it will make
scanners obsolete. Durst Laboraters are very cheap nowaday, drum
scanners get cheaper every day. Heidelberg is no longer producing
them. Buy the best budget scanner available now and check whether
you need another one 3 years later. If so you will get a far
better one then, if not you spend the money on the best digital
camera. The threads that I have seen on drum scanner maintenance,
drivers that are getting too old for the OSses around and the
price of the software to keep them running (if possible) do not
justify the gain in quality (if available). Most list members
here are not printing above A3 size. Your advice was a good one
five years ago but then the drum scanner price was also higher,
could be that there is some relation between the two.

Ernst