Digital BW, The Print

Another view thrown in the pot...

I have the Epson 3200 and I just bought the Minolta Dual Scan Pro.  For prints with 
my Epson 2200 I am happy with the Epson 3200 scanning 120 film (not for 35mm 
though).  But, my use is for stock where I want the best quality and OPTICAL 
sharpness for my scans.  Even though it may not make a difference in the final useage 
of the image, buyers look at sharpness as a factor when looking at scans of 
comporable images.  Most scans in quality stock agencies are done by professionals 
using drum scanners and film scanners at the least.

Here is a scan with a Nikon 8000 versus the Epson 3200.  This is a scan of a 120 neg 
and it is a 100% crop of the image as it came out of the scanner.  No sharpening on 
either.  I'll let you decide which is which, but to me its a clear difference:
http://www.jeffsingerphotography.com/quickview/nikonvsepson.jpg


I decided to buy the 3200 based on the review  at photo-i.co.uk.  I was impressed 
that there was not a significant difference between the 3200 and a drum scan ( a 
difference but not a huge one).  Well, i don't know where he got his drum scan done 
and on what scanner, but here is my drum scan versus 3200 scan and I see a huge 
difference (although as I said the difference will not show on a Epson 2200 print with 
a good application of sharpening).
http://www.jeffsingerphotography.com/quickview/drumvsepson.jpg

Of course, I wouldn't expect a $500 flatbed scanner to match a drum scan or even a 
film scan.  But, if sharpness is something that matters and your going beyond a 
13x13 print, this is something you may want to consider.  For me, I'm going to sell 
my 3200 and my Minolta should be here any day.

Jeff

----------------------------------------------------
Jeff Singer Photography
jeff@...
http://www.jeffsingerphotography.com


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, mfaphoto@o... wrote:
> The Epson 3200 delivers nice results. Probably not as good as film scanners, but 
good. Since there is probably a huge price difference, so get the 3200 and see how it 
works for your purposes. If you don't like it, sell it for almost what you paid and get 
the film scanner.
> 
> Russ
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]