Digital BW, The Print

In the article on Polaroid's site by Mr. de Wolf, he refers to scanning with
a Polaroid 4x5 scanner. I am familiar with, but forget the name
(sprintscan??) of the model as it is a unit that is quite "old" (i.e. it
came out BEFORE last week . . . actually it is quite a few years old). If I
remember correctly the unit was not that expensive, a few thousand which
means used ones will be a few hundred. It was designed expressly for what Mr
de Wolf is doing . . . scanning 4x5 negatives. At that price point it is a
relative bargain to begin an experiment of this kind . . . the only other
alternative being a drum scanner (bring on the zeros . . . in the price tag
that is). As to the price of 55, yes anything from Polaroid is expensive,
but it is convenient . . . that always costs.

Paul Aparycki


>I used Type 55 for a while, and have seriously considered using it again.
>Some factors that have stopped me, so far, include that 55 has become
rather
>expensive on a per-shot basis (but cheaper than a darkroom or 22 mp large
>sensor), it is not that easy to get a perfectly even "pull" when developing
>the film, and the film does not lay very flat in those holders.

>Additionally, the flatbed scanners that we usually consider (i.e., the
>affordable ones like Epson's) are at best half as "efficient" (sharp) as
>good, dedicated film scanners, which are much less efficient than digital
>cameras in terms of image quality per pixel.