Digital BW, The Print

> Paul Roark" wrote:
> Reading the "scanhancer" page does not inspire confidence.  The Minolta
> sample is also, perhaps not by coincidence, a "simulated" comparison.  
> (Hmm,
> I wonder why they had to "simulate" a comparison


Paul - I've been using the Minolta Dimage multipro for a about a year 
and a half. I first had an opportunity to test it for about 2 weeks, 
and scanned lots of B&W as well as Kodachome and Ektachrome of several 
sizes.  The B&W scanned very sharp with good tonal ranges, but every 
little flaw showed, and it was a nightmare cloning out the dust spots. 
It was very similar to printing with a point source enlarger. The 
Scanhancer doesn't remove all grain, but my feeling is that I wouldn't 
want to.  For that, you can shoot hi res digital, which has no grain.  
B&W, in my opinion, should have grain, just so it doesn't take over.  
So IMO, the scans were far superior to the Nikon I was comparing it to, 
and eventually I purchased one, based on faith of what I'd heard and 
read about the Scanhancer. I ordered some pieces from Eric in Holland, 
and they arrived 5 days later. The material is a diffusion piece that 
lays on top of the Minolta carrier, not quite touching the negative. 
It's made of a polymer with absolutely no textural structure, and seems 
not to flex with the heat from the light source.

I must tell you, the results were (and still are) stunning! Eric has 
another piece that covers part of the light source, requiring opening 
up the scanner to install. I believe it helps a lot when using Digital 
Ice. I had decided to hold off installing it until after I knew what 
the machine would do with the pieces that fit on the carriers.  So, I 
will install that last part soon, but can't imagine it improving much 
more than it is now.

My disclaimer is that I'n not connected with Scanhancer - I've never 
met the man, but his product is fabulous. My understanding is that 
Konica Minolta
put one of those pieces in their new 35 mm scanner, with an option of 
moving it in or out of the light path. They didn't even bother to thank 
him for the idea,
but he seems to be nonplused by the whole thing.

Clay Price