Digital BW, The Print

I know nothing of murals, but Nikons easily equal drum scanners for
desktop inkjet printing purposes. Pixel-peepers will get agitated
here, of course, but I'm speaking of fine inkjet images on paper, not
abstract measurement of digital phenomena.  

The recent Minolta 5400 and 5400II as well as current Nikon 50ED V
cost well under $1000 and equal or exceed Nikon 5000/9000 detail
resolution, the V offering two strip film carriers that accomplish
excellent flatness as well as an adequate slide carrier, excellent
positionable autofocus, and plenty of depth of focus. 

I don't print larger than 13X19 and have not looked at extreme crops,
but scans by Nikon V would obviously print beautifully far larger,
limited only by the original photo's focus and film condition...in
other words, grain/dye sharp in corners and center and more subtle
overall than any optical enlarger. Use of Vuescan easily eliminates
any grain "bloom" or digital artifacts, and Nikonscan does as well
when used with a little care.

I suspect Epson 700/750 would do "adequately" with 35 to 11X17, and 
rival condenser enlargers with medium format at any desktop size,
since some older Epsons accomplish that with Fisher focusing carriers.


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Sam McCandless
<samcc@...> wrote:
>
> It's been a long time, Arlene, since I read a FLAAR review, but I got  
> that they were not writing for a small fish like me.
> 
> I would try to get a used drum scanner except that I'm not competent  
> to shop for one intelligently. My next stop down the quality and cost  
> ladder would be a Nikon; I'm not sure which one. To get below $1000,  
> I'd consider one of the best of the Epson flatbed scanners and  
> printing only relatively small prints from its scans; my guess is  
> that 11x14 is a stretch, at least when you've cropped. But what if  
> you used one of those to select out only a few exposures to take  
> somewhere for drum scanning?
> 
> Hard choices, I'm afraid.
> --
> Sam
> 
> 
> On Feb 28, 2007, at 6:24 AM, arlenelove3@... wrote:
> 
> > I've been reading the FLAAR reviews on film scanners and it seems  
> > they all
> > stink unless I can cough up at least 12K for a drum scanner. My  
> > Minolta 5400
> > dies and I need one in the range of $1000 more or less (preferably  
> > less). After
> >  reading FLAAR, it looks hopeless. Any recommendations?
> >                         Arlene
> > arlenelove3@...
> >
> > [snip]
>