Digital BW, The Print

Hi Sara-

As part of my Fine-Art photo printing and art reproduction studio, I do drum
scanning using the best equipment and software. As a matter of fact, I am
also scanning my own archive of 5000 negatives and contact prints(4x5) from
the early 20th century (1913-1940). I hope you will forward this to your
friend.

As others have said, drum scanning is absolutely the best way to go; any of
the flatbed and Imacon scanners will have significantly more noise, flare,
and will be less sharp across the film plane than a good drum scan. On the
other hand, as some have suggested, if the posters are to be of lower
quality, viewed from medium distance (3 feet or more), you will get adequate
results from any of the suggested scanners. It really depends on the end-use
of the prints.

The cost of the scan, either purchased from someone like me, or in the
scanner operator's time, is partly determined by the size of the resulting
file. Do you know how large the prints will be?

Having said that, I can tell you that were I bidding on a project such as
this, I would be quoting quite a bit less than the prices you have
suggested- they are high even for individual scans, unless the files are 1
gig or more.

At the very least, I would highly recommend that your friend hire a
competent fine-art scanner and printer to consult on a plan for this work.
Hiring someone competent for archival scanning is not easy, and you need to
know what to look for, or you may throw alot of money away.

-- 
Regards,

Bill Morse
Wm. Morse Editions

(617) 429-3298

On 7/9/07, sagaface <sagaface@...> wrote:
>
>   Thanks all, for the responses so far. It gives me a fair amount to
> report back for
> consideration. Some other info that I didin't make very clear:
>
> My friend has inherited from several sources a vast collection of old
> maritime negs dating
> from the late 1800's thru about 1970. All together i think there are three
> sources, totalling
> something close to 4000 negs! He had been sending out his scans - just a
> few so far - at
> $130 a pop. Then he found someone to do it for $75....but doesn't know
> what type of
> scanner they used.
>
> He has been considering purchasing one, because the scanning/archiving of
> all these is
> going to take quite some time, and he figured sending them all out would
> eventually
> bankrupt him. He assumed (rightly or wrongly) that the initial outlay for
> a better-than-
> decent scanner would save him money in the end, considering how many negs
> there are.
>
> The $5000 is just my guess at what he'd be willing to spend on the scanner
> alone....I just
> threw that number out there for him to consider, thinking about used drum
> scanners in
> my mind. I had no idea how off the mark I might be but I knew they were
> quite expensive
> and I wanted to prepare him for a high number. Obviously less $$ would be
> better! He was
> then hoping to hire someone to work for him, scanning as well as other
> things. He
> wouldn't be printing them himself.
>
> Thanks again for all comments,
> Sarah
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com<DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint%40yahoogroups.com>,
> wkm@... wrote:
> >
> > I'd take a look at the Epsons as others have suggested. Drum scanning
> requires a skilled
> operator and those folks are few and far between. If drum scanning is
> something that
> becomes a must then I would send the negs out to a lab with a skilled
> operator using
> equipment that they are familar with rather than trying to find one to
> operate yours.
> >
> > Walt
> >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: sagaface [mailto:sagaface@...]
> > >Sent: Monday, July 9, 2007 04:49 AM
> > >To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com<DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint%40yahoogroups.com>
> > >Subject: [Digital BW] All you scanning pros: Great scanner for 4x5
> negs?
> > >
> > >Hi all,
> > >
> > >Can any of you recommend a scanner for (old and delicate) 4x5 negs?
> It's not for me,
> but
> > >for a friend who is considering purchasing a pro-sumer oriented model
> and hiring
> > >someone who knows what they're doing to use it, with the end result
> being poster
> sized
> > >prints.
> > >
> > > I think his price range is up to around 5-ish grand.
> > >
> > >If this topic has been beaten to death, could someone direct me to an
> archived thread?
> I
> > >haven't found anything specific yet.
> > >
> > >thanks!
> > >Sarah
> > >
> > >
>


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