Wine Rack with Mamiya

480sparky · Jun 28, 2016

None are so blind as those who refuse to see.

Maybe someday you'll find a darkroom and see the light.

unpopular · Jun 28, 2016

Scanners are dead because of digital photography, not because there is a sudden revival of slide copiers. Sparky is 100% correct. To get the most out of your medium format gear you really do have to either scan them or print them in the dark. Being that super-high end scanners can be found on ebay periodically for practically nothing there's no excuse for slide copiers.

In fact, there is a pre-hasselblad Flextight currently listed for under $500. Drum scanners can routinely be found for less than $1000, and often found less than that even. Minolta Multi Pros can be easily found for under $2000. Epson XL-series can likewise be found for under $1000.

The thing about a 20 year old scanner that cost $30,000 at the time is that it's technology from the peak of it's development. They're still very usable. In fact, I used a Leaf 35 way longer than I should have, because it took an hour to scan, so it took a while before I got caught up

These are all very high end scanners that will be able to capture all or nearly all the dynamic range of your negatives and slides, something that your camera simply can't, at least not in a single exposure. These scanners will perform just as well as an enlarger when printed properly (i.e. not on your Best Buy printer at home)

Of course there are a number of newer mid-range flatbeds that are also very, very good and will perform better than your current route. About any 'prosumer' camera built in the last 10 years will be very good, and can be found for peanuts on ebay.

But again, the demise of film scanning has literally nothing to do with quality and everything to do with film being dead.

limr · Jun 29, 2016

unpopular said:
Scanners are dead because of digital photography, not because there is a sudden revival of slide copiers. Sparky is 100% correct. To get the most out of your medium format gear you really do have to either scan them or print them in the dark. Being that super-high end scanners can be found on ebay periodically for practically nothing there's no excuse for slide copiers.

In fact, there is a pre-hasselblad Flextight currently listed for under $500. Drum scanners can routinely be found for less than $1000, and often found less than that even. Minolta Multi Pros can be easily found for under $2000. Epson XL-series can likewise be found for under $1000.

The thing about a 20 year old scanner that cost $30,000 at the time is that it's technology from the peak of it's development. They're still very usable. In fact, I used a Leaf 35 way longer than I should have, because it took an hour to scan, so it took a while before I got caught up

These are all very high end scanners that will be able to capture all or nearly all the dynamic range of your negatives and slides, something that your camera simply can't, at least not in a single exposure. These scanners will perform just as well as an enlarger when printed properly (i.e. not on your Best Buy printer at home)

Of course there are a number of newer mid-range flatbeds that are also very, very good and will perform better than your current route. About any 'prosumer' camera built in the last 10 years will be very good, and can be found for peanuts on ebay.

But again, the demise of film scanning has literally nothing to do with quality and everything to do with film being dead.