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Author Topic: Help in choosing the right Hi-End scanner  (Read 2470 times)

chichornio

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Help in choosing the right Hi-End scanner
« on: May 13, 2013, 07:46:55 pm »

Hi to all,
I´ve been offered to buy two hi-end scanners from a graphic company who won´t use them anymore. I´m from Argentina, then support it´s difficult. The two scanners are (the price of them are very similar):
1- Linotype - Hell Tango drum scanner
2- Heidelberg Nexscan F4100 flat bed scanner
Both are in working conditions, as the service company who holds them had told me.
I´m in a need of a hi-end scanner to do the following:
* Scan 35mm and medium format (mostly 120mm) film for my clients and my own
* Scan some art work for bigger repros
I´ve never used a hi-end scanner before, niether a drum scanner as the Tango, so the learning curve should be short.
I´m not planning to offer scanning services to those who won´t print in my studio (unless they want to spend more money). I´m planning to offer the scanning service as a complement of my printing services. I´m printing on a HP z3200ps 44".
Thanks in advance for your help!
Guillermo

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Mark D Segal

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Re: Help in choosing the right Hi-End scanner
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2013, 07:58:02 pm »

I would recommend that before you buy, you look very carefully into the operational implications of using and maintaining either of them. I would also recommend you consider the alternatives of Imacon/Hasselblad Flexscan and second-hand Nikon 9000 units in good condition; perhaps also the Minolta Multi-Pro. You didn't say what kind of resolution your clients need from these scans, so what you get partly depends on that.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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chichornio

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Re: Help in choosing the right Hi-End scanner
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2013, 08:05:13 pm »

Hi Mark,
Thanks for your advice. Neither a Nikon or Minolta or other MF film scanners are available in my country right know. I can find many old drum scanners (some Optronics, a few Howtek), some of them broken or not well mantained. So the choices are few. The Imacon/Hasselblad it´s not being offered either. The service company who offered the scanners to me will give me guarantee of the piece and they promise to keep providing service in the future. The price of the scanners are not to very high I think (us$ 5K), considering the cost of a Imacon that I saw at e-bay.
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chichornio

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Re: Help in choosing the right Hi-End scanner
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2013, 08:07:51 pm »

About the second part of your post, I would like to have the highest optical resolution possible, to print the files -without/or with the least possible- interpolation in my Hp z3200ps 44".
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Help in choosing the right Hi-End scanner
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2013, 08:19:47 pm »

Well, if the need is urgent, you are confined to the choices in front of you, but I've never used either so I can't help on such a choice; but from all I've heard, both of them are not that easy to use and require careful handling and maintenance. If you are not in a panic to buy, I'd suggest some market-watching and, depending on how familiar you are with drum scanning, adequate research into useability and what it takes to get repeatedly good results from them. People who offer drum scanning services normally charge quite a bit for them because of the work and experience involved.

Effective resolution is a bit elusive. There is a real distinction between technical resolution (i.e. stated pixels per inch of capability) and the optical sharpness of the scan. What the scanners are rated at and what they actually produce are usually not the same, the latter being lower than the former because of optical limitations; I've heard the two models you are considering can produce some very sharp output. Much also depends on what size prints your clients want from the scans. If you are planning to print a full 44 inches, I agree you need high resolution, but you also need sharp results. I hope you have a way of testing these machines before buying.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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