Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/02/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Simon, You have raised an interesting question on a number of levels. Making a scan of a print would make it a third generation image which definitionally (off the diatribe, English is such a good language to make up words) would be inferior. Why not just scan the TCN? A modern lab is probably using a digital printer which is doing a scan at just enough resolution to make the print size selected. Another deficit of a digital printer is that the print is made of very small dots from the lasers employed. In other words, they don't scale up very well in re-scanning. Assuming that you have a pro-lab make an optical print to your specifications to be used on a flatbed then theoretically you have a poorer image but in the real world, depending on the relative skill levels involved you could have a superior outcome. I think a better question to ask is why am I shooting Scala? In the days of slide shows and AD's with light boxes then a B&W slide film made sense as you were dealing with a first generation image: using a B&W slide film to make prints seems counter-intuitive to me. I know that both you and Nathan do/did not have a darkroom so it was a method of getting where you wanted to go, but why not shoot B&W negative film? OK, Scala does have a very unique signature so artistic requirements come into play. Unfortunately, all of the above is why digital is the dominate capture method now. Very few people have the time to devote to developing and printing that we all devoted not so long ago. Back to your question, a small machine print would be a poor choice to scan. If you had a large machine print made then that frequently would work out with good results. If you have a lab near you that uses a digital printer whether it is the Fuji, Noritsu, or Agfa, why not have them scan several of your Scala slides to CD? If you ask them to adjust the levels to something besides black you might get a surprisingly good scan for under 10 Euro. Sorry for wandering so much. Don dorysrus@mindspring.com - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of animal Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2004 9:48 AM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: Re: [Leica] scanning dark scala question(flatbed) > Simon, > If you can see separation in the darker tones of your Scala images then > you can get that information out. Find a friend with the new Nikon > 5000, turn off ICE, turn on at least 8 times sampling, make sure the > machine is in 16bit mode, adjust the preview using the curves and levels > dialogue box to get a close approximation of the image you want to see > but do make sure that the darkest areas do not go below 5,5,5 and scan > the image. > > If you have just one or two images that are especially valuable to you > then pay a pro to scan on a drum or on an Imacon. A third alternative > would be to find someone with an old Leaf scanner; that device can find > detail in very thick slides. > > You will be pleasantly surprised what the new scanners will pull out of > an image. > > Don > dorysrus@mindspring.com Forgot to ask .If one would use a film like tcn and had small prints made from a lab and then scanned these on a 3200 flatbed would the result be better or worse in general? simon jessurun - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html