[Leica] Re: Scanner

[Douglas Cooper <douglas@metaversalstudios.com>]

At 04:12 PM 11/6/00 -0800, you wrote:
>Since I want to use the scanner just for web publishing and work prints, the
>lower resolution one (= less bucks :-)) should be enough for me at this time.
>Also, I don't want to be forced to upgrade my system to handle and print high
>resolution images, yet :-).


If this is your sole concern, I *highly* recommend the new Epson 1640U 
Photo.  I just bought one after reading every review available on the Web, 
and I've been scanning 4x5's with astonishing results.  Medium format 
should offer high enough resolution for photo-quality prints, and miniature 
format will certainly be good enough for web publishing (72 ppi is not 
much) and work prints.

I adore this scanner.  It's an update of the famous Epson 1200U (which 
seems to be #1 on every survey list) -- 1600 dpi instead of 1200.  Some 
argue that Epson has fudged the figures -- that this is really an 800 dpi 
scanner, and that the 1200U is really 600 -- but the important thing is 
that they perform as well as scanners with true 1600 and 1200 dpi capabilities.

The "Photo" version comes with a decent transparency scanner, including 
templates for 4x5, 2 1/4, and 35mm.  Hard to find one at the moment; 
they're selling out as soon as they arrive.  Try buy.com.

I may upgrade to a 35mm slide scanner at some point, in order to get 
print-quality resolution out of miniatures, but I doubt I'll need that 
soon.  In fact, with my local E6 lab charging 9.99 for a scan of a complete 
strip of 35mm, at 4.5 MB, I may never need it.

cheers,

Douglas Cooper