[Leica] Leafscan

[drodgers at casefarms.com (David Rodgers)]

Jim,

Based on you informative reply, it appears that we see things  much the
same way. I only have a Leaf 35. I wish that I had the larger unit. I
use an Expression 1680 to Scan medium and large format and I also have a
Minolta 5400. 

The Leaf seems to scan KR slides better than anything else I've tried. I
can't explain it other than to say the results just look uniquely
"Kodachrome". You can pass pixels through alogrithms all day long using
the best imaging software and custom actions, and you still can't get
the same look from a modern digital camera. At least I can't though I've
tried. Maybe there's something to the slow scan. :-) I have boxes of old
KR slides that I still haven't scanned so I've kept the Leaf. 

I almost threw out the Leaf a few years back. I started to take it apart
for the heck of it. It was dusty inside. I cleaned it up -- the RGB and
ND filters with special care -- and tried it again. It was like a new
scanner. Still slow, though. Dust can be a real villan.  

If it wasn't for the time element (and the fact that KR is all but dead)
I think I'd only shoot KR with Leica and scan with a Leaf. But I've been
seduced by the ease and super resolving capabilities of modern equipment
and in some ways have lost sight of my real love of photography. I guess
that's progress.   
  
I'm sure you've seen these.
http://www.shorpy.com/4x5-large-format-kodachromes 

Thanks for your reply.
Dave R

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+drodgers=casefarms.com at leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+drodgers=casefarms.com at leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Jim Hemenway
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 8:59 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: [Leica] Leafscan


Dave:

I have a pair of the second model Leafscan 45.

The most used is connected via SCSI to an Apple 9500 running System 9, 
which when not used for scanning serves as my television in my home
office.

The second is also connected via SCSI, to a very old Quadra 610 running 
System 7. It's in my "camera" room and I only use it when I have to get 
twice as much output.

It doesn't matter how old the machine, because the Leafscan (1992) is 
slower than either of them.

I tried years ago to use the second scanner on a PC with a GPIB board, 
but that version of the Leafscan driver won't do 16 bit scans and it has

its own imaging program which doesn't work with Photoshop as does the 
Mac plugin.... so no drivers are needed.

I like having dedicated computers because then my G4 isn't overloaded 
and it's very easy to move the scanned image files to the G4 via the 
built in Mac networking capabilities.

Silverfast now licenses a version for the Leaf scan, it works with the 
latest MacOS versions with SCSI or Firewire with adapters.
http://www.silverfast.com/show/scanners-leaf-compatibility/en.html

I've heard a lot of good things about Silverfast on the Leafscan Forum 
on Yahoo Groups. It's been so long since I joined that I can't remember 
how I did it. Sometime I can't remember what I had for breakfast.

Their email address is Leafscan at yahoogroups.com. Perhaps you can use it 
somehow to join.

I love the Leafscan results and scan all of my 35mm to 4x5 film with it.

35mm at 5000 plus is nice.

My National Instruments GPIB board, cable and instruction book are 
available.  I've never tried it on anything newer than Windows 2000.

Jim, "What did I come in here for?" Hemenway


David Rodgers wrote:
> Jim,
> 
> If I may ask, which model Leafscan do you have, what CPU are you 
> using, and how are you connecting? I ask because I'm about ready to 
> dump my Leafscan 35. It has SCSI and GPIB ports. I don't have a GPIB 
> card and I only have drivers for Mac.
> 
> I use an old Mac with SCSI for scanning only. But it's too much 
> trouble to keep an old computer just for scanning. I do like the 
> Leafscan, though. It's slow but is a fantastic scanner, especially for

> BW and KR.
> 
> Dave R
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+drodgers=casefarms.com at leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+drodgers=casefarms.com at leica-users.org] On Behalf 
> Of Jim Hemenway
> Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 2:17 PM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] The last of my Kodachrome
> 
> Thanks Lluis:
> 
> I owe it to my "antique" Leafscan.
> 
> Jim
> 

_______________________________________________
Leica Users Group.
See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information