Digital camera accessories

[pastelli]

I need to scan at a good resolution:
1.source material slides to be able to draw from them on a monitor
2. slides for possible printing as photographs in their own right- (how large can scanned slides (ASA 100) be printed and still have good resolution (considering they were fairly sharp to begin with)
3. to scan slides of past years of pastel drawings

My research has pointed to the Nikon Coolscan V as a good one. Please advise.

pastelli@aol.com

[ShutterbugGail]

Hi pastelli and welcome to the Q&A Board,

Hopefully, Moderator Deb will stop by during or after the weekend. She does a lot of scanning and knows her stuff. I can't recall with certainty but I think she has a Nikon scanner. Check back now and then.

In the mean time, take a look at the following thread. Though it is about an Epson scanner, it may contain information you find useful.

http://www.digicamhelp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=working;action=display;num=1141852709

[Deb]

Hi there Pastelli and welcome!

The Nikon Coolscan V ED is a great slide/negative scanner IMHO. I've got the earlier model (the Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED) and absolutely love it! The 4000ppi resolution will be quite suitable for the needs you mentioned. You will get outstanding 18x12 inch prints at printer output resolution (300dpi) without needing to interpolate. The onboard softwares that come with the scanner (Nikon Scan, Digital ICE, GEM, ROC) are superb. If you find you need to scan coarser grained film, you'll find GEM particularly useful. If your slides/film are aged (color faded, etc.), ROC will be quite useful to you as it restores color.

Happy scanning!

[pastelli]

What are the advantages of a flatbed scanner, like Epson 4490 Pro over a dedicated slide/film scanner like I one I might get (Nikon Cool Scan V ED).

Pros and cons of both: quality, speed, ease of use......

Website question: if I post a question, can the replies be automatically sent to my e-mail?

Sandra Burshell
www.sandraburshell.com

[ShutterbugGail]

Sandra,

I'll let someone get back to you on the scanner question. As to notifications of replies, unfortunately it doesn't work. Some time ago we spent quite a bit of time trying to fix the problem but to no avail.

I'll experiment and turn it on temporarily. Maybe it will work but please don't count on it. So sorry for the inconvenience.

[Deb]

What are the advantages of a flatbed scanner, like Epson 4490 Pro over a dedicated slide/film scanner like I one I might get (Nikon Cool Scan V ED).
Pros and cons of both: quality, speed, ease of use......

Hi there, once you learn the software, ease of use is similar. Quality and speed comparisons are dependent on the specific model. Some dedicated film/slide scanners are zippy, others are not. Same goes with flatbed scanners. If you will be scanning prints or other materials, then a flatbed scanner will give you more flexibility. A dedicated scanner, is just that. It's specifically designed to produce professional grade scans of film/slides. That's not to say that a flatbed scanner can't produce fine film scans. I've seen scans from a 8000ppi 3-D scanner that produced amazing film scans.

How satisfied you'll be with either type of scanner really is dependent on your needs. I'd suggest taking a look at the specs on both of the scanners you are interested in and comparing them to the manner in which you'll be using the scanner.

Hope this helps.