Regarding scanners, those of you with a nearby Eckerd Pharmacy may be
surprised to find a fairly sophisticated scanning station available. These
generally include a Polaroid 35 Plus slide/film scanner, Epson or Kodak
flatbed scanner and Sony dye sub printer.
Most of these stations allow scanning to 1.44 floppies, zip disks, or even
CD.
Fees are a little under $7 for scanning to disk and a little under $9 for
dye sub prints. The best deal is to scan to disk at 800x600 uncompressed
format to a floppy, or higher uncompressed resolution to other media.
While the Sony dye sub printer is capable of outstanding print quality, the
software used at these workstations is the limiting factor. While it
provides some control over color and contrast, without a carefully
calibrated monitor the output won't always match satisfactorily (altho' my
sample wasn't bad and was actually better more accurate R prints made from
the same slides). But the main limitation is that no method is provided to
sharpen the scan. So unless you're printing a portrait or romantic
landscape the softness will probably bother you.
OTOH, six or seven bucks for scanning a slide to floppy that I can take home
and fiddle with in Photo-Paint and print out myself is a pretty good deal
for the limited number of such scans I do. The service bureaus in my area
charge the same amount per scan (to floppy, zip disk or CD) and I have to
wait up to a week. Also, one of the service bureaus uses a high-end Agfa
flatbed scanner that, while excellent for prints and MF or larger film, is
only adequate for 35mm. The Polaroid 35 plus produces surprisingly good
scans even from contrasty Kodachromes, especially considering the
kindergarten-level interface.
I'll upload a couple of images made using this scanner and my OM gear soon.
Hope ya like petrified wood stuff, 'cause that's what most of it is!
Lex
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