I have been setting up a slide show to be displayed on a laptop and
have given my Minolta Dimage Scan Dual its first real workout. I am
shocked! Although the resolution is OK, it will not come close to
capturing the exposure range of an OM exposure on Fuji film. If
everything is evenly sunlit, it is OK. However, forget about
anything taken in the open shade, especially if there is a portion
of the image in the sunlight. The slide may look great on the light
table, but there is no way I can get a decent digital image out of
the scanner.
Is this just what I should expect from a bargain scanner or is this
an occurrence with anything less than a drum scanner? Or is it me?
Winsor
Winsor
Sorry to hear of your disappointment. It is always upsetting to pay
for something and then for it not to satisfy you; I think that
management/marketing word for it is "cognitive dissonance" (even if
it isn't, I shall continue to use it as such ;-)).
However, I think that you should bear up as the problem may lie with
your software. The scanner tends to do better with slides, but the
settings have to be adjusted every time in my experience (limited).
Colour negatives need more adjustment than slides, and black & white
negatives need quite a bit of work. However, if you can only get the
white or black balance right (using the little pipette tools in the
scanner's import software) you should have something workable to put
into Photoshop or PSP.
I know that I am still a beginner, even after 2 years of sporadic
scanning, but I am quite happy with a lot of my stuff.
As others have pointed out, the display you are using, be it laptop
or big monitor, will have a great effect on the finished article.
For illustration, just try looking at some of the slides I scanned
ages ago on the Unofficial Olympus Gallery (www.taiga.ca/~gallery/).
They look dreadfully dark on the wrong monitor - I discovered when I
used an Internet machine at work to find some suitable photos for a
presentation. But they looked great on my display, and Garth seemed
happy with them when I sent them first...
Anyway, I hope that you find some equilibrium with your new toy.
Don't forget that there are plenty of resources for scanners on the
Internet. It is not an easy system to become proficient with.
Good Luck
Chris
p.s. my latest "toy" is a cordless mouse and stylus with graphics
tablet (Wacom "graphire")... it is great fun to play with and I am
sure that it will be good for making my website, when I get my act
together... cb
--
<|_:-)_|>
C M I Barker
Cambridgeshire, England.
+44 (0)7092 251126
mailto:imagopus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
... a nascent photo library.
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