AS wrote:
> Adorama's Flashpoint 35mm film/slide scanner - $75.00.
>
Whoa! Danger Will Robinson!
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"The Flashpoint 35mm Film and Slide Scanner has a 5 Mega pixels CMOS
sensor. It scans at high resolution up to 1800 dpi, and provides a data
conversion of 10 bits per color channel.
The scanner uses fixed focus and automatic exposure control and color
balance resulting in clear digital images without loss of quality. Uses
3 white LEDs as a back light source. Supplied with a USB 2.0 cable and
it is compatible with PC's running Windows XP or Vista."
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This is pretty clearly a piece of junk - well, perhaps a way to get
Krappy Kamera scans of perfectly good film. Fixed focus, AE and AWB?
1800dpi? Want to see what AWB in scanner software does to some images?
Take a look at these, made with the FS2700. The next to last sample
shows simple AWB.
<http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/tech/Scan/GreenDoor/9-641_25wb.htm>
Those with DSLR, OM adapter, bellows, slide copier adapter and macro
lens can almost certainly beat the results from the Flashpoint with
their camera. That gear with 5D and 80/4 Auto Macro gives something like
3100 dpi resolution and is competitive with a good scanner in other ways.
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I wasn't going to bother trying to sell my old scanner, but if anyone is
considering buying something like this Flashpoint --------
Anyone who happens to have a PC with an available PCI slot and is
willing to use VueScan or anyone with an older Mac with SCSI who wants
an inexpensive, as opposed to cheap, real scanner can buy my Canon
FS2710, 2700 dpi scanner for $50 plus shipping.
The FS2710 has two of the same limitations as the Flashpoint, manual
film holder positioning and lack of an IR channel for dust treatment. On
the other hand, it has much higher resolution, good dynamic range -
well, it makes excellent scans is the bottom line.
Comes with an Adaptec SCSI card for PCI and SCSI cable, as well as
original box and everything that came in it originally. Used, but looks new.
For use under XP or Vista, it needs the Adaptec ASPI or VueScan generic
driver ( both free) installed. I imagine the original scanning software
won't work under Vista. I never used it myself, only VueScan. Mac
software says System 7.5 & 7.6 and Mac OS 8.x, whatever those are.
When I replaced it with the FS4000, I found resolution wasn't much
greater with most film, but the automated film handling and dust removal
were a big plus.
Moose
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