Digital BW, The Print

I have been following this thread with interest as I am looking at a scanner for medium format and have considered flatbed scanners.
    As for flatbed scanners for 4X5 and larger, consideration should be given to the Microtek 1800f. It is more costly than the competition but it is said to deliver.
    I presently have the Minolta Scan Elite 5400 and have been looking at scanners for 6X7 - 6X9 B&W negatives. I am giving the Microtek 120tf very serious thought. It does not have ICE (I seldom use that feature with the 5400) but does have cold cathode illumination that is said to deliver better scans than scanners with LEDs (Nikon).

Bob Rapp
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: slberfuchs 
  To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 11:47 PM
  Subject: Re: [Digital BW] New Epson and Microtek Flatbeds


  First the wet mounting ... actually, there is no reasonw hy you can't wet mount on the 
  Microtek i900 either. The glass tray used for larger than 4x5 film can also be used for et 
  mounting as long as you are careful with your liquid.

  Second ... ALL of the 'consumer' scanner resolution and Dmax numbers are nothing more 
  than marketing hype. Our side-by-side tests show that the performance of the i900 and the 
  4870/4990 are about the same, both have plus and minus tradeofs. Tests of the new V 
  series from Epson don't show enough gain in performance to make them valuablefor large 
  format users, although they may be for smaller formats. Basically, the 700 delivers LOWER 
  resolution (around 1800 to 2000) at ALL but its highest (6400) scanning setting. At the 
  highest setting (6400) it delivers 2400 on one axis and 2800 on the other but this comes at 
  the expense of very large files if you are scanning larger film. Finally, the Dmax of the V 
  series is exactly the same as that of the 4990 (2.25).



   

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