Drum Scanning Options for Film Users (from www.chrisengholm.com)

I’m a film shooter and am getting tired of paying $$$ for scans.  So yesterday I met with Cornel Schorle, a famous panoramacist and designer of the Noblex panoramic camera.  He is also the owner of Profoto Connection in Irvine, CA.  The question I had was what drum scanner should I invest in, and perhaps buy used on eBay?  He looked at me with great suspicion as he normally does when I ask naive questions such as this.  Before his explanation, let me describe my brief history with film scanning:  First, I purchased a Microtek 8000 I think it was, for $800 on eBay a number of years ago.  It scanned medium format and 4×5 and I thought it did pretty well.  Then I scanned slides with an HP Photosmart scanner, which is acceptable too.  Then I made 50-meg scans of slides using a friend’s Nikon scanner — one of the old little 35mm jobs.  Great scans!  But I still needed high quality medium format scans.  So I bought a Nikon Coolscan8000.  It’s slow and unreliable but produces nice scans.   Then I started shooting panoramic and needed a scanner for that.  So I spent $350 on a new Microtek 900, I think it is. It does okay, and at this time I started printing large prints on my Espon 3800 for exhibit and sale.  To measure the Microtek and Nikon quality I took in some negs and slides to Cornel at Profoto to be scanned on a $250,000 Noritzu machine, the typical processing behemoth that also has a damned good scanner inside.  THE RESULTS WERE MIND BLOWING.  I printed my first show and the sharpness and color were superb.  After that, the Nikon and Microtek scans looked like crap to me, and relative to high-end photographic reproduction, they were.  There was just no comparison, especially when you’re printing large.  So back to Cornel:  I was wondering if an Imacon would provide a great scan, since I had seen one on eBay for $2300.  He took me back to the digital lab at Profoto, which is like a modern museum of printers, scanners, and processors.  He showed me an $18,000 Imacon scanner, the top of the line, a “virtual drum scanner.”  He said its scans are good but nowhere near the Noriztu.  Also, IMACON DOES NOT REPAIR THESE SCANNERS ANY LONGER — which is reason #1 to avoid buying a used Imacon.  Also, many of the older ones run on scuzzy cards as an interface to the computer.  Then Cornell showed me a $40,000 Kodak scanner (the best flatbed ever) and a wonderful-looking Durst scanner.  He described them these scanners as “production scanners” that don’t produce the quality of the Noritzu.  I should also mention that Cornel’s shop gave up on real drum scanning because the client did not want their negs and slides oiled for scanning; in fact, the residue the remains from the oil nearly got Cornel’s shop sued.  So Cornel finds that the Noritzu is the best option for high-end scans.  ”The Noritzu has an LED light source which is consistent light, and it scans twice, once with ICE and once without, so you don’t lose any quality at all as is normal with ICE.”…..So for now, I have decided to continue getting scans done on the Noritzu for negs that I  print for exhibit.  I will keep the Nikon for “production scans” for the web and the Microtek for flatbed scans.   That said, I still need to investigate the idea of buying a real drum scanner for home use, and dealing with the need to oil the negs. I have a gallery owner doing some real drum scans using an Imacon machine (model unknown) and will report on what they look like, and if oil residue remains of the film when I get them back. ~~later.

|~dayblog~| A Second Antelope Canyon “Slots” Shoot (www.chrisengholm.com)

March 8, 2008:  We’re off to Page, AZ on Monday to shoot again inside the well-photographed “slot canyons” near Lake Powell, AZ. I got good results using the Fuji 6×17 in the Lower Antelope Canyon slots two weeks ago, even though it’s not the best time of year for direct sunlight in the deep formations.  I’m looking for something different that will transcend mere ‘nature’ shots and work as art suitable for our gallery wall (i.e. to sell).  The wide format is a start but I’m thinking this time of using some light painting techniques to fill in where the sunlight does not penetrate…perhaps even colored light.  I’m also going to work with Tri-X, as wide B/W art prints are also a possibility.  Incidentally, the cost to get inside each of the two slots is $20 for 4 hours with a photography pass.  Try to meet Ken Young there, a Navajo guy who knows all the great nature photographers and shoots large format and 6×7 stuff himself, which he sells in Santa Fe.  He can advise on what is looking best as conditions change constantly.

|~dayblog~| “Eternal Esperanza” images selected for Artscape Spring and Summer 2008 (www.chrisengholm.com)

 Today we learned that some of our “Eternal Esperanza” fire images have been selected by the Riverside Arts Council for inclusion in the Artscape Spring and Summer 2008 exhibit in Riverside County. They will be on display from March 2008 and September at the Riverside County Administrative Center located at 4080 Lemon Street in Riverside, CA.  

My letter from the Arts Council says “the artists will be recognized during the Riverside County Board of Supervisors meeting on the morning of March 18th, 2008.” Needless to say, I’m stoked and headed to Macy’s to buy a new shirt for the occasion… ~CE