In my post, I asked for advice on scanning b/w negatives for the
purpose of making contact prints.
I received 39 responses that were all usefull, much more than I
expected.
I did get the Epson 4990 scanner as suggested, and it does a great job
of making "contact prints" for the darkroom.
I also learned that contact prints are not necessary, just look at the
positive image on the monitor, then classify the negatives as yes, no,
maybe. I do not have to save the scan or the contact print.
I can crop and tone on the monitor, but these are secondary features.
The other consideration in getting the 4990 is to use it as a darkroom
densitometer. This is the subject of an article in the Jan/Feb 2006
issue of PHOTO Techniques magazine. I got a calibrated step wedge and
can now fine tune my developer/time to the print paper.
This is all very usefull for me and has eliminated much of the darkroom
drudgery, freeing up more time for print making.
Thank You All Again
Ken Kaiser