If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
The October 2003 issue of Chasseurs D'Images has an article on new minilabs. w/o specifics they said the lowest price model was 100,000 Euros and the most expensive over 300,000 Euros. All of the units are now broad-media and accept various film formats, digital files via card, CD-ROM or internet. Cd'I prepared a series of test images that they claimed were challenging, but not over the top, for their tests and brought them to a trade show where the minilab makers were showing their wares. (They don't specify which show this was at.) The undertext of the article harped on the optics of the minilabs, suggesting w/o saying that Noritsu, Konica and Kodak are behind the top 3 in the optical dept. The Frontier, to a lesser degree, is slightly behind on optics compared to the Agfa and Kis. Tested: negative with a -1 to +1 slope. Looking for detail, exposure and color accuracy. slides: 1 studio shot (same scene as the negative above) and 1 landscape shot. B&W: looking for "control of the dominant" ?, grey tones and black density. Hi res digital files: (4) -Hi res: 2000x3000. (white birds...looking for "whites" and detail in the feathers) -Lo res digital (1.3 Mpix) -Hi dynamic/hi res shot -Studio Color Checker Test target Cd'I claim that the images they provided are "perfectly exposed". Ratings: Top to bottom Agfa d-lab.2 Fuji Frontier 340 Kis DKS 1500 Kodak 29 DLS Konica R1 Super Noritsu QSS-2901 Below I'll put up the non-5/5 score for each machine. The "comment" is the Cd'I comment that I translated freely from French. Cd'I has always used fairly vernacular French, freely using anglicisms and "photo-slang". So I translated the meaning, rather than word for word. Agfa (1200/hour) grey restoration in B&W (4/5) and digital files "dominant" (4/5). All other parameters were 5/5. Comment was that "...the machine that delivered the sharpest images and fine details." Frontier (800/hour): color-neg sharpness (4/5) Slide Contrast/density (4/5), Sharpness (4/5) B&W: Dominant (3/5), Contrast/Density 4/5 Dig: color 4/5, sharpness 4/5, greys 4/5, framing 3/5 Comment: "easiest machine for the operator, but sharpness is not quite there and framing is less than perfect" Kis DKS (1500/hour): Negatives: color (4/5) Slides (not tested, no reason provided) B&W: dominant: 3/5 Contrast/density: 4/5 digital: color 4/5 contr/dens: 4/5, resolution impr: 4/5, grey: 3/5 Comment: "operator needed a '2nd chance' to really get it right." Kodak 29 DLS (1300/hour) color neg: contr/dens: 4/5, sharp: 3/5 slide: contr/dens: 4/5, sharp: 3/5 B&W: dominant: 3/5, contr/dens: 4/5 digital: color: 4/5, sharp, 3/5, res improvement 4/5, greys, 3/5, framing 4/5 Comment: "printing unit was really disappointing" Konica R1 Super (1000/hour) Color negative: color 4/5, contrast/dens: 4/5, sharp 4/5 Slides: color 4/5, contr/dens 4/5, sharp 4/5 B&W: dominant: 4/5, contr/dens 4/5 digital: color 4/5, sharp 4/5, greys 4/5, framing 3/5 Comment: "All work was 100% automatic, no operator involvement. Excellent results, considering. The 'all terrain vehicle' of minilabs." Noritsu QSS 2901 (1480/hour) color neg: color 3/5, contr/dens 3/5, sharp 4/5 slide: color 4/5, sharp 4/5, framing 3/5 B&W: dominante 4/5 digital: color 4/5, sharp 4/5, res impr. 4/5, greys 4/5, framing 3/5 Comment: "Seems to be based on aging technology*, and really dedicated to 'production' than one-off printing. Good results, but penalised when compared to the others." [*from the french text I'm not sure if they meant the technology was aging or the particular machine that they tested on... as this was a trade-show sample, I would guess Cd'I meant the technology. -] Alan. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
Browne "Alan wrote:
The October 2003 issue of Chasseurs D'Images has an article on new minilabs. Thanks for summarizing this, Alan! Kis DKS 1500 Never heard of this brand. Have you seen them in Canada? Agfa dLab-2 (1200/hour) grey restoration in B&W (4/5) and digital files "dominant" (4/5). All other parameters were 5/5. Comment was that "...the machine that delivered the sharpest images and fine details." Hmm... there is one in a nearby city. I'll definitely have to try it. If the software is anything like the Agfa MSC minilabs, it'll work well with all kinds of film except Konica. Unlike the Frontier, which works well mostly with Fuji films, and less well (to differing degrees) with all other brands of film. Agfa films are a disaster on Frontiers. Frontier (800/hour): ... and framing is less than perfect" I'll say. That thing crops like Ghengis Khan with a riding lawnmower. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
Bill Tuthill wrote:
Browne "Alan wrote: The October 2003 issue of Chasseurs D'Images has an article on new minilabs. Thanks for summarizing this, Alan! I second that! Very interesting, the more that Agfa in the US is rather underrepresented... Kis DKS 1500 Never heard of this brand. Have you seen them in Canada? I just found their specs on the web: http://www.kis-photome.com/english/pro/DKS1500.htm and the contact: Head Office Kis / Photo-Me Group 2110, avenue du Général de Gaulle 38 130 Echirolles FRANCE Tel. : +33 (0) 4.76.33.30.00 Fax : +33 (0) 4.76.33.95.00 Agfa dLab-2 (1200/hour) grey restoration in B&W (4/5) and digital files "dominant" (4/5). All other parameters were 5/5. Comment was that "...the machine that delivered the sharpest images and fine details." Hmm... there is one in a nearby city. I'll definitely have to try it. If the software is anything like the Agfa MSC minilabs, it'll work well with all kinds of film except Konica. Unlike the Frontier, which works well mostly with Fuji films, and less well (to differing degrees) with all other brands of film. Agfa films are a disaster on Frontiers. Negative or slides? Thomas. Frontier (800/hour): ... and framing is less than perfect" I'll say. That thing crops like Ghengis Khan with a riding lawnmower. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
"Bill Tuthill" wrote in message ... Browne "Alan wrote: The October 2003 issue of Chasseurs D'Images has an article on new minilabs. Thanks for summarizing this, Alan! Kis DKS 1500 Never heard of this brand. Have you seen them in Canada? Actually, Qualex (Kodak) was leasing this unit as a Kodak System 88 to drug stores in Canada, but dropped it as it's not built very well... simple to use though... |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
I'm a big fan of fuji frontier.
|
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
In rec.photo.equipment.35mm ThomasH wrote:
... Agfa films are a disaster on Frontiers. Negative or slides? Negative film. The original Vista films in all speeds look bad, with muddy greens and orangy reds. Haven't tried new Optima in the Frontier, but on datasheets it looks similar to Vista. Slides should be OK, although getting good prints from slides requires a good Frontier operator, I've heard. Cropping remains probably the Frontier's worst problem. I have several Nutcracker ballet pictures where the prints cut off legs and arms, despite correctly framed negatives. Is overcropping a problem when submitting digicam images? |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
Bill Tuthill wrote: Browne "Alan wrote: The October 2003 issue of Chasseurs D'Images has an article on new minilabs. Thanks for summarizing this, Alan! Kis DKS 1500 Never heard of this brand. Have you seen them in Canada? I've seen Kodak, Agfa, Fuji and Noritsu. Never heard of Kis or seen a Konica...although one shop I used to use prob has a Konica. Agfa dLab-2 (1200/hour) grey restoration in B&W (4/5) and digital files "dominant" (4/5). All other parameters were 5/5. Comment was that "...the machine that delivered the sharpest images and fine details." Hmm... there is one in a nearby city. I'll definitely have to try it. If the software is anything like the Agfa MSC minilabs, it'll work well with all kinds of film except Konica. Unlike the Frontier, which works well mostly with Fuji films, and less well (to differing degrees) with all other brands of film. Agfa films are a disaster on Frontiers. The report made no mention of film compatibility across brands. There is one very vague statement regarding past machines and some customers unhappiness with results from negatives. Alan. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
I'm not sure but isn't the QSS-2901 an older model machine? Wasn't it one
of the first 3 colour laser printers out? "Alan Browne" "Alan wrote in message ... The October 2003 issue of Chasseurs D'Images has an article on new minilabs. w/o specifics they said the lowest price model was 100,000 Euros and the most expensive over 300,000 Euros. All of the units are now broad-media and accept various film formats, digital files via card, CD-ROM or internet. Cd'I prepared a series of test images that they claimed were challenging, but not over the top, for their tests and brought them to a trade show where the minilab makers were showing their wares. (They don't specify which show this was at.) The undertext of the article harped on the optics of the minilabs, suggesting w/o saying that Noritsu, Konica and Kodak are behind the top 3 in the optical dept. The Frontier, to a lesser degree, is slightly behind on optics compared to the Agfa and Kis. Tested: negative with a -1 to +1 slope. Looking for detail, exposure and color accuracy. slides: 1 studio shot (same scene as the negative above) and 1 landscape shot. B&W: looking for "control of the dominant" ?, grey tones and black density. Hi res digital files: (4) -Hi res: 2000x3000. (white birds...looking for "whites" and detail in the feathers) -Lo res digital (1.3 Mpix) -Hi dynamic/hi res shot -Studio Color Checker Test target Cd'I claim that the images they provided are "perfectly exposed". Ratings: Top to bottom Agfa d-lab.2 Fuji Frontier 340 Kis DKS 1500 Kodak 29 DLS Konica R1 Super Noritsu QSS-2901 Below I'll put up the non-5/5 score for each machine. The "comment" is the Cd'I comment that I translated freely from French. Cd'I has always used fairly vernacular French, freely using anglicisms and "photo-slang". So I translated the meaning, rather than word for word. Agfa (1200/hour) grey restoration in B&W (4/5) and digital files "dominant" (4/5). All other parameters were 5/5. Comment was that "...the machine that delivered the sharpest images and fine details." Frontier (800/hour): color-neg sharpness (4/5) Slide Contrast/density (4/5), Sharpness (4/5) B&W: Dominant (3/5), Contrast/Density 4/5 Dig: color 4/5, sharpness 4/5, greys 4/5, framing 3/5 Comment: "easiest machine for the operator, but sharpness is not quite there and framing is less than perfect" Kis DKS (1500/hour): Negatives: color (4/5) Slides (not tested, no reason provided) B&W: dominant: 3/5 Contrast/density: 4/5 digital: color 4/5 contr/dens: 4/5, resolution impr: 4/5, grey: 3/5 Comment: "operator needed a '2nd chance' to really get it right." Kodak 29 DLS (1300/hour) color neg: contr/dens: 4/5, sharp: 3/5 slide: contr/dens: 4/5, sharp: 3/5 B&W: dominant: 3/5, contr/dens: 4/5 digital: color: 4/5, sharp, 3/5, res improvement 4/5, greys, 3/5, framing 4/5 Comment: "printing unit was really disappointing" Konica R1 Super (1000/hour) Color negative: color 4/5, contrast/dens: 4/5, sharp 4/5 Slides: color 4/5, contr/dens 4/5, sharp 4/5 B&W: dominant: 4/5, contr/dens 4/5 digital: color 4/5, sharp 4/5, greys 4/5, framing 3/5 Comment: "All work was 100% automatic, no operator involvement. Excellent results, considering. The 'all terrain vehicle' of minilabs." Noritsu QSS 2901 (1480/hour) color neg: color 3/5, contr/dens 3/5, sharp 4/5 slide: color 4/5, sharp 4/5, framing 3/5 B&W: dominante 4/5 digital: color 4/5, sharp 4/5, res impr. 4/5, greys 4/5, framing 3/5 Comment: "Seems to be based on aging technology*, and really dedicated to 'production' than one-off printing. Good results, but penalised when compared to the others." [*from the french text I'm not sure if they meant the technology was aging or the particular machine that they tested on... as this was a trade-show sample, I would guess Cd'I meant the technology. -] Alan. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
"McLeod" wrote in message .. . I'm not sure but isn't the QSS-2901 an older model machine? Wasn't it one of the first 3 colour laser printers out? Yeah, it was Noritsu's first laser printer, but the print engine is the same as the newer 3001, 3101, 31-Pro and R2R. Similarly they tested the Agfa dlab2, but not the dlab3 or Durst Zeta which share the dlab2 print engine. Fuji was actually the first to release a laser printer, back before Noritsu released the 2701 (MLVA technology) |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Minilab roundup
It very well may be. Maybe I misunderstood the article to mean 'new' rather than the existing top of the line... in any case, all of the units tested, per the article are up to date in terms of media interfaces (CD-ROM, PCMCIA, mem-sticks, internet services). It could be that the -2901 is the same basic machine, but its computer has been upgraded... McLeod wrote: I'm not sure but isn't the QSS-2901 an older model machine? Wasn't it one of the first 3 colour laser printers out? "Alan Browne" "Alan wrote in message ... The October 2003 issue of Chasseurs D'Images has an article on new minilabs. w/o specifics they said the lowest price model was 100,000 Euros and the most expensive over 300,000 Euros. All of the units are now broad-media and accept various film formats, digital files via card, CD-ROM or internet. Cd'I prepared a series of test images that they claimed were challenging, but not over the top, for their tests and brought them to a trade show where the minilab makers were showing their wares. (They don't specify which show this was at.) The undertext of the article harped on the optics of the minilabs, suggesting w/o saying that Noritsu, Konica and Kodak are behind the top 3 in the optical dept. The Frontier, to a lesser degree, is slightly behind on optics compared to the Agfa and Kis. Tested: negative with a -1 to +1 slope. Looking for detail, exposure and color accuracy. slides: 1 studio shot (same scene as the negative above) and 1 landscape shot. B&W: looking for "control of the dominant" ?, grey tones and black density. Hi res digital files: (4) -Hi res: 2000x3000. (white birds...looking for "whites" and detail in the feathers) -Lo res digital (1.3 Mpix) -Hi dynamic/hi res shot -Studio Color Checker Test target Cd'I claim that the images they provided are "perfectly exposed". Ratings: Top to bottom Agfa d-lab.2 Fuji Frontier 340 Kis DKS 1500 Kodak 29 DLS Konica R1 Super Noritsu QSS-2901 Below I'll put up the non-5/5 score for each machine. The "comment" is the Cd'I comment that I translated freely from French. Cd'I has always used fairly vernacular French, freely using anglicisms and "photo-slang". So I translated the meaning, rather than word for word. Agfa (1200/hour) grey restoration in B&W (4/5) and digital files "dominant" (4/5). All other parameters were 5/5. Comment was that "...the machine that delivered the sharpest images and fine details." Frontier (800/hour): color-neg sharpness (4/5) Slide Contrast/density (4/5), Sharpness (4/5) B&W: Dominant (3/5), Contrast/Density 4/5 Dig: color 4/5, sharpness 4/5, greys 4/5, framing 3/5 Comment: "easiest machine for the operator, but sharpness is not quite there and framing is less than perfect" Kis DKS (1500/hour): Negatives: color (4/5) Slides (not tested, no reason provided) B&W: dominant: 3/5 Contrast/density: 4/5 digital: color 4/5 contr/dens: 4/5, resolution impr: 4/5, grey: 3/5 Comment: "operator needed a '2nd chance' to really get it right." Kodak 29 DLS (1300/hour) color neg: contr/dens: 4/5, sharp: 3/5 slide: contr/dens: 4/5, sharp: 3/5 B&W: dominant: 3/5, contr/dens: 4/5 digital: color: 4/5, sharp, 3/5, res improvement 4/5, greys, 3/5, framing 4/5 Comment: "printing unit was really disappointing" Konica R1 Super (1000/hour) Color negative: color 4/5, contrast/dens: 4/5, sharp 4/5 Slides: color 4/5, contr/dens 4/5, sharp 4/5 B&W: dominant: 4/5, contr/dens 4/5 digital: color 4/5, sharp 4/5, greys 4/5, framing 3/5 Comment: "All work was 100% automatic, no operator involvement. Excellent results, considering. The 'all terrain vehicle' of minilabs." Noritsu QSS 2901 (1480/hour) color neg: color 3/5, contr/dens 3/5, sharp 4/5 slide: color 4/5, sharp 4/5, framing 3/5 B&W: dominante 4/5 digital: color 4/5, sharp 4/5, res impr. 4/5, greys 4/5, framing 3/5 Comment: "Seems to be based on aging technology*, and really dedicated to 'production' than one-off printing. Good results, but penalised when compared to the others." [*from the french text I'm not sure if they meant the technology was aging or the particular machine that they tested on... as this was a trade-show sample, I would guess Cd'I meant the technology. -] Alan. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Digital minilab and B&W negatives | Anderson E Santo | In The Darkroom | 3 | May 20th 04 06:21 PM |