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Current view on drum scanners?



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 11th 08, 05:02 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Lawrence Akutagawa
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Posts: 145
Default Current view on drum scanners?


"Airbus" wrote in message
...
What's the consensus, as we close 2008?
Anyone still using drum scanners with PMT tubes?
Any particular reason, from a photographer's point of view, why this
technology is still pertinent, or do most users fee that fletbed scanners
have come to where they can replace this older technology?

Interested to hear views from anyone still using this. . .

Thanks

You mean you use a scanner in your darkroom? How quaint!


  #2  
Old November 11th 08, 07:19 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Neil Gould
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Posts: 262
Default Current view on drum scanners?

Airbus wrote:
What's the consensus, as we close 2008?
Anyone still using drum scanners with PMT tubes?
Any particular reason, from a photographer's point of view, why this
technology is still pertinent, or do most users fee that fletbed
scanners have come to where they can replace this older technology?

Interested to hear views from anyone still using this. . .

Thanks

For some reason, you leave out the dedicated film scanners with CCDs, which
fill the gap between these two. Flatbeds are the low-end of these three
options.

Neil


  #4  
Old November 11th 08, 08:27 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Airbus
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Posts: 9
Default Current view on drum scanners?

What's the consensus, as we close 2008?
Anyone still using drum scanners with PMT tubes?
Any particular reason, from a photographer's point of view, why this
technology is still pertinent, or do most users fee that fletbed scanners
have come to where they can replace this older technology?

Interested to hear views from anyone still using this. . .

Thanks

  #5  
Old November 11th 08, 09:00 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Lawrence Akutagawa
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Posts: 145
Default Current view on drum scanners?


"Airbus" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

"Airbus" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

"Airbus" wrote in message
.. .
What's the consensus, as we close 2008?
Anyone still using drum scanners with PMT tubes?
Any particular reason, from a photographer's point of view, why this
technology is still pertinent, or do most users fee that fletbed
scanners
have come to where they can replace this older technology?

Interested to hear views from anyone still using this. . .

Thanks

You mean you use a scanner in your darkroom? How quaint!

My scanners don't actually go *in* the darkroom, as I'm afraid some
well-meaning nit will spray water all over them! Mine go in the repro
room,
which joins the darkroom, just before the mounting and framing shop, and
adjoining the projection room and reception areas.

So explain, please, the relevance of scanners in this newsgroup
"rec.photo.darkroom." After all, a darkroom is a darkroom is a darkroom
is
a darkroom...is it not?


Can be anything from a laundry room to a flower garden, depending on your
means and interpretation. I'm seeking meaningful information from serious
contributors. Care to join?

Well, I don't go around making up new definitions for existing words. As
far as "darkroom" is concerned, here are references/definitions on the net.
Care to cite references supporting relevance of scanners in this newsgroup?
Exactly what is your logic and thinking such as to be consistent with these
definitions?

from dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=darkroom
noun Photography.
a room in which film or the like is made, handled, or developed and from
which the actinic rays of light are excluded

from Merriam-Webster dictionary
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/darkroom
: a room with no light or with a safelight for developing light-sensitive
photographic materials

from MSN Encarta dictionary
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/darkroom.html
room for developing photographs: a room from which natural light is excluded
so that light-sensitive photographic materials can be safely handled and
photographs can be developed

from American Heritage dictionary
http://www.bartleby.com/cgi-bin/texi...arkroom&db=ahd
....A room in which photographic materials are processed, either in complete
darkness or with a safelight....

from PhotoNotes.org dictionary of film and digital photography
http://photonotes.org/cgi-bin/search...rkroom&which=a
Light-tight room used for photographic work and illuminated by safelights.
Small facilities are usually divided into two halves - a wet side for
handling chemicals and rinsing baths and a dry side for enlargements. Larger
facilities usually involve separate rooms for enlarging and the chemical
baths.


  #6  
Old November 11th 08, 09:07 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Jean-David Beyer
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Posts: 247
Default Current view on drum scanners?

Airbus wrote:

Ancillary question, not without importance - is anyone still making PMT-based
drum scanners? Anyone know what PMT devices they are using?

I believe so:

http://www.aztek.net/premier.html
http://www.icg.ltd.uk/products/drum_scanners.htm

--
.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A Registered Machine 241939.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
^^-^^ 15:00:01 up 5 days, 44 min, 4 users, load average: 4.75, 4.74, 4.62
  #7  
Old November 11th 08, 09:46 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Jean-David Beyer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 247
Default Current view on drum scanners?

Airbus wrote:
In article ,
says...

Airbus wrote:

Ancillary question, not without importance - is anyone still making

PMT-based
drum scanners? Anyone know what PMT devices they are using?

I believe so:

http://www.aztek.net/premier.html
http://www.icg.ltd.uk/products/drum_scanners.htm


Thanks for that.
Aztek was always considered a sort of "entry level" player, but the fact that
ICT is still a player and still offering new products is telling.

Amazing that this 1930's technology still holds its own, and indeed offers the
"high end" solution in today's digital world. . .

Some inventions are really more important than others. The insignificant
ones disappear in a few years. Others are more long-lasting.

The photomultiplier tube is one of the important ones (that have use in
other situations than scanners). But something as sensitive as a PMT with a
low signal-to-noise ratio is really something.

An older one, analogue photography (1839, officially, but at least a decade
older), has had even more impact.

--
.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A Registered Machine 241939.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
^^-^^ 15:40:01 up 5 days, 1:24, 4 users, load average: 4.58, 4.43, 4.45
  #9  
Old November 11th 08, 11:33 PM posted to rec.photo.darkroom
Neil Gould
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Posts: 262
Default Current view on drum scanners?

Airbus wrote:
In article ,
says...


Airbus wrote:
What's the consensus, as we close 2008?
Anyone still using drum scanners with PMT tubes?
Any particular reason, from a photographer's point of view, why this
technology is still pertinent, or do most users fee that fletbed
scanners have come to where they can replace this older technology?


[...]

For some reason, you leave out the dedicated film scanners with
CCDs, which fill the gap between these two. Flatbeds are the low-end
of these three options.


Well here you can correct me as I thought these were essentially the
same as flatbed scanners (also CCD) with the addition of plastic
trays and holders to make it easier to position the film on the
flatbed, but in performance besically the same thing.

The question becomes to what extent software management can overcome
the intrinsic drawbacks of CCD arrays (noise, resolution which "is
what it is") to the point of rivaling the very old, analog tube with
intrinsically superior sensitivity characteristics, but which is a
pain in the but to manage. . . Are we there yet?

A lot depends on what kind of result you want or need. Regarding such things
as resolution, color integrity, and dynamic range, a typical CCD film
scanner outperforms the best flatbeds. PMT drum scanners outperform the best
dedicated CCD film scanners, but not everyone requires these that of
performance, and many are satisfied with the results from their flatbeds.
For example, if your intention is to use the scans on the web, a flatbed is
the best choice, but if your intention is to get the maximum enlargement
possible, the PMT or dedicated film scanners are the best choices.

Another consideration is the film size. For 35mm, the CCD film scanners are
far better than flatbeds, but for 4x5, your choices are much more limited,
and for 8x10, it's either flatbed or PMT, AFAIK.


Ancillary question, not without importance - is anyone still making
PMT-based drum scanners? Anyone know what PMT devices they are using?

For many, the difference in quality between a dedicated CCD film scanner and
a PMT drum scanner is not great enough to warrant the extra cost and hassle.
That doesn't mean that there isn't a difference, but it does reduce the size
of the market for PMT scanners.

--
Neil



 




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