Thanks, Lon. My main reason for the 3650 was wanting to start a whole roll scan and leave it to work, but it sounds like that isn't a real good idea. Will probably go with the Minolta and have a couple hundred $ to put to work somewhere else.
Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lon Williamson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 5:19 AM Subject: Re: Pacific Imaging scanner (Was: Scanner Test (Revisited)) > AFAIK, the PF3650 is a PF3600 with ICE, GEM, etc. > So it should be similar to mine, with more goodies. > I'm happy with the 3600, but have not used a marque > brand scanner. Results I get seem quite comparable > to results I've seen on the net (snippets of actual > scans, not lopped-down resized JPEGS). > > Strong points seem to be fast scan times (if you > use firewire) and the software (I've never had the > hangups that other people report, but I keep the > computer it is attached to lean and clean). > > Weak points: if you try to scan an entire roll, you > face two problems. One is that a whole lot of that > roll flops around outside the scanner for quite a while, > collecting dust like flypaper attracts bugs. Another > is that there is usually a frame registration problem, > so that at some point about 10 to 15 frames in, everything > gets shifted. Finally, I've not seen good results from > chrome film with lots of dark; a DMax problem. There can > be some butt-ugly noise. I tested the DMAX by shooting > one roll of Reala and one of K-64 on night-time fireworks; > the results made me stop using chrome film. > > If you confine yourself to scanning 4- to 6-frame > strips typically delivered by a lab, the frame shift > problems are minimal to non-existant. > > Documentation hoovers, but as I understand it, that's > typicaly of any digital product these days. > > All in all, I feel absolutely no need to "upgrade". > My guess is, as long as you get used to a PIE and > digital work flow in general, and stick with BW or > color neg film, you'd feel the same. If the only > reason you would purchase the PIE is because of > the "whole roll at once" feature, I doubt you > would use that feature often. And if you want to > scan slide film, the Minolta would probably be the > better choice. > > -Lon > > > Paul Sorenson wrote: > > Lon - > > > > How happy are you with the Pacific Imaging scanner? I was seriously > > considering the PF3650, but have been warned away from it by several > > sources, favoring the Minolta Scan Dual IV. I'm most intrigued by the > > 3650's capability of batch scanning a complete roll. > > > > Paul > >
