I use a polaroid 4x5negative scanner. If the negative is properly exposed and of average density I don't see why it wouldn't scan properly. I don't have any color zone plate negatives to test but I have scanned some color 4x5 pinhole negatives. When the negative is thin I often get something that I would call beginning posterization in large areas that have very subtle tonal differences. You're stimulating me to do some 4x5 color zone plates, just to see. ----- Original Message ----- From: Tom Miller <[email protected]> To: <pinhole-discussion@p at ???????> Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 8:26 PM Subject: [pinhole-discussion] Scanning Color Zone Plate Negatives
> Dear Gang, > > Does anyone on the list have experience scanning color zone plate > negatives? > > Despite 19 years in the computer trade, I have no experience with > photographic scanners, Photoshop, etc. After doing some research, it > looked like the the Umax Power Look 1100 would be the best combination > of features and price for my use. One of the things I hoped to do was > scan color negatives to produce quick proofs and eventually finished > prints. I took a couple of 4x5 zone plate color negatives (Kodak) to > the local photo store to see how the scanner would handle then. One > of the store's digital imaging folks spent an hour trying to scan the > negs with no success, or more precisely the scans didn't produce > images that looked anything like the prints I made using standard > enlarger / chemical processes. His guess was that the zone plate > negatives were just too wacky for the scanner; the density was poor > compared to what the scanner is used to dealing with. Scanning 4x5 > color negs taken with a lens camera worked great. Darn, I was looking > forward to taking the plunge into digital. Also, the store is > arguably the best one locally for working with professional > photographers, so I don't think this was a case of operator error. > > Any ideas? Would a dedicated large format negative scanner have > worked better that the flatbed scanner (for a similar price)? Would > another brand of flatbed scanner work any better? Or is the default > option of waiting for the price to drop and the quality to go up the > only viable one? > > Thanks, > Tom > > > > _______________________________________________ > Pinhole-Discussion mailing list > Pinhole-Discussion@p at ??????? > unsubscribe or change your account at > http://www.p at ???????/discussion/ >
