FW: Panoramic Scanning

[Mike Sinclair <sinclair@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I believe the HP S20 uses a rubber roller and capstan and not sprocket
holes. The former is much more accurate for short film lengths (< 6
exposures). You can scan Minox film (and APS, 16mm, etc - smaller than 35mm
film). Simply (and carefully) tape strips of 35mm film to the sides of the
smaller film to make 35mm. This seems to work very well but is kind of a
kluge. For the smaller Minox film, you should be able to cut a
Minox-film-strip-sized rectangle down the middle of a piece of 35mm stock
and tape the Minox film to it to scan.

BTW, the S20 is a true 2400 dpi sensor though at that resolution, it's known
to be a little soft but very usable. The new HP software, not backward
compatible with the older scanner, works very well with longer 35mm strips
of positive or negative film (ie - panoramic lengths). See Steve Hoffman's
review @ http://www.sphoto.com/s20.html

Regards,

-Mike-

-----Original Message-----
From: Larry J. Clark [mailto:ljclark@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 5:56 PM
To: panorama-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Panoramic Scanning


Lots of good comments and ideas from folks...

William Boyle wrote (regarding the HP PhotoSmart):
> 
> What kind of film carrier does it use? A brief description of the
> process (how it differs from normal 24x36 scans) would be be helpful.

I lifted the lid on one...It feeds the 35mm film directly,
advancing
it using the sprocket holes.  You can also select a mode that
allows
you to feed it a mounted slide, and there is a mode tha allows
you
to scan a snapshot.  It is a USB device, so connections should be
almost painless.

The one thing that keeps me from the HP is that my other 
photographic passion is Minox.  You need a scanner in the 
2,000 ppi range.  I haven't figured out a way of feeding 
the HP scanner Minox film.  If I did panoramic 35mm and
regular, I'd be in good shape.  Also if I just did Minox and
regular 35mm.  But not all three formats!  :-(

Jan Faul wrote:
> 
>         I adapted one and found that the Noblex images were too
> close to the end of the scanner pass and so were not covered. 
> I instead opted for another scanner called the Powerlook 3000 
> from UMAX. I think it was even cheaper.

I'd rather a dedicated film scanner.

>         Do you by any chance own a Noblex shift-lens camera? 

Nope -- Horizon.

"Thomas G. Tamura" wrote:

> First the good news:  Vuescan software will drive the Minolta 
> Dual scan mechanism beyond the normal required for 35mm scanning, 
> so the firmware does not seem to have placed an artificial limit 
> on how far the motor may be driven.
> 
> Now the bad news:  The hard stop for the Dual scan in only 
> slightly beyond the normal limit.  The internal architecture 
> would need to be modified:  longer lead screw and guide rods.  
> The point where these components are mounted (where they would 
> need to be lengthened) is quite near to circuit boards at the 
> read of the unit, so the case might need to be lengthened...
> 
> I think it could be done if one were sufficiently motivated 
> though.  > If anyone is interested in tackling it, let me know.

I was figuring that modification of the carrier would the way to
do this.  Some stops might have to be removed, and you might
have to reposition each negative for each scan.  Minolta was
very emphatic about the dangers of modifications, risk to the
warranty, etc.  They'd much rather have me spend $2,000 for
a larger film scanner.

Film scanners with fixed sensor arrays are some of the Minoltas,
the Poloroid SprintScan, and the HP.  The Tamarack 2400 had a
moving sensor head that sweeps the area to be scanner -- probably
about 36mm x 36mm.

Microtek had not responded to my questions.

I'll share as I get more information.

Larry Clark 
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