P3D HP Photo Smart Scanner

[Bob Shotsberger <bshots1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I got mine several months ago and  have been using 
it for scanning 35 m/m slides (2x2), 35 m/m negatives, 
a few prints, and realist slides (one end at time) and 
have even "jimmied it" to scan a V-M pair (again, 
one chip at a time).

To do the realist slides I carved up a Pakon plastic 2x2 
mount to hold one end of the cardboard realist mount. 
Without  this home made adapter you can scan one end of 
a cardboard realist slide mount directly, but it shimmies 
and shakes going in and out of the scanner. Using the 
homemade Pakon mount adapter makes the realist fit 
the HP slide slot better and the slide gets a better scan.

I did not need to use the SCSI card which came with it
because it hooked up the SCSI card which was already 
in my computer for a flat bed scanner. My software 
allows me to select which one I want to scan with.

The note on page 31 of the User's Guide explains how 
to do Multiple Scans, that is the page with the "Manually 
ejecting a photograph for the scanner" instructions.
It works for me.

Don't ask how I did the V-M scan, the scanner made too
many strange noises for me to do it again. (I did not cut 
up the VM reel). But it did scan well.

Using it's calibration I am able to get a very good match 
to the color "standard" photograph included with my old, 
old copy of Kodak's Color Data Guide. And after calibrating
my monitor, and printer using the instructions in my 
photo program I can usually get good printouts on the first try. 

It is not a professional grade scanner, neither heavy duty, 
nor very fast, but for home work it is very good especially 
at it's current price.

Resolution is all I can want. With it I have made some 
8x10's from 35 m/m that match conventional photography 
very closely. I usually do scan at max resolution which 
yields nearly a 5 Meg file from a 35 m/m slide or negative. 
The 16 m/m sized V-M files are about 1 Meg each.

I print on the HP Photo Smart Printer and get great results. 
It is a great printer for home use, it is not a commercial grade printer. At
the price HP is letting it be sold for now I don't 
think you can do much better.

It has been some time, but before getting this scanner 
I looked at the Nikon, Konica and Minolta scanners, with 
them I could not see an effective way to scan a realist slide
without buying an extra one of their carriers and cutting 
it up or drastically modifying it. The cheapest carrier was about
$75.00, too  much for the little use I would get out of it as
I do mainly 2x2  pairs. But it is very easy to get the HP to do
one end of a realist mount. The sacrifical Pakon Mount was 
essentially free as it was one I was throwing away after 
putting my 2x2 pairs in glass mounts.



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End of PHOTO-3D Digest 2902
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