P3D Cheap Slide Conversions

[jacob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Gabriel Jacob)]

Carrying over from my last post on cheap electronic imaging, I had
a chance to play around with a PAL video cam last week. I connected it
to a Zipshot capturing device (similiar to the Snappy) and was impressed
with the superior color the PAL camera provided. It worked reasonably
well converting Realist format slide, 2x2, etc. The quality is not as
good as a slide scanner of course but is a cheap alternative. For those
going that route, the Zipshot will accept PAL, SECAM, NTSC signals
unlike the Snappy, and costs less.

At the rate digital camera prices are falling, it would seem it might
be cheaper to buy a megapixel camera and convert slides to digital
formats by this method. The other advantage being you could also
"zoom" in closer. This would mean you could potentially get 3000 dpi
for example with a 1536x1024 pixel camera. Or for a 35mm slide the
same potential by digitally splicing them together. Otherwise ~1500
dpi is good enough for most purposes. Better than those 1200 dpi
flatbed/slide scanners! I'm not sure how the other factors such as
dynamic range compare to scanners though. 

Gabriel


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