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THE IMAGING RESOURCE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWSLETTER
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Volume 15, Number 6 - 22 March 2013
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Copyright 2013, The Imaging Resource. All rights reserved.
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Welcome to the 354th edition of The Imaging Resource Newsletter. In this issue, we examine the extraordinary life and vision of the 19th-century photographer, cartoonist and balloonist known simply as Nadar. We also have an excerpt from our new review of Canon's premium compact camera, the G15, some news from the IR lab, reader mail and more. We hope you enjoy!
TOPICS
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Feature: The incomparable Nadar: Photographer, cartoonist and balloonist of 19th-century Paris
Camera Review: Canon G15 (Shooter's Report Excerpt)
Quick Hits
We've Got Mail
New on the Site
Next Issue
Signoff
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This issue is sponsored in part by the following companies. Please show your appreciation by visiting the links below. And now a word from our sponsors:
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Our cameras, featuring the Foveon X3 sensor, include the SD1 and the
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Are you in the digital photo business? This newsletter is read by approximately 55,000 combined direct and pass-along subscribers, all with a passion for digital photography. For information on how you can reach them, contact us at editor@imaging-resource.com.
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FEATURE: The incomparable Nadar: Photographer, cartoonist and balloonist of 19th-century Paris
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(Note: To see a wide range of Nadar's portraits, read the story on our site at: http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/22/the-incomparable-nadar-master-photographer-cartoonist-balloonist-of-paris)
By Steve Meltzer
"In photography, like in all things, there are people who can see and others who cannot even look." -- Nadar
He was born Gaspard F�lix Tournachon in 1820, and grew up in Paris. He first became known for his biting and sarcastic political cartoons which earned him the nickname "tourne � dard"-- the one who stings or twists the dart. He liked that so much he shortened it to "n � dard" and finally to "Nadar." He kept the name when he opened his portrait photo studio, which by the middle of the 19th century was perhaps the most successful photo business in the world.
Yet even as a photographer he retained his cynic's voice. Nadar is quoted as saying: "Photography is a marvelous discovery, a science that has attracted the greatest intellects, an art that excites the most astute minds -- and one that can be practiced by any imbecile."
From political cartoonist to studio photographer
Nadar was very successful as a political cartoonist and when, in 1851, his banker encouraged him to cash in on the new photography craze, he thought about opening a photo studio. The wet-plate collodion negative process had just been invented and it revolutionized the portrait studio business. From a collodion glass-plate negative any number of prints could be made, unlike the one-print Daguerreotype. For that reason, the collodion process rapidly replaced Daguerreotypes since studio clients could now buy dozens of portrait prints for their family, friends and business acquaintances.
But Nadar was unwilling to leave his successful cartooning career. Still, he did install a darkroom in his Paris apartment and began to photograph friends. He eventually convinced his younger brother Adrien to run a photo studio for him. Unfortunately, Adrien turned out to be a mediocre photographer and a lousy businessman. The studio foundered. In 1854, Nadar loaned his brother all of his savings -- some 6,000 francs -- which Adrien promptly lost. Finally, Nadar took over the studio and within a few months turned it around and made it a huge success.
"Photographic theory can be taught in an hour, the basic technique in a day. But, what cannot be taught is the feeling for light. . . . It is how light lies on the face that you as artist must capture." -- Nadar
A master at portraiture...
At the heart of Nadar's portraiture was his intuitive grasp of natural light and his skill at posing his subjects. He had learned a host of posing tricks from painter friends and he applied them to his photography. He would position his subjects in three-quarter views, hide their hands to emphasize their faces, and encourage them to find their own poses. Unlike other portrait photographers at the time, he rarely used props and he side lit his sitters to model their faces. He also controlled the quality of the light through the use of reflectors, screens, mirrors and even veils.
However, most importantly, he focused on his sitter's gestures and glances and never tried to make "flattering" images of them.
"To produce an intimate likeness rather than a banal portrait, the result of mere chance, you must put yourself at once in communion with the sitter, size up his thoughts and his very character," Nadar said about his craft.
...and a master of self promotion
In 1860, Nadar moved his photography studio and his home into a phenomenally expensive atelier (workshop). Renovations cost him another fortune, but Nadar was a cunning Mad Man of his day. To make sure that everyone in Paris knew he had a new studio, he had his scrawled signature reproduced in huge letters across the atelier's enormous glass facade.
With this stroke of advertising genius, Nadar became a household brand and his photography studio the place for the wealthy and famous to be photographed. The atelier also became a gathering place for celebrities and the powerful. His elaborate dinners were known for attracting the likes of everyone from writers Gustave Flaubert and Alexander Dumas to the actress Sarah Bernhardt.
And at the center of it all was Nadar. So when he said that, "the portrait I do the best is of the person I know the best," he meant almost everyone of importance he photographed.
His intimacy with his sitters comes across in photographs such that of his friend the French novelist and feminist, George Sand. She was Paris' most outrageous personality, shocking society by wearing trousers and smoking cigars and most scandalously, taking lovers like a man. In her portrait, Nadar captured her strong will and her nonconformity, but still managed to show the warmth he felt towards her.
A ballooning interest
Like so many of the amazing photographers the 19th century, Nadar was a polymath who delved into a wide range of interests. He had a passion for ballooning at a time when few people had ever heard of these high-flying contraptions. Imagine how astonishing it must have been for the strollers along the Seine, when one day in 1858, they came upon a man in a grassy park, filling up a hot air balloon.
Some recognized him as Nadar, but they must have all been fascinated as he filled the balloon's wicker gondola with collodion wet-plates and his large wooden camera. Then he climbed into the basket, signaled his ground crew to loosen the lines, and gently rose into the air over the heads of the delighted crowd. Aiming his camera down at the city and river he took some of the world's first aerial photographs.
Hooked on balloons, he set about in 1863 to build a huge one called "Le Geant" (the Giant). It had a volume of over 21,000 cubic feet (6,000 cubic meters) and it inspired one of Nadar's pals, Jules Verne, to write the novel "Five Weeks in a Balloon." Verne also wrote Nadar into one of his stories as the character Michael Ardan in his novel "From the Earth to the Moon."
Convinced that the future of flight belonged to heavier-than-air machines, Nadar and Verne created "The Society for the Encouragement of Aerial Locomotion by Means of Heavier Than Air Machines" with Nadar as president and Verne as secretary.
A long life of invention and an enduring legacy
Nadar was also an inventor and in 1861 took out a patent for artificial photographic lights. To prove the utility of his invention, Nadar took his lights -- powered by Bunsen cell batteries -- and his cameras into the sewers and catacombs of Paris. He produced two volumes of photographs from his underground adventures.
The cartoonist, photographer, balloonist and inventor died in 1910 at the age of 89, having lived long enough to see his dream of heavier-than-air machines -- airplanes -- come true and it was in this year that Paris hosted the world's first conference on air traffic control.
Today, Nadar's name lives on in photography through the Prix Nadar which is awarded annually to the best photography book edited in France. Since the 1950s, the award has gone to photographers such as William Klein, Andr� Kert�sz, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Gina Lollobrigida.
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REVIEW: Canon G15 (Shooter's Report Excerpt)
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By David Schloss and Roger Slavens
(You can check out our Canon G15 express review, complete with gallery photos, lab test results and our final conclusion, here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/canon-g15/canon-g15A.HTM)
Canon's PowerShot G-series cameras were some of the first premium compact cameras to really grab the attention of the professional photographer and the amateur shooter alike. Canon's success in the SLR and compact digital spaces generated huge buzz when it announced the G1. It seemed as if the holy grail of photography had been reached, a camera both compact enough to take everywhere but professional enough to act as a backup camera or travel body for someone that needed SLR-quality images without the bulk.
At this point you'd probably expect me to talk about the failure of the G1, how it didn't live up to expectations and made photographers run to competing systems. That's not how this narrative ends. Instead the Canon G1 was tremendously successful (despite the limitations often encountered in a first generation) and spawned a succession of G-series cameras that -- for the most part -- have gotten better and better. There were some hiccups along the way, notable the G7, which had a slower lens than its predecessor and no RAW shooting capabilities.
Improvements. The G15 has improved over the G12 in a few notable areas; the most exciting is the lens, which is more than a stop faster than the G12 and runs from f/1.8-2.8 across its 28-140mm (equivalent) range.
Another improvement is autofocus speed. Canon claims the G15 is 53% faster than the G12, and it certainly felt quick in my hands and rivaled the speed of any compact camera I've ever tested.
One disappointing downgrade. One thing that didn't make it over from the G12 is an articulated LCD screen -- the 922K-dot display on the G15 is fixed in place. Canon, naturally, says that the use of a fixed display allowed the camera to be smaller, and indeed the G15 is more svelte than the G12 (which is a good thing).
Still, it feels odd to have a camera that relies primarily on the LCD screen for operation that lacks the ability to pivot that screen. The G15 is an excellent macro shooter, yet it's not possible to tilt the display to be able to see low-level shots without getting down on the ground. In fact, the lack of an articulated screen was the first thing that photographers noticed when I handed them the camera, even before commenting on the size or the weight. Though fixed in place, I did find the LCD to be reasonably bright, and usable even in direct sunlight -- but luckily the camera also has an optical viewfinder when the LCD view isn't sufficient.
Speaking of the optical viewfinder -- which our readers typically appreciate on an enthusiast-level compact camera -- the view it provides is small and exhibits parallax (since the opening for the viewfinder is above the lens) and does not provide 100% coverage. Alongside the viewfinder is a diopter adjustment dial, but it lacks any markings to indicate the center ("zero") position, so you have to fiddle with it until you find the right setting for your eye. Bottom line, the optical viewfinder is nice to have -- even if it's far from ideal -- and is a fairly rare feature on a camera of this type these days.
Getting rid of the articulated LCD monitor is not the death knell for the G15; in practice it doesn't matter that much. The G15 is so light and comfortable that shooting with it at arm's length isn't much of a problem. This is not, after all, a DSLR.
Ergonomics. The G15 is comfortable to hold and is one of the most ergonomic compact cameras I've used. The matte finish on the outer housing provides an extra level of "stickiness" to the camera, making it easier to hold and to operate.
The buttons and control dials, while diminutive, are easy to use, although it's nearly impossible to actuate them while wearing gloves. (That's something that's true with many compact cameras.) The top mounted control dials (there's one for shooting mode and thankfully a dedicated exposure compensation dial) have nice, strong-feeling detents, meaning that it takes a bit of force to rotate the dials. This prevents accidental changes to shooting modes or EV during normal operation; many DSLR users will be familiar with the issue of pulling the camera out to shoot and having the dials turned to odd positions as there's no dial lock.
The primary control dial for the G15 is located on the front of the camera (at index finger level) rather than the rear spot that's home to the controls on many point-and-shoot cameras. The EV dial occupies exactly the space where a rotating control dial would go, and actually feels like it would have been the more natural choice for the control dial location as it's less cumbersome to raise the thumb and turn a dial than it is to take the pointer finger off of the front grip and rotate the front dial -- but this is splitting hairs. For Canon SLR shooters this front-forward design will be comfortable and familiar.
The G15 features a contoured rear thumb grip on the rear of the camera which is especially comfortable and helpful with stabilization of the camera during shooting. It also protects the new dedicated (and overdue) one-touch video button.
Optics. The highlight of the Canon G15 is the bright lens, and with a maximum aperture of f/1.8 at the widest zoom it's good enough for nice background bokeh. And with a maximum of f/2.8 at the longest (140mm equivalent) zoom, it's a fast lens at any focal length. Minimum aperture is f/8 across the zoom range. (Visit our Canon G15 review page for table showing maximum aperture versus approximate equivalent focal length as reported by the camera.)
Actual focal length is 6.1 to 30.5 mm, and construction consists of 11 elements in 9 groups, with one single-sided aspherical lens, one UD lens and two double-sided aspherical lenses.
The lens is optically stabilized using Canon's excellent Intelligent IS, which the company says is good for up to four stops of correction.
The G15 also provides exceptional macro focus, with a close-up focal distance down to 1cm from the front of the lens at wide angle. (This is one of those areas where an articulating LCD screen would be handy, of course.) One of my favorite uses for the G15 is handheld macro work.
Images are everything. Thanks to Canon's smart mix of optics, sensor and processor, the G15 produces tack-sharp images from the built-in zoom lens. Photos have excellent saturation and color fidelity, and almost seem to look as if they came from a DSLR when shot at low ISOs.
That's not to say that images off the G15 sensor aren't without flaws, as it's simply not possible to crank pixel-peeping-proof pictures from a small CMOS sensor. The APS-C sensor in the Canon's entry-level Rebel is many times larger than the G15's, for example, and gives you higher quality images with more latitude for adjustments in post, especially at higher ISOs.
It's possible to see artifacts in the G15 images, but usually only at high magnifications. For the typical G15 user -- someone who chooses it for convenience over ultimate image quality -- this won't be an issue, but it points to the differences and trade-offs between compact digital cameras and full-blown DSLR setups. The bottom line is the Canon G15 captures great pictures for a compact enthusiast camera.
Interface. For Canon fans, the G15 interface is familiar. Menu items and settings are organized with the same simple tab-based interface of just about every other Canon camera. That means that a shooter of a 1D series camera can pick up the G15 and get to work with no hesitation and conversely it means that photographers starting off with the G15 will be comfortable when they move up the camera food chain.
The G15 features an on screen "help" tool that displays relatively useful feedback on selected settings. For example, set the camera to Auto ISO and it says "Automatically sets the ISO for the scene" but if the camera is set to, say ISO 100 it says (directly under the ISO value) "ISO set to 100." Thanks.
The minimalist menu system of the G15 is, however, very comforting. Canon has tweaked their menu design over the years and the screens aren't filled with dozens of oddly-named settings, as is the case with many cameras.
Several buttons on the back provide access to dedicated or programmable functions. My favorite is the button that toggles face detection without having to activate it by digging through menu items.
Autofocus. One of the advantages of high-end compact cameras is the expectation of speedy autofocus, and the G15 is certainly one of the fastest PowerShots we've seen. The IR lab measured the G15's full autofocus shutter lag at 0.46 second, quite an improvement over the G12's 0.66 second. While a noticeable improvement over the G12, the G15's autofocus still isn't as fast as some competing models, though. The Samsung EX2F we just reviewed managed 0.38 second, while the Panasonic LX7 clocked in at a very swift 0.24 second. Still, the G15 locks onto targets quickly and accurately, and that's certainly important with shots at the maximum f/1.8 since there's not a lot of wiggle room for critical focus.
Like most Canon cameras it can often feel almost preternaturally accurate at detecting the most important subject in the frame, even when that subject isn't the closest or largest, relatively speaking. I found the G15's low-light focus to be particularly impressive -- I was able to focus the camera in astoundingly dim conditions, even without the assist beam.
Face detection. One interesting note is that in certain lighting situations the G15 doesn't seem as adept at detecting faces as other cameras. When I reviewed the Panasonic Lumix G5, I was impressed with its ability to find and latch onto faces regardless of their angle to the camera. Often times I'd be shocked when that system realized that the outline of a person poking out behind a tree was a face.
By comparison the G15 gets facial detection right most of the time. In one shot I had two subjects (my wife and my son) sitting near each other, with my wife in profile and my son facing the camera, but looking down. The lighting for this shot was typical indoor tungsten and the G15 picked the arm of the chair between the two as the face. I tried to compose the shot a dozen times and each time it locked onto the chair.
Yet a few moments later the G15 picked out four faces in a crowded room full of motion, so clearly the processor is more adept in certain situations.
The Canon G15 is also capable of face recognition, allowing you to register the names and birthdays of up to 12 people. The camera will optimize focus and exposure for registered faces it detects, and will also record the registered information in stills.
Video. The G15's video features are on par with the current crop of compact digital cameras, at least in terms of resolution. The G15 now can capture Full HD 1080p video (as compared with the 720p of the G12), however frame rate is limited to 24 frames per second. Competing models can capture Full HD at 30p or even 60p, so the G15's 1080p videos aren't as smooth as most. The Canon G15 still offers HD 720p video at 30fps which is smoother, but quite a few models offer 60p at that resolution. A standard definition 640x480 mode at 30fps is also available.
The Canon G15 allows you to optically zoom while recording -- always a plus -- and for the most part, the camera handles zooming smoothly and quietly. However, sometimes I found it wouldn't fully pause at 5x optical zoom, and would lurch directly into digital zoom, which was annoying. The camera did a decent job with video image stabilization, which Canon says the G15 selects from among Dynamic, Powered, Macro or Tripod IS modes.
The PowerShot G15 can also capture video at up to 240fps for "slow mo" shooting, however that video resolution is limited to 320x240 for the 240fps and 640x480 for 120fps. Sound and optical zoom are not supported in these modes.
Like most cameras in this category, the PowerShot G15 lacks an external microphone jack so all sound comes from the built-in stereo mic. A Wind Filter setting is available.
The video quality is pretty good for casual use and looks great when played back on an HDTV screen.
WiFi and GPS. Unfortunately, the Canon G15 doesn't support wireless connectivity, nor does it have GPS. These are by no means deal breakers for us -- we generally prefer to transfer our images via memory card or USB straight to our computers -- but some shooters will have to look elsewhere if such functionality is a must.
Conclusion. With just one major omission (the articulating LCD) and only a few things to nitpick about, the Canon PowerShot G15 offers a ton of great upgrades for the G-series, takes great pictures and ranks resoundingly well among its premium compact camera competitors. For all this, we give the G15 a huge thumbs up, and a definitive Dave's Pick as one of the best cameras on the market.
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QUICK HITS: The most interesting, most-read articles on the IR site in the past two weeks
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Hands-on Previews: Canon challenges CSCs with new Rebel SL1 DSLR, introduces Rebel T5i and PowerShot SX280 HS
By Roger Slavens
Canon announced two new Rebel DSLRs -- including the updated EOS T5i and the all-new EOS Rebel SL1 which the company calls the "the world's smallest and lightest DSLR camera" -- as well as a new PowerShot 20x travel zoom, and together the trio represents a major upgrade of Canon's consumer-geared offerings. IR was fortunate to get some time with working prototypes of all three models, and you can find out more about each by reading our full, hands-on previews
Read some of the highlights of the new Canon SL1, Canon T5i and Canon SX280 HS here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/21/canon-challenges-cscs-with-new-rebel-sl1-dslr-introduces-t5i-and-sx280-hs
You can also dive deeper into each of the hands-on previews by clicking through to the links below.
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Andreas Franke's 'The Sinking World' photo show gives new meaning to underwater photography
By Steve Meltzer
The gallery for Andreas Franke's latest photo show, "The Sinking World/The Stavronikita Project," is literally a wreck. The photographer's images adorn the SS Stavronikita -- a small Greek freighter which 20 years ago was destroyed by fire and sank into the Caribbean to become an artificial reef -- located some 80 feet (24 meters) below the surface of the crystal waters off the coast of Barbados. In other words, you'll need scuba gear to see the show.
Underwater, you'll encounter the SS Stavronikita's coral encrusted hull and Franke's exhibition of large laminated photographic prints. The prints have been attached to the ship's hull with magnets with great care to avoid damaging the outer skin of the wreck and disturbing sea life that surrounds it. After all, both the wreck and the submerged environs are important elements of the show.
See the photos and read the full story here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/15/andreas-frankes-the-sinking-world-photo-show-gives-new-meaning-to-underwate
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Morten Koldby captures the humanity of animals in his powerful photo portraits
By Dan Havlik
Morten Koldby's photo portraits of animals are so human-like, it's astounding. And that's what this Danish photographer is aiming for with his animal headshots, which show facial expressions not that different from the people you might see at a local park.
Koldby wants us to realize that humans and animals really aren't that different.
"My goal with these started as any other personal project to simply do something new, but now I do them to try to make others relate to the animals, and by that maybe treat nature with a little more consideration," he told IR in an email.
See the photos (taken for the World Wildlife Fund) and read the full story here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/14/morten-koldby-captures-the-humanity-of-animals-in-his-powerful-photo-portra
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Broke photographer sells camera, wins big photo prize, is back in business
By Dan Havlik
There are some out there who might tell you photography competitions are a bunch of malarkey. But don't tell that to 26-year-old, freelance photographer Daniel Rodrigues, who was so poor he had to sell his camera gear to survive. Then Rodrigues won one of photography's biggest prizes and is suddenly back in business.
"I sold my cameras to live. Global Imagens had cut back its freelancer staff, so I became unemployed. With less and less work and growing bills to pay, I was forced to sell my photo equipment. It was a last resort and the most difficult decision of my 26 years. I live with my grandmother; she is 68. I used the money to make car payments, pay rent and pay for water, electricity and food," Rodrigues said.
Fortunately, Daniel's story didn't stop there: Read the full story and see his award-winning photo here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/12/broke-photographer-sells-camera-wins-big-photo-prize-is-back-in-business
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WE'VE GOT MAIL: Questions from readers, answers from IR
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Please send us your camera and photography questions and comments (mailto:editor@imaging-resource.com). Not only will we respond to each and every one of your letters, but we'll also publish the best ones here as a resource for all our readers.
Printer color profiles: Limit the color gamut?
I read your article on the Colormunki ICC profiler.
I was wondering if you knew if it had an option where you can limit the color gamut? For example, I really like the sRGB (Epson Vivid) and that's what I use when printing with my Epson 1400 because I find the flesh tones are over saturated with Adobe 1998.
I was thinking of doing a custom profile, but would like to keep the color gamut in the sRGB range. Not sure if that is an option or not.
I was also going to do a profile for my sublimation inks in the Epson 1400.
Thanks,
Josh
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Hi Josh -
First, for the benefit of other readers who may not be familiar with the term "gamut", it refers to the range of colors which can be represented in a given color space. Adobe RGB can represent a considerably wider range of real-world colors than can sRGB, which computer displays are based on. Some cameras will let you capture images in Adobe RGB, for use in a color-managed work environment.
Now on to your question: A correctly-calibrated printer should naturally control the gamut, since the aim is to produce printed color that matches what the camera captured, and what you see on your screen. So yes, you should find color more controlled if you use a color-managed workflow for your printing.
From your note, though, I'm not sure what color space you're capturing your pictures in, so there could be some confusion there. If you're capturing in sRGB, but then outputting them using the Adobe RGB setting in your print driver (or telling Photoshop that the images are using the Adobe RGB color space when they're actually not), you'll find all your colors oversaturated, but may only be noticing the impact in skin tones, where our eyes/brains are particularly sensitive to incorrect color rendering.
Adobe RGB has a wider color gamut, but that doesn't mean that the RGB numbers in its files are somehow larger than those for sRGB. Rather, it means that the same 0-255 scale for the red, green, and blue channels are used to represent a wider range of color. A simple way of thinking about it is that 255/0/0 in Adobe RGB would be a brighter or more intense red than the same numbers would correspond to in the sRGB color space. This means that the a "maximum" 255/0/0 sRGB red might only correspond to 200/0/0 in Adobe RGB. (Before astute readers complain, I know that this isn't a valid example, because I'm changing the luminance as well, and not just the hue. I'm just trying to convey the concept, minus the technical details, though, so please bear with me...)
Let's look at how this works in practice. Suppose we have a red subject that would produce values of 255/0/0 in sRGB color space, but we photograph it using Adobe RGB. That red might appear in our image file as 200/0/0. It's still the same red, but Adobe RGB uses lower numbers to represent it, because the full "255 red" is a much brighter color. It's easy to see then, that if we just display the Adobe RGB file on a standard sRGB computer monitor, it's going to look a lot duller than in real life, because the colors are all scaled to lower values.
Suppose we go in the other direction, shooting in sRGB, but then displaying and printing it as though it was Adobe RGB. In this case, the printer or display device will look at that 255/0/0 and display it as the super-bright color that's the brightest red Adobe RGB can represent.
So, it's important to match the color space you shoot in with the color space you're outputting in.
After all that explanation, it's possible that I've entirely missed your question, that you are in fact using Adobe RGB for both shooting and printing, and it's just a matter of the Epson printer drivers having a hard time with flesh tones when using that color space. If that's the case, my apologies for the absurdly long-winded explanation just completed. :-)
It often does happen that a particular printer's drivers will do a better job of color management in one color space than in another, so this could be exactly what's going on for you. - And yes, a color calibration system should take care of that problem for you. Be prepared for a little tweaking to get everything to your liking, though. I haven't used the Color Munki myself, but I've generally found that color management solutions require a little manual adjustment before I'm entirely satisfied with the results. The Color Munki software provides for this, so I think you'd be happy with the results. (It's several years old now, so the software has probably evolved a fair bit in that time, but see our Color Munki Review for further details.)
- Dave Etchells
---
Scanner Choices?
I've enjoyed your site and the scanner reviews in particular. I need both a good, film-oriented flatbed, and a 35mm film scanner/bulk loader.
For quick needs on the flatbed, I'm trying to find a substantial difference between the Canon 9000 Mk II and the 9000F. I have seen there are some software differences, but it doesn't appear there are any significant / effective hardware changes? One guy here says there's an improved lens, if it would make good use of the higher resolution settings that would be of use. But Canon's lens description is the same, and no proof was offered by the commenter. Any idea? Would it be worth paying $180 vs $140?
I've also considered higher-end flatbeds, like the Epson 700/750 series (I would prefer LED though, and don't plan on messing with oil), I am curious about the Microtek Artix Scan M II or other good flatbed. The below glass flatbed scanners seem like a good idea (though I've read they can get dirty easily). There was also a 2009 rumor of an update to the Epson 700/750 series to LED-based, glassless film scanners ( V900/950?) on StockholmViews - Any other rumors or facts?
I see you have plans to do some more reviews of some mid-higher-end flatbeds (e.g. Microtek, others). What's your recommendation for batch-loading 35mm film scanners? With Nikon Coolscan's LS 5000's discontinuation, price and availability issues, I'd like to know what the best new scanners are for (ideally) similar or better quality scans - you guessed it, at similar or better prices.
I've got a fairly large slide collection (decades, 1000's), and a fair number of B&W negatives, and some 6x6 and 4x5). I've been doing darkroom work and shooting since high school and I'm retired early now, looking to work more in photography again. (I've started using Lightroom, but haven't used Photoshop, yet). I'm not ready to pay and send them off (e.g. to ScanCafe; still the best of quality and price? or are there better, esp. US options? - not much in small-town Helena, MT).
I think I would love an LS 5000 (w SF210 bulk loader), but the price is steep, and I'm not sure how reliable it'd be. Several friends have recently used a Pacific Digital 3600(?) to scan 1000's of their slides (probably somewhere near 10-12,000 now, with minimal problems; though I suspect I wouldn't be fully satisfied with scan quality.
I've read some of the cons of trying to scan decades of slides. But I've been surprised how much my friends have gotten done, and wish I could make mine available digitally too. If I can get quality that makes it worth my time, I'll probably be doing it myself (I've got some time). I'd prefer the newer models with better resolution (and optics? - according to these guys, the Braun Multimag SlideScan 6000 may have higher effective resolution and would be worth the higher cost than for example, the Pacific Digital 6000, or Reflecta DigitDia 6000). Are there others worth comparing or considering? or is the Nikon still the bees knees? (though currently twice what I'd like to spend, wish I'd gotten one when they were new for $1100).
I assume I can't afford a flatbed that will be as good as this level of film scanner, but let me know if I'm wrong. I'm interested in any decent similarly priced models.
I expect I'll use VueScan, unless there's a good reason to use another, particularly if packaged with a specific scanner.
Thanks for any thoughts,
Tom
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Hi Tom -
Wow, a lot of questions, and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to help you. Once more into the breach, though...
On the issue of the original Canon 9000f versus the Mark II version, we don't have any direct information, but my guess is that there wasn't a significant change made to the lens. I say this because if there had been, I'd have expected Canon to tout it as an improvement when they announced the product. (Why hide your light under a bushel?) The main thing talked about when they announced it was new "My Image Garden" software that provides a number of new options, including connectivity to Evernote and Dropbox cloud services as well as a Stitch Assist feature to let you scan larger documents in two parts and then stitch them into the final file. There's also improved power efficiency, automatically turning the unit off after a period of non-use. If you don't need the features in the new software and can get a bargain on an older unit, I'd say go for it.
On the rumor front, I'm afraid nothing to report. (And if there were, we probably couldn't tell you. ;-) We sometimes get info from some camera companies considerably ahead of product launches, but that's generally not been the case for us with scanners.
Likewise a lack of info about batch-scanning solutions, although I can report that I've generally had pretty mixed experience with bulk feeders in the past. They add a lot of mechanical complexity (and therefore cost), and it can be tricky to design one able to handle the full range of slide mounts that have been used over the year. It was admittedly ages ago, but the bulk feeder for the Nikon LS-2000 had me tearing my hair regularly. We haven't actually tested a bulk scanner for ages (maybe a good indication that it's about time we delve back into them again), so don't have direct experience to relate.
That said, user reviews of the Pacific Image PS5000 seem pretty good, and current owners seem pretty pleased with it. Check out this link from our affiliate Adorama, read the reviews, and note their question/answer feature - you can ask questions and have them answered by people who actually bought and are using the unit (pretty slick, we're integrating this capability into our camera reviews) http://www.adorama.com/IPIPS5000.html?kbid=66882 The Pacific Image PS5000 looks a lot like the Reflecta DigitDia 6000 or Braun Multimag, and the specs seem the same, so I suspect they're all more or less the same unit. I did see one review that claimed that the Braun beat the Reflecta in terms of real resolution in the final file, 3,900 dpi to 3,300 - So there's obviously some variation between units, and I haven't seen test results from the Pacific Image unit anywhere. Reviewers reported jamming problems
with all the units, but the users on Adorama didn't seem to have had any problems thus far. (I'm also not clear on whether Pacific Image is a new name for Pacific Digital, or if they're separate companies. The Pacific Digital scanners I can find online look very different from anything Pacific Image offers, though, and I wasn't able to find a Pacific Digital website.)
The general word seems to be that the Nikon LS5000 is still the best, but it is quite a bit more expensive and hard to find these days, and it deserves noting that its bulk feeder probably won't do any better vis a vis jamming than the other units mentioned above. (The universal experience seems to be that you need to sit next to it, so you can intervene whenever it jams.)
I also came across this interesting unit: http://slidesnappro.com/, which couples your digital SLR with a "scanner" body that looks like a slide projector. (It can use Kodak carousels, so maybe it uses a Kodak projector as its base?) With a high-resolution DSLR, you could crank through a lot of slides very quickly with something like this, assuming that the slide-projector type mechanism would be much more reliable. Shoot in 14-bit RAW, and you'd probably get pretty decent dynamic range, although you'd have to go to some sort of HDR workflow to extract all the shadow detail slide film can capture. I suspect the only catch would be the price: They don't list a price on their website, just saying "contact us." That usually means the price is high enough that they figure they're going to need to do a bit of selling to get you to bite. It does seem to be designed for
very high throughput, though. (Last-minute parting thought: It also wouldn't have the automatic infrared-based dust removal systems of most film scanners these days.)
On the flatbed vs dedicated film scanner issue, you're right: Dedicated film scanners generally do better at scanning film than do flatbeds anywhere near their price point.
One note about resolution. As an engineer myself, I'm generally obsessed with measuring things and achieving the ultimate in any particular parameter. It's important to keep in mind, though, that you're digitizing film, and the combination of older lenses, finite emulsion thickness and film grain means that there's really only so much data to be captured in the first place. From my experience, this means that anything over 3,000 dpi just does a better job of delineating film grain, rather than recording any more actual image data, at the cost of larger files and slower scanning speeds. Given this, if I had to scan some huge number of slides, I'd personally think in terms of finding a nice, uniform light source, a copy stand, and the combo of a Nikon 105mm macro lens and a D800. I guarantee that setup would pull out any detail to be found in any film (perhaps with the exception of something like Kodak's high contrast copy emulsion processed in H&W control devel
oper). Actually, never mind the D800, most any mid-range DSLR these days has more resolution than most film from days gone by. The DSLR wouldn't be able to capture the full dynamic range of dense slide films in a single shot, but HDR is easy, so it wouldn't be difficult to combine two, three, or more shots to achieve more or less arbitrary dynamic range. As with the SlideSnap Pro solution mentioned above, the only downside to this approach is that it wouldn't provide the automatic dust-removal of various infrared-based solutions. But for sheer speed and general quality of capture, a DSLR/macro lens/HDR software combo couldn't be beat. - And the Photoshop healing brush tool is almost magical in its capabilities. (OTOH, with thousands of slides to deal with, even a retired guy could get pretty tired of touching-out dust spots.)
- Dave Etchells
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NEW ON THE SITE
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At http://www.imaging-resource.com/new-on-ir you can keep track of what's new on our main site. Among the highlights since the last issue:
- Latest from the Lab: Nikon D7100 and Fujifilm X100S "First Shots" posted (http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/21/nikon-d7100-and-fujifilm-x100s-first-shots-posted)
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- Humor: Hilarious posters show what it's really like to be a photographer (http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/20/hilarious-posters-show-what-its-really-like-to-be-a-photographer)
- Lens Review: Olympus 17mm f/1.8 m.Zuiko Digital (http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/20/lens-review-olympus-17mm-f-1.8-m.zuiko-digital)
- News: One of the most popular images of a military drone is a fake (some really clever sleuthing revealed this, it's an interesting read) (http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/19/one-of-the-most-popular-images-of-a-military-drone-is-a-fake)
- Photos: Winners revealed in 2013 Sony World Photography Awards (http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/18/winners-revealed-in-2013-sony-world-photography-awards)
- DIY: How do you fix a Nikon lens that's been dropped in the sea? Boil it! (http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/18/winners-revealed-in-2013-sony-world-photography-awards)
- Video: Ansel Adams' former assistant talks about working with the master (http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/03/13/ansel-adams-former-assistant-talks-about-working-with-the-master-in-new-vid)
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NEXT ISSUE
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Our next issue will be mailed to you in two weeks, on April 5, just a few days after IR celebrates its 15th anniversary. Or is that 15th birthday? In any case, we should have a lot of interesting stuff -- both new and old, from then and now -- to share with you.
SIGNOFF
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That's it for now, but between issues visit our site for the latest news, reviews, or to have your questions answered in our free discussion forum. Here are the links to our most popular pages:
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Dave Etchells & Roger Slavens
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