The Difference A Good Scanner Makes (Part 2)

    • Here’s another example of why a good scanner matters. Tack this on as an addition to my earlier post.

    In addition to scanning my own film (rescanning, I guess) and my Dads, I’ve been rescanning slides taken by my great-uncle Jack Cuthbert. He was in the Air Force, and did a bit of travelling. Luckily, he took a camera with him when he did, and shot on Kodachrome transparencies.

    Most of them (if not all) are from the early 1960’s. This one in particular, was taken in Nova Scotia in 1961.

    The top photo shows the slide as it was scanned with my old Minolta Dual Scan II scanner, while the bottom is from by my newer Plustek.

    Click for larger! I’ve tried to edit them in similar ways in terms of brightness and contrast.

    Minolta Dual Scan II (1999) -- No Multi-exposure
    Minolta Dual Scan II (1999)
    Plustek Opticfilm 8200i (2012)-- Multi-exposure
    Plustek Opticfilm 8200i (2012)

    If you flip back and forth between the two, you can see major differences in how certain colours are picked up by the scanner, and how each scanner handles dark shadows and strong highlights.

    Here’s another example, also scanned from Kodachrome slides taken in 1961.

    Minolta Dual Scan II (1999)
    Minolta Dual Scan II (1999)
    Plustek Opticfilm 8200i (2012)
    Plustek Opticfilm 8200i (2012)

    Invest in a good scanner! It will keep you from having to redo work (like me!)

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