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!)

The Difference A Good Scanner Makes

So, long story short, I’ve been scanning. A lot. Mostly stuff shot by my Dad and my Grandparents over the decades. All of them have been on slide transparencies.

For the longest time, I was using a Minolta Dual Scan II to scan the slides, as it was the best I had, and the best I could afford.

Fast foward to December of last year. I finally got a new scanner. One that was made in the last two years too! (The Minolta, in contrast, was over 10 or so years old.)

Being the annoying perfectionist I am, I decided to redo every single slide all over again, at higher resolutions, and with multi-exposure and ICE.

And boy, am I glad I did! Below is the same slide, taken in Alberta circa 1976 by my Dad.

The top is scanned on my old Minolta, the bottom on my new Plustek Opticfilm 8200i.

(Click to make bigger)

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

A major, major upgrade in every possible sense. Better colour representation, better dynamic range, better resolution, everything.

I tried to replicate the scans as best I could so that they matched eachother, but it’s tricky to do so in Lightroom.

This is mainly just to show how much a difference a good scanner makes (especially one with multi-exposure.)

Matt

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